Islamic fundamentalism in the context of "Islamist terrorist"

The Salafi movement or Salafism (Arabic: السلفية, romanized: as-Salafiyya) is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "Salafiyyah" is a self-designation, claiming a return to the traditions of the predecessors (salaf), the first three generations of Muslims (the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the Sahabah [his companions], then the Tabi'in, and the third generation, the Tabi' al-Tabi'in), who are believed to exemplify the pure form of Islam. In practice, Salafis claim that they rely on the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the Ijma (consensus) of the salaf, giving these writings precedence over what they claim as "later religious interpretations". The Salafi movement aimed to achieve a renewal of Muslim life, and had a major influence on many Muslim thinkers and movements across the Islamic world.

Salafi Muslims oppose bid'ah (religious innovation) and support the implementation of sharia (Islamic law). In its approach to politics, the Salafi movement is sometimes divided by Western academics and journalists into three categories: the largest group being the purists (or quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group being the activists (or Islamists), who maintain regular involvement in politics; and the third group being the jihadists, who form a minority and advocate armed struggle to restore early Islamic practice. In legal matters, Salafis advocate ijtihad (independent reasoning) and oppose taqlid (blind faith) to the four schools (madhahib) of Islamic jurisprudence.

Islam Nusantara or Indonesian (Islamic) model is a term used to refer to the empirical form of Islam that was developed in the Nusantara (Indonesian archipelago). This term was introduced and promoted by the Indonesian Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in 2015, as a rejection of Wahhabism.

According to NU, the roots of Islam in the archipelago can be traced back to at least the 16th century, as a result of interaction, contextualization, indigenization, interpretation and vernacularization of universal Islamic values, according to socio-cultural reality of Indonesia. Islam Nusantara is defined as an interpretation of Islam that takes into account local Indonesian customs in forming its fiqh. It tends to express greater pluralism and moderation, opposition to fundamentalism, and a degree of syncretism with local traditions.

The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant organization with an ideology comprising elements of the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism and Pashtun nationalism. It ruled approximately 90% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American-led invasion after the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. Following a 20-year insurgency and the departure of coalition forces, the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021, overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and now controls all of Afghanistan. The Taliban has been condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education, and for the persecution of ethnic minorities. It is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, and the Taliban government is largely unrecognized by the international community.

The Taliban emerged in 1994 as a prominent faction in the Second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) and largely consisted of warlords from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Under the leadership of Mullah Omar, the movement spread through most of Afghanistan, shifting power away from the Islamic State of Afghanistan, as well as other Mujahideen militants. The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and established the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that was opposed by the Northern Alliance, which maintained international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State.

The Principlists (Persian: اصول‌گرایان, romanized: Osul-Garāyān, lit. 'followers of principles or fundamentalists'), also interchangeably known as the Iranian Conservatives and formerly referred to as the Right or Right-wing, are one of two main political camps in post-revolutionary Iran; the Reformists are the other camp. The term hardliners that some Western sources use in the Iranian political context usually refers to the faction, although the principlist camp also includes more centrist tendencies. The faction rejects the status quo internationally, but favors domestic preservation.

Within Iranian politics, "principlist" refers to the conservative supporters of the Supreme Leader of Iran and advocates for protecting the ideological "principles" of the Islamic Revolution's early days. According to Hossein Mousavian, "The Principlists constitute the main right-wing/conservative political movement in Iran. They are more religiously oriented and more closely affiliated with the Qom-based clerical establishment than their moderate and reformist rivals".

Islamic extremism is characterised by extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Islamic supremacy to the notion that all ideologies other than Islam have failed and are inferior.

Islamic extremism is different from Islamic fundamentalism or Islamism. Islamic fundamentalism refers to a movement among Muslims advocating a return to the fundamental principles of an Islamic state in Muslim-majority countries. Meanwhile, Islamism constitutes a form of political Islam. However, both Islamic fundamentalism and Islamism can also be classified as subsets of Islamic extremism. Acts of violence committed by Islamic terrorists and jihadists are often associated with these extremist beliefs.

Salihiyya (Somali: Saalixiya; Urwayniya, Arabic: الصالحية) is a Tariqa (order) of Sufi Islam prevalent in Somalia and the adjacent Somali region of Ethiopia. It was founded in the Sudan by Sayyid Muhammad Salih (1854-1919). The order is characterized by fundamentalism.