there were some islamic nationalist groups who used terrorist tactics against the ottomans in the late 1800s.  there's also the hashashins from the 11th century, who used "terrorist" tactics against persian provinces.other than that, there isnt much that i can find with cursory research. the geopolitical shakeup caused by western intervention in the middle east is the primary catalyst for all the strife right now, and the advent of the information age has allowed fundamentalist ideology to spread around the world, so thats why the islamic coalition groups that we know are a modern phenomena. they really started sprouting after the iranian revolution in 1979. lots of disillusioned muslims empathized with the ayatollah khomeini's anti-western philosophy, emphasis on the virtues of the jihad, and perhaps these groups feel that they must mirror the ayatollah's revolution in other parts of the world.

my understanding of middle eastern history is EXTREMELY rudimentary, so you'll have to forgive errors. there have most certainly been islamic fringe groups which threaten central authority in the middle east as far back as the beginning of the islamic empire, but the nature of our industrialized and ever-advancing global society is what allowed groups like ISIL and al Qaeda to exist in this capacity.

Quote from: Not Comms Officer on April 08, 2015, 11:49:07 PM

Quote from: Azumarill on April 08, 2015, 11:11:00 PM

there were some islamic nationalist groups who used terrorist tactics against the ottomans in the late 1800s.  there's also the hashashins from the 11th century, who used "terrorist" tactics against persian provinces.other than that, there isnt much that i can find with cursory research. the geopolitical shakeup caused by western intervention in the middle east is the primary catalyst for all the strife right now, and the advent of the information age has allowed fundamentalist ideology to spread around the world, so thats why the islamic coalition groups that we know are a modern phenomena. they really started sprouting after the iranian revolution in 1979. lots of disillusioned muslims empathized with the ayatollah khomeini's anti-western philosophy, emphasis on the virtues of the jihad, and perhaps these groups feel that they must mirror the ayatollah's revolution in other parts of the world.

my understanding of middle eastern history is EXTREMELY rudimentary, so you'll have to forgive errors. there have most certainly been islamic fringe groups which threaten central authority in the middle east as far back as the beginning of the islamic empire, but the nature of our industrialized and ever-advancing global society is what allowed groups like ISIL and al Qaeda to exist in this capacity.

So what I'm saying is pretty much confirmed..

Which is that Islamic terrorism wasn't really a major problem until the 80's. Lots of what you were mentioning sounded like political terrorism with a bit of religion, while today's Islamic terrorism is largely religion-motivated.

well, we dont have all of the necessary contextual information, so id tread lightly, but id say youre on the right track. groups like the hashashins were heavily steeped in religious conflict/ideology, tracing their origins to the first crusade, but ultimately existed to serve some political purpose. its said that the leader of the hashinshins gave his followers hashish and polluted their minds, promising that he would be the harbinger of their salvation. this inspired a fanatical devotion to the cause, which isnt dissimilar to the fanatical devotion we see in our modern terrorist groups.

historical precedent dictates that religious militarism almost always masks a more complex political purpose, so im reluctant to say that these militant islamic organizations exist to deliver the world to paradise. that is to say, the religious aspect of this may be a facade, and the leaders are brainwashing their followers to serve their own agendas.

of course, there's much more nuance to this than i understand right now, so take all of this with a grain of salt.