Neo-Wahhabism: Ideological basis of Islamic Military Groups

Abstract

After 11 September attacks, the violent actions of Al-Qaeda have led to much misinformation about Islam in Western countries. The article studies the intellectual foundations and the origins of such false perceptions of Islam by Islamic military groups, such as Al-Qaeda. According to the hypothesis of this article, the combination of Wahhabism with the ideas of radicals such as Seyyed Qutb, has contributed to the creation of the Al-Qaeda network; the product of this combination is called Neo-Wahhabism. Also, the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union in 1979 had a key role in its creation.