S1C1IET 2006 12 15

Study 2006-7/09(a)

THE RADICALIZERS: THE ISLAMIST EXTREMISM THREAT TO CANADA FROM WITHIN

CAUTION
THIS REPORT IS ISSUED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE DIRECTOR, CANADIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE. IT IS PROVIDED FOR THE iNFORMATION OF THE RECIPIENTAND THOSE OF THE RECIPIENTS DEPARTMENT ORAGENCY WHO HAVE THE APPROPRIATE SECURITY CLEARANCE AND MAY BENEFIT FROM KNOWLEDGE OF ITS CONTENTS. THIS REPORT MAY BE PARAPHRASED AND USED IN INTERNAL DEPARTMENTAL OR AGENCY CORRESPONDENCE. NEITHER THE REPORT NOR ANY OF ITS CONTENTS SHOULD BE DISSEMINATED OUTSIDE THE RECIPIENTS DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY WITHOUT PRIOR CONSULTATION WITH CSIS. THE DIRECTOR, CSIS, SHOULD BE INFORMED OF ANY ACTION TAKEN BY A DEPARTMENT OR AGENCY BASED ON ITS CONTENTS. THIS DOCUMENT CONSTITUTES A RECORD WHICH MAY BE SUBJECT TO MANDATORY EXEMPTION UNDER THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT OR THE PRIVACY ACT. THE INFORMATION OR INTELLIGENCE MAY ALSO BE PROTECTED BY THE PROVISIONS OF THE CANADA EVIDENCE ACT. THE INFORMATION OR INTELLIGENCE MUST NOT BE DISCLOSED OR USED AS EVIDENCE WITHOUT PRIOR CONSULTATION WITH THE CANADIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE SERVICE.

-1SUMMARY Summary

SECRETI

Islam, the second most widespread religion, is comprised of Sunnis and Shia. Muslims can be fundamentalists, Salafists, Islamists or extremists and, while all Salafists and Islamists are not extremists, all extremists are Salafists and Islamists.
Radicalization is the process ofmoving from moderate, mainstream Islamic belief to a beliefthat violence can legitimately be used to promote a fundamental view ofIslam and an intolerance of non believers and impure Muslims. Recruitment is the process of seeking new members to an organization or a cause. The sequence and speed ofthe process is unclear and there is no set pattern.
-

Extremist Sunni Muslims appear to be more actively radicalizing and recruiting than Shiite Muslims. Some parents are radicalizing their children.
*

People are the key in the radicalization and recruitment processes.

There are similarities and differences between extremist Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Canada.

-2-

SECRET

Shiite extremists are mainly involved in fundraising and other support activities to assist the Shiite activities in their home country,

While a resolution of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq could decrease support for jihad and remove a key component for radicalizing and recruitment, even these successes will not remove the threat. The unpopularity of the jihadist ideology amongst some in the moderate Muslim communities and their distaste for the extremists use of violence may increase efforts to denounce radicalizing and recruiting within their communities. However, some Muslims view Islamist extremists as defenders of the faith.

Introduction 1.

this study provides a briefexplanation of Islam and Islamist extremism, definitions of terms used, an overview of the phenomenon elsewhere in the world,

Section One Explanations and Definitions

Islam

2. Founded in 610 in Western Arabia, Islam is the latest ofthe world s great monotheistic religions, in addition to Judaism and Christianity. Muslims believe that the Prophet MUHAMMAD was the

-3-

SECRET

messenger of Allah (God) who received Allah s commands over a 22 year period in a series of revelations which are contained in the Quran, Islams Holy Book. Muslims believe in what have been called the five pillars (tenets) of Islam: (1) shahada the creed There is no God but Allah, and MUHAMMAD is His Prophet; (2) salat five prayers in a day; (3) zakat giving alms to the poor; (4) sawm fasting from sunrise to sunset during the month ofRamadan; and (5) haJfmaking a pilgrimage to Mecca once during a lifetime. After Christianity, Islam is the second most widespread religion, claiming mote than 1.3 billion adherents, and is the fastest growing religion in the world.

