Talk:Islamic terrorism

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 11 January 2022 and 6 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): JeshuaBernal (article contribs).

Should we use ISIL? ISIS? or Daesh?

Would be nice to have a standard acronym of this important terrorist group for the article. ISIL is used in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant article. But a Google search of "ISIL Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" vs. "ISIS Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" finds ISIS is about 10X as popular as ISIL, and 20X as popular as Daesh, which is not so well known in English language sources. --Louis P. Boog (talk) 00:27, 11 July 2021 (UTC)

Don't use ISIS: 'A Woman Named Isis Asks You to Stop Saying ISIS' (there's a petition about this). I recommend use English (ISIL); 'IS' is also confusing, and Daesh isn't English (so as you showed, is even more confusing)--dchmelik☀️🦉🐝🐍(talk|contrib) 14:24, 30 March 2025 (UTC)

@Louis P. Boog and @Dchmelik I have came here to help you. I am a ex-Sunni Muslim (also ex-born Catholic Christian). I have came here to clarify and clear up things. ISIL and ISIS according to my knowledge are different groups with different leaders. ISIL goes way far away from the border of Syria (like the ISIS group I believe has taken control of Syria, following with other regimes. After the Bashar Al-Assad regime fallen earlier in December 2024, and Assad and other high ranking officials escaped to other countries, like the regimes leader fled to Germany or Russia (I forgot which country), other regimes has taken control over Syria, since Syria is finally free from the civil war that has been happening for 40 or hundreds of years. Assad also fled to like France or the UK too they're all protecting them and the officials of the regime I think. But, ISIL goes as far as Syria too, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.) AmaterasuNoMamorite (talk) 00:13, 11 August 2025 (UTC)

Who cares? "ISIS" is the most popular name for the organization. UltraCobson (talk) 17:24, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

Unfortunately, the islamists come up with a new acronym for the terrible things they do every day. I don’t know who would know the answer to this question. Should we ask the Islamaelites? ~2026-21558-96 (talk) 02:54, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Requested move 4 May 2025

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. (non-admin closure) Thomasfan1916 (talk) 04:41, 29 May 2025 (UTC)

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Islamic terrorism → Islamist terrorismIslamist terrorism – Islamist terrorism is more neutral as it names the ideology Islamism not the religion. It is what most governments, NGOs, and mainstream outlets have converged on. Even the article itself says - Islamic terrorism is highly politicized and a misnomer.

See https://www.cair.com/blog/good-news-associated-press-takes-positive-step-on-use-of-islamist/ (Associated Press recommended use of the term “Islamist” by media professionals. )

Many articles like September 11 attacks also use Islamist instead of Islamic. I'd argue Islamist terrorism is WP:COMMONNAME . Cinaroot (talk) 21:02, 4 May 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. Garsh (talk) 00:30, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

Oppose please scroll up to argument we had about this less than six months ago. Islamist is a specific ideology, not just a generic term for Islam. Not all Islamic terrorism is islamist. The current scope of this page is terrorism committed by Muslims, a move would be a quite massive reduction. PARAKANYAA (talk) 23:59, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

Its wrong to say this article is about terrorism committed by Muslims. Article opening reads ".. refers to terrorist acts carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists." This article is not about Muslim terrorism.

Not all Islamic terrorism is islamist. A Muslim could carry out an attack for purely personal or other non‑Islamist reasons- then is that Islamic terrorism to you? Cinaroot (talk) 02:17, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

And Islamic extremists. A Islamic extremist is not Islamist per se. Terrorism is extremist inherently. And yes, so could a Christian, but that has no relation to the religion. PARAKANYAA (talk) 16:13, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose WP:COMMONNAME.Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 17:06, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
• Support per nom 𐩣𐩫𐩧𐩨 Abo Yemen (𓃵) 18:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
• We have Christian terrorism and all Islamic terrorism is not islamist which is a political ideology.Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 18:22, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

  Wouldn't "Muslim Terrorism" be more fitting and consistent, considering we have "Christian Terrorism" and "Hindu Terrorism"? After all, we don't label them as "Christianist Terrorism" or "Hindutva Terrorism" at least not yet. StarkReport (talk) 07:53, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

  In theory, but that isn't a really commonly used term. PARAKANYAA (talk) 19:46, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

Relisting comment: There seems to be good arguments going both ways, and others may need to weigh in. Garsh (talk) 00:30, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose, plenty of sources on google scholar using "Islamic terrorism". 33,600 hits for "Islamic terrorism" (with quotes) and 20,700 hits for "Islamist terrorism". Status quo appears to be common name

Kowal2701 (talk) 20:11, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

"Muslim terrorism" gets 2350 hits Kowal2701 (talk) 20:22, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

