Jihadism " ( also " jihadist movement " , " jihadi movement " and variants ) is a 21st-century neologism found in Western languages to describe Islamist militant movements perceived as military movements " rooted in Islam " and " existentially threatening " to the West . It has been described as a " difficult term to define precisely " , because it remains a recent neologism with no single , generally accepted meaning . The term " jihadism " first appeared in South Asian media ; Western journalists adopted it in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks of 2001 . It has since been applied to various insurgent and terrorist movements whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of jihad
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Jihadism