3. Not long after MUHAMMAD s death in 632, Islam split into two factions due to a disagreement over the successor to the Prophet MUHAMMAD. The Sunnis (followers of the Prophet s customs or sunna) believed the elders should appoint someone as successor or caliph from within the new Islamic community. The Shia (supporters of Mi, who was the cousin and son in law of MUHAMMAD) believed that the caliph must be related by blood to the Prophet MUHAMMAD. Approximately. ten to 15 percent of Muslims are Shia, concentrated largely in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon and India. There is still a rivalry sometimes violent between the two factions.

Islamic Terminology 4. A fundamentalist is someone who believes in the strict maintenance of the primary or original th doctrine of any religion. The term, used originally to describe.early 20 century American Christian movements, should be avoided when speaking of Islam. Muslims who reject innovation in religious matters or any doctrine that was fonned after the first few generations of Islamic leaders are known as SalaJlsts (derived from the Arabic phrase as salafas salih, the righteous ancestors, a reference to MUHAMMAD and the first four caliphs). Salafists consider the Quran and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) directly and literally as the only pure form of Islam and do not necessarily espouse the use of violence to promote these views. An islamist believes that Islam must govern all aspects of one 5 life (a belief shared by all practicing Muslims), but further believes that Sharia (Islamic) law is the only acceptable political, legal and social system under which Muslims should live. Islamists th also share the Salafist beliefthat the only true Islam is that ofthe original leaders of the 7 century. An extremist is someone who believes that violence is a legitimate means to advance a right, political goal or particular belief. An Islamist extremist believes that violence is a legitimate means to th advance the goal of returning to a 7 century political structure of Islam. This includes creating a Muslim Caliphate, destroying Israel and removing the West and Western influence from Muslim countries. While all Salaflsts and Islamists are not extremists, all extremists are Salafists and th Islarnists. Wahhabism, a type of Salaflsm started in I 8 centuryArabia that is still practised in Saudi Arabia today and spread worldwide by the Saudis, is intolerant of other Muslims and is sympathetic to the promotion ofjihad (struggle). The termjihad refers both to an inner struggle to become a better Muslim and an outer struggle against Islam s enemies. Islamist extremists use the term to define their fight against an outside threat the West. While an Islamist extremist commits to the use of or promotion of the use of violence (which includes propaganda, recruiting, planning or operating) to defend Islam from its perceived enemies, ajihadist actually engages in violence.

-4Section Two Radicalization vs Recruitment

SECREt

5. Radicalization is the process of moving from moderate beliefs to extremist beliefs. Muslim radicalization is the process of moving from moderate, mainstream Islamic beliefs to a belief that violence can legitimately be used to support and promote a fundamental view of Islam and an intolerance of both non believers and those deemed to be impure Muslims. The radicalization process can be seen as a continuum, so that someone at the beginning of the radicalization process is not as extreme as someone who has been fully radicalized to the point of participating in violence (a jihadist) rather than simply condoning it. Recruitment is the process of seeking new members to an organization or a cause. Individuals can be recruited to be radicalized and can be recruited anywhere along the radicalization process. Once in this process, they are more susceptible to being recruited.
-

6. While there is a certain understandingof the radicalization process, there are still manyquestions about how an individual changes from the kid next door to a suicide bomber or an extremist staging a terrorist attack against a civilian target. There is often discussion in the media and in security services of those who self radicalize; however, while the decision to radicalize is a personal choice, the completion of the transition from a belief to actual participation in extremist activities seems to occur after an interaction with someone, whether in person or virtually, wherein the extremist is recruited. Thus, the human factor is critical.
-

7. There are several factors or influences that may be part of the radicalization and recruitment processes. Individuals may come into contact with persons of influence who are espousing an extremist view, they mayhave family orfriends who are radical, or theymay discover by themselves Internet material and discussion gmups that are extremist in nature.

