Jihadism.
Definition
Jihadism is a form of religiously grounded extremism in which violence is legitimized through the belief that jihad is divinely mandated, functioning as a sacred value that resists compromise or negotiation. Research on Indonesian Islamic jihadists conceptualizes this ideology not as an unstructured collection of beliefs but as a network organized around a central sacred-symbolic node, with religion occupying that core position while operational beliefs occupy the periphery. In a sample of 42 radicalized individuals, fusion with religion remained statistically equivalent between incarcerated and non-incarcerated participants, whereas willingness to fight for religion was significantly lower among the incarcerated, indicating that deradicalization modifies peripheral commitments without displacing the sacred core. A perceived connection between Islamic identity and Sharia positively predicted willingness to fight, while a perceived connection between Islamic identity and democracy was negatively associated with it, demonstrating that structural connections within the belief network, not content alone, drive both radicalization and moderation.
Sources: Milla et al. (2026)
Related Terms
- belief system (1 shared article)
- ideological structure (1 shared article)
Applications
Jihadism and Ideological Structure
In jihadist belief systems, ideology is organized as a constrained network of interconnected beliefs rather than a composite assortment, with religion serving as the central, high-connectivity node that holds the system together. Peripheral operational beliefs can shift, as documented in a case where a militant Islamist activist adopted left-wing environmental activism while maintaining his Islamist and jihadist identity, interpreting socialist struggle as jihad.
Sources: Milla et al. (2026)
Jihadism and Deradicalization
Deradicalization among Indonesian jihadists appears to operate by loosening connections among peripheral beliefs rather than by displacing the sacred core. Incarcerated participants showed lower willingness to fight for religion compared to non-incarcerated participants, yet their degree of fusion with religion did not differ significantly between the two groups, suggesting that intervention affects the motivational periphery while the central sacred commitment persists.
Sources: Milla et al. (2026)
Jihadism and Sacred Values
The legitimation of violence in jihadism depends on the structural centrality of a sacred value, specifically the conviction that jihad is divinely mandated. Because sacred-symbolic nodes connect to many surrounding beliefs, they resist reorganization, and ideological change is better characterized as a shift in peripheral connections than as replacement of this core.
Sources: Milla et al. (2026)
