January 29, 2026
During this time period, there were 2008 violent jihad attacks in 48 countries, in which 14000 people were killed and 6653 injured.
Jihad means ‘effort’ or ‘striving’, and it comprises 31% of primary Islamic doctrine. Jihad is a comprehensive set of tactics for subjugating non-Muslims (Kafirs), with the final aim of making the whole world submit to Mohammed and Allah.
Specifically, violent jihad is an important form of jihad that comprises a major part of Islamic doctrine. Islamic doctrine describes jihad as the best action and jihadis (those who carry out jihad, usually referring to violent jihad) are greatly rewarded higher status, the spoils of war, financial support, and with further rewards from Allah.
Mohammed, whom Islamic doctrine regards as the perfect example, was personally involved in violent jihad frequently, and was very successful with it. Violent jihad has been key in expanding the influence of Political Islam since Mohammed became a military leader. After 13 years of preaching, he had only 150 followers. However, when he moved to Medina, he became a politician and a military leader who committed 95 acts of violent jihad over approximately 13 years, around one every 6.5 weeks. This bought him great success and when he died, all of Arabia was Islamic. It was jihad that brought Mohammed to power.
It is important, however, to remember that although violence against the Kafir is an important part of jihad, jihad is multi-faceted. Jihad against the Kafir can be carried out using a variety of methods covering politics, finance, migration, information, and more.
💡 A comprehensive report on violent jihad, including all supporting data, references, and citations, is available here: https://www.cspii.org/methodology/research-reports/violent-jihad/
💡 Over a 1,400-year period, more than 270 million people were killed because they did not believe that Mohammed was the prophet of Allah. These figures are rough estimates of the deaths of non-Muslims resulting from the political act of jihad. We refer to these victims as ‘The Tears of Jihad‘. Here is a detailed list with references: https://www.cspii.org/methodology/statistical-analysis-extra-information/tears-of-jihad/
Unfortunately, as far as we know, there is no historical data on the victims of the so-called “jihad of purification,” in which jihadis target other Muslims because they do not behave according to the example of Mohammed closely enough. Therefore, in their eyes, such individuals effectively become non-Muslims (Kafirs) who can be directly targeted by violent means of jihad. This is a concerning topic that we would like to investigate further in future research. This phenomenon helps explain violence within the Islamic community itself.
Current datasets from thereligionofpeace.com include both Muslim and non-Muslim victims.