8. The radicalization and recruitment process is facilitated at locations where extremists can more easily communicate their views, develop contacts and relationships with like minded individuals or meet those who are susceptible to influence.
-

For more on the radicalization process see

CSIS Study 2006

7 107 From Radicalization to Jihadization

-5-

SECRET

Foreign Influence 10. Radicalization and recruitment are influenced by what is happening abroad in the larger Muslim community. A key radicalizing factor is a desire to help the Muslim community and to defend Muslims who are perceived as being under attack from the West. The conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and other areas are often cited as justification forjihad. In addition, direct connections to overseas extremist organizations can provide influence through the facilitation oftraining and other logistical or material support. Some states are believed to be assisting in this radicalization, either knowingly or unwittingly.

11. In addition, some states actively support extremism through direct support for terrorist groups,

International Phenomenon and the Rise of Homegrown Extremism 12. Since the 2001 09 11 terrorist attacks in the US, the threat from Islamist extremism has both increased and changed. While the 2001 attacks were undertaken by core AL QAEDA (AQ) recruits who were trained, financed and directed by AQ, the intervening years have seen attacks transition from being undertaken by core AQ members, to those affiliated with AQ, to those inspired by AQ. The newest threat is from locally born youth or those who moved to the West at a young age who are inspired by the idea of a global jihad to fight against what they perceive as Western aggression against Muslims. Often called homegrown, these individuals are being radicalized, recruited and

-6-

SECRET

organized Locally, often without ever leaving their country. They have no apparent links to formal terrorist organizations and are usually organized into nothing more formal than a close knit group of like minded friends or associates who believe in the same cause. The emergence of successive and different models of global jihad supporters does not mean that each new one has supplanted the previous ones; different versions can exist concomitantly, defying the ability to create a template.
-

13. The issue of homegrown terrorism is of growing concern for most Western nations, including Canada.

In 2004 11, Dutch filmmaker and provocative critic of Islam, Theo van GOGH, was murdered by Mohammed BOUYERI, who was later found to be the leader of a Dutch Islamist extremist group. In 2006 03, a Dutch court convicted nine other Muslims ofbelonging to this same HOFSTAD group. On 2005 07 07, a group of four local British men succeeded in implementing a suicide terrorist attack on London s transit system, killing 56 people and wounding more than 700. In 2005 11, Australian police arrested 18 Australian citizens who were stockpiLing chemicals and weapons for an attack on an undetermined target in Australia. In Canada, 18 radicalized Muslims were arrested over the summer of 2006, disrupting their plans to detonate bombs in downtown Toronto In 2006 09, seven men were arrested in Denmark, suspected of planning terrorist bombings, in the second major anti terrorism raid in that country in less than a year.
-

14. Radicalization is not a new phenomenon in Canada, as a number of extremist movements have taken root and prospered here, including Armenian extremists, Sikh extremists and aboriginal extremists. Islamist extremism, the current primary threat, also has a long history in Canada. What has changed, however, is the nature of this extremism which has moved from the support activities of fundraising, consciousness raising, procurement and recruitment to encompass a new genre of extremists who are prepared to carry out terrorism in their home or adopted countries, as was demonstrated in London and Madrid. This new generation is inspired by the AQ message and is willing to act upon it, even if they do not consider themselves part of AQ or its affiliates.
-

10-

SECRET.

Section Five

Findings

27. Individuals have been radicalized in Canada and recruited to participate in terrorist activity both in Canada and abroad, as well as to fight in Iraq.

11-

SECRET

Extremist Sunni Muslims are more active in radicalizing and recruiting than Shiite Muslims, whose activities appear limited to recruiting for fundraising 28. People are key in the radicalization process and in recruitment. It is the individual who delivers the radical message, it is this message that further guides the listener along the path of radicalization to an extreme view of Islam or to be recruited to wage jihad. The vast majority of cases point to the importance ofthe influence ofthe individual who is guiding or leading the process.

31. There are both similarities and differences between extremist Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Canada. Sunni Islamist extremists aim to radicalize individuals to become supporters or participants in a global jihad. They believe they are Et war with the West and have brought the fight to the West, seeing Canada and other Western countries as legitimate targets where terrorist acts can be planned and executed.

Shiite extremists are mainly involved in fhndraising and other support activities to assist the Shiite activities in their home country,

-12-

SECRET

Conclusion 33. The diverse nature of the global Muslim population has manifested itself within Canada s Muslim diaspora.