Can Radical Islamic Terror Ever Be Eradicated

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Question:

Can radical Islamic terror ever be eradicated? - An exploration of whether radical Islamic terrorism can be completely eliminated, considering ideological, political, and social roots. :::

Answer:

When people mention radical Islamic terror generally they are referring to the the terrorist groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda etc. These groups & their ideology are collectively called as Khwarijis in Islamic terminology.

Prophet PBUH had prophesized that The Kharijites (Takfiris) Will Continue to Emerge Until the Appearance of the Dajjaal Amongst Them.

Ibn Maajah brings under the heading “Chapter Concerning the Mention of the Kharijites” the hadeeth of Abdullah bin Umar that the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam said:

ينشأ نشء يقرءون القرآن لا يجاوز تراقيهم كلما خرج قرن قطع

A people will emerge who recite the Qur’an but it will not go past their throats. Every time a faction of them emerges it will be cut off.

And also:

قال ابن عمر سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول كلما خرج قرن قطع أكثر من عشرين مرة حتى يخرج في عراضهم الدجال

Ibn Umar said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) say, “Every time a faction of them emerges it will be cut off”, more than twenty times [before saying] “until Dajjaal appears amongst them”.

This is reported by Ibn Maajah and declared Hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah (1/75-76, no. 144).

And in the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad there occurs in the hadeeth of Abdullaah bin Amr bin al-Aaas:

سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول : سيخرج أناس من أمتي من قبل المشرق يقرؤون القرآن لا يجاوز تراقيهم كلما خرج منهم قرن قطع كلما خرج منهم قرن قطع حتى عدها زيادة على عشرة مرات كلما خرج منهم قرن قطع حتى يخرج الدجال في بقيتهم

I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) saying: “There will emerge a people from my Ummah from the East who recite the Qur’an but it does not go beyond their throats. Every time a faction amongst them emerges it will be cut off. Every time a faction amongst them emerges it will be cut off”, until he said it ten times, “Every time a faction amongst them emerges it will be cut off, until the Dajjaal appears amongst their (later) remnants.”

Ahmad Shakir in his tahqeeq of the Musnad declared this to be Saheeh (11/88).

There is also the hadeeth of Abdullah bin Umar in which he narrates that the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said:

ينشو نشو يقرؤون القران ، لا يجاوز تراقيهم ، كلما خرج قرن قطع ، كلما خرج قرن قطع ، حتى يخرج في أعراضهم الدجال

A group will emerge who recite the Qur’an but it does not go beyond their throats. Every time a faction amongst them emerges it will be cut off. Every time a faction amongst them emerges it will be cut off, until the Dajjaal appears amongst them.

This hadeeth is graded Hasan by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’ (no. 8171), and it is narrated by Ibn Majah from Ibn Umar.

So based upon Prophet PBUH saying the answer is NO, it can never be eliminated / eradicated completely forever; though at times these terrorist groups may be weakened considerably & their presence could be greatly reduced while at times they will re-emerge forcefully.