Abdullah Azzam (1941-1989) was an influential Palestinian Salafi jihadist who popularized the concept of 'defensive jihad' during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to encourage foreign volunteer fighters to travel to join the mujahideen movement. After the Soviet... Read more

Abdullah el Faisal is an extremist cleric who was convicted in February 2003 in the United Kingdom of inciting hatred against Jews, Hindus, Christians, Americans and others he considers "unbelievers." He first became an Imam in 1991... Read more

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was an Iraqi terrorist and leader of ISIS during its period of territorial expansion in Iraq and Syria. He took over in 2010, and on June 29, 2014, he declared the establishment of... Read more

Crusaders is a term used by Islamists to refer to any Western presence in the Middle East, though it is most often used to refer to the U.S. In addition, anti-Muslim extremists in the United States often... Read more

Adam Yahiye Gadahn was born Adam Pearlman in Oregon in 1978; his father changed their last name to Gadahn after converting to Christianity. Adam later converted to Islam and quickly radicalized— he was arrested in 1997 for... Read more

Akayed Ullah attempted to detonate an improvised explosive device in the subway station near New York Port Authority Bus Terminal on December 11, 2017. Ullah, a Bangladeshi citizen and lawful permanent resident of the U.S. was inspired... Read more

AQIS (Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) is based in Pakistan and Afghanistan and formed from a collection of pre-existing Islamist groups in 2014. It mainly targets Muslims living in India and Pakistan, but also releases English-language... Read more

Green birds references a hadith which states that the souls of martyrs ascend to heaven in the form of green birds. Islamist extremists online often use the term as a coded way of indicating that they intend... Read more

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist terrorist organization based in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. It calls for the eradication of the State of Israel. Both the United States and the European Union have designated Hamas as... Read more