• Oppose Rephrasing points raised by others, Islamist is over-precise because this article includes discussion of Islamic terrorism that does not meet the narrower definition of Islamist. As for Muslim vs. Islamic, it's true these words are largely synonymous and often used interchangeably, but there are subtle usage differences. (Somewhat similar situation with Jew and Jewish.) This is not the case with Christian where we have just the one adjective in English. One can make a rational argument about why one or the other is a better equivalent to Christian in a given construct, but language isn't math and sometimes usage just is what it is. Google Ngram shows a consistent usage pattern and no argument grounded in policy, usage, or the content of the article has been made that shows the current title is incorrect or that the alternatives are better. --MYCETEAE 🍄‍🟫—talk 20:18, 22 May 2025 (UTC)
• Oppose per very clear WP:COMMONNAME. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:05, 27 May 2025 (UTC)

Big Oppose Washi198 02:53, 29 May 2025 (UTC)Sock strike

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

"Arab terrorism" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Arab terrorism has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 June 19 § Arab terrorism until a consensus is reached. Thepharoah17 (talk) 18:27, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

Oppose: the people in Arab nations doing and exporting this are predominately Muslim. There (thankfully) isn’t a purely secular terrorist state yet. Let’s respect the Arabs and not include all of them in this bunch. ~2026-23873-02 (talk) 23:54, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

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radical Islamic terrorism

"radical Islamic terrorism" this name is used in conservative political circles in the United States. this is not a widely used name

i'm not sure if it should be mentioned as a alternative name as its not neutral

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/trump-has-vowed-to-eradicate-radical-islamic-terrorism-but-what-about-islamism/ Cinaroot (talk) 17:39, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

The problem is that it says "also known as". It's not talking about an eternal term. The phrase "X, also known as Y" says that a certain group (a large group) knows X as Y. There's nothing wrong with that. I'd appreciate it if other users shared their thoughts too. Acratopotes (talk) 18:19, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

Its still giving undue weight to a term used by trump and conservative politicians Cinaroot (talk) 18:38, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

Hi, even if someone suffers from TDS, we don’t come here asking for things to be removed just because supposedly people who agree with one politician use a term. Islamic terrorism is a particular type of terrorism. There are multiple types of terrorism, but this is about the Islamic strand. And there’s definitely some of it around. ~2026-21558-96 (talk) 02:57, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

The article says, "In conservative political circles in the United States, Islamism has become interchangeable with “radical Islamic terrorism.”" It doesn't say whether these terms are more widely used by US conservatives. A google news search shows that the term "Islamic terrorism" itself is used almost if not always by right-wing media. TFD (talk) 21:02, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

The term came into use after sept 11. It is popularized by trump. Obama refused to use that term

Obama: Why I won’t say ‘Islamic terrorism’

Obama takes on Trump: 'Are we going to start treating all Muslim Americans differently?'

Why President Obama Was Right Not to Say ‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’

Anyone who follows the news knows that this phrase has been used by U.S. politicians and officials primarily for political purposes. Cinaroot (talk) 21:31, 2 November 2025 (UTC)

Terrorism without description is by far the most used term, while Islamic terrorism is much more widely used than radical Islamic terrorism. TFD (talk) 21:09, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Terrorism search is more broad - is not relevant here. adding word `radical` to Islamic terrorism - what does this achieve ? it is a political term, and not neutral. Is it wp:due?

We can always mention it - in body - that it is used by xyz Cinaroot (talk) 02:40, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

As Kamala would say, “Radical Islamic Terrorism” is terrorism by Islamic radicals. We use this term to differentiate it from left wing terrorism, ecoterrorism, right wing terrorism, etc. Pretty basic. Sorry about some of us here suffering from TDS and needing to ask these things here exposing our lack of knowledge. ~2026-23873-02 (talk) 23:52, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 16 November 2025

On the section “Muslim attitudes toward terrorism”, it is noted that Fred Halliday is a British academic, this is false. Fred Halliday was Irish, which can be verified by clicking on his name. Please change “British academic specialist” to “Irish academic specialist” accordingly. ~2025-33912-31 (talk) 04:20, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

 Done General Ization ^Talk 04:26, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

Islam is the most violent religion

Something mentioning that Muslims commit the most religious terroristic acts would be helpful information. ~2026-39756-2 (talk) 00:21, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

Why would it be helpful? TFD (talk) 00:41, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

Maybe we could have a part describing the fact that even though Islam is supposedly a peaceful religion, so many Muslims never got the memo. ~2026-21520-58 (talk) 10:08, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

Edit request 29 March 2026

Description of suggested change:

Change “continue to be Muslims countries” to “continue to be Muslim countries”.

Diff: Warning Unnamed parameter |1= set to default value. Please change it. Failure to use {{Text diff}} to specify your requested text changes, if not adequately described above, may lead to your request being denied.
Jamesmanvsmassifiovongino (talk) 00:49, 29 March 2026 (UTC)

 Done InfernoHues (talk) 01:01, 29 March 2026 (UTC)