Only 6 Percent of Terrorists are Muslim

By Sabrina Park
Published: September 13, 2010

Okay, let's get one thing straight: not all terrorists are Muslim. Yes, I said it and it's completely true. Why people continue to generalize all terrorists as being Muslim is beyond me- perhaps it has to do with their lack of knowledge on the topic and laziness to find out the legitimacy of the claim. It is also possible that since people are so quick to believe what they are told, they are able to easily adopt someone else's views as their own. I wouldn't doubt it- I mean; we all know hardly anyone can think for themselves these days anyway.

A frequent saying goes: "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim." This was recently said by Reverend Flip Benham on Aug. 11 during Anderson Cooper's 360 show on CNN. Benham argued, "Anderson, I understand exactly what you're saying. You need to ask yourself the question why are all terrorists Muslim? Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim, and that's just pretty-" Benham is quickly interrupted by Cooper who says, "Well, that's just not completely true because, in fact, the guy who blew up the Oklahoma City-" Only to be interrupted again by the all-too-confident Benham who claims that, "Islam is a lie from the pit of hell." Talk about being ignorant and close-minded.

What an unfortunate and pessimistic attitude for one to have on the subject, especially if one does not have all their facts straight. For some reason, this quote remains attached to the people of Islamic faith and continues to label them at such a low standard- it is utterly nauseating.

So, that being said, let's think for ourselves and do some research: exactly what percent of Muslims are terrorists? Well, according to FBI files, which can be accessed through fbi.gov, only 6 percent of terrorists are Muslim. The remaining percentage of terrorist attacks on U.S. territory includes: Latinos at 42 percent, extreme Left Wing groups at 24 percent, Jewish extremists at 7 percent, Communists at 5 percent, and other terrorist organizations at 16 percent.

If only 6 percent of terrorists are Muslim, then why does the media only cover the attacks by Islamic extremists? It doesn't make sense and the way it is being portrayed is entirely deceptive and misleading.

This leaves me perplexed beyond explanation. How is it that FBI files have record that Latinos are responsible for the highest percentage of terrorism toward the U.S., yet we still live in constant fear of being attacked by Muslims?

Also, why is it that they continue to get racially profiled for being terrorists? I'm pretty sure that no one stops Latinos or Jews at the airport for suspicion of intentions to hijack a plane. Let's be clear though, I am in no way saying that they should be stopped- I don't think anyone should be stopped just because they "look" skeptical. Latinos and Jews certainly have had their fair share of being discriminated against and that, in itself, is another unjust situation we can talk about some other time.

But the point here is, Muslims are being targeted unfairly for terrorism when Islamic extremists carried out only 6 percent of the attacks. According to SFGate.com, "if only 10 percent of Muslim Americans were sympathetic toward Islamic extremism, they would constitute a force greater in number than the Coalition forces used to invade Iraq. I submit that if a force that large was in the United States, New York would look a lot more like Baghdad. It doesn't, because the number of Islamic extremists is actually only a tiny percentage of the Muslim-American population."

Granted, 9/11 certainly produced a greater number of casualties than other terrorist attacks, but they are still not grounds for picking out Muslims and blaming them for all the attacks on the U.S.- not to mention, accusing them of all being terrorists.

A study completed by Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said, "The terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim-Americans has been exaggerated."

Obviously. After seeing the actual percentage of terrorist attacks executed by Islamic extremists, it could not be more transparent- not all terrorists are Muslim and not all Muslims are terrorists!

Sabrina Park has written 31 posts on DailyTitan.com.

Tags: FBI, Muslim, Oklahoma City, terrorists

73 Responses to “Only 6 Percent of Terrorists are Muslim”

Matthew says:

May 15, 2011 at 1:18 pm

The fact that “Well, according to FBI files, which can be accessed through fbi.gov, only 6 percent of terrorists are Muslim. The remaining percentage of terrorist attacks on U.S. territory” is misleading!

A.) Muslim terrorist groups are the biggest threat to the U.S. Why else would we be in the Middle East? Why has the U.S. spent $100s of Billions of dollars trying to kill them?

B.) Muslim terrorist groups are not so concentrated on U.S. territory they are more concerned with other countries. The U.S. is not a top priority. Look at Israel! Close to all terrorist attacks come from Muslim terrorists. There is Hezbollah, Hamas, and Fatah!

The article’s message is correct; however, 6% is misleading.
Yaakov says:

June 1, 2011 at 2:07 pm

Both the information provided in this article and the conclusions are wrong. There is no such report on the FBI website. It doesn’t exist. These erroneous figures are being cited all over the internet without correction citation to an original source.
Jill says:

November 12, 2011 at 6:49 pm

IT IS WAY LESS THAN 6 PERCENT! In fact, it’s less than 1 percent. It’s actually .1 percent. This is misleading and absolutely false. This article does nothing but add to the religious intolerance in the U.S. Get educated.
Joe says:

November 18, 2011 at 6:08 am

Below is a link to the 2010 terrorism report. I did not see any of the information cited in this article. In fact hispanics and jews don’t even seem to be mentioned in 2010 or 2009. No private citizen deaths within the United States in 2009 or 2010.

Here is what I did find in the report for Global Terrorism.

“Sunni extremists committed almost 60 percent of all worldwide terrorist attacks. These attacks caused approximately 70 percent of terrorism-related deaths, a significant increase from the almost 62 percent in 2009.”

http://www.nctc.gov/witsbanner/docs/2010_report_on_terrorism.pdf
George Bush says:

November 20, 2011 at 9:55 pm

I got a number for you. How about 100% of Muslims are no good Merica hatin terrorists!!!! That’s why I sent my boys to git’em!!!!
Michael says:

November 22, 2011 at 3:55 pm

This article is positively absurd and has no relevant facts behind the statements it makes. First of all, the statement that states that 7% of terrorists are Jewish is misleading, as the most recent documented attack by a Jewish terrorist group was in 1986 (25 years ago), making it hardly relevant. In fact, when you search “Jewish” in the 2010 NCTC report, you get exactly 0 results. So the reason we don’t see Jewish terrorist attacks in the news is not because “the media is controlled by Jews, man” but because they just don’t happen anymore.

In addition, those were isolated cases performed in rapid succession within a very small time frame mainly by one group (Jewish Defense League) that now condones all its previous actions and states on its website that “Even when Jews are faced by regimes that violate those core Torah tenets that require the highest levels of Jewish self-sacrifice, terrorism is an unacceptable recourse.” I doubt that Al Qaeda would say the same about defending the Qur’an.

All this causes you to wonder why an article written in 2010 would use a source that is 5 years outdated to make a point. However, it all makes sense when you look at the 2010 NCTC report that says that “Sunni extremists committed almost 60 percent of all worldwide terrorist attacks”. So the author of this article somehow twisted the fact that 6% of US domestic terrorist attacks between 1980 and 2005 were perpetrated by Muslims into 6% of all modern terrorists are Muslim. Unless 60% of modern terrorist attacks were undertaken by just 6% of the world’s terrorists (which they obviously weren’t) then the claim that only 6% of the world’s terrorists are Muslim is as laughably far from reality as the claim that 7% of terrorists are Jews.

source: http://www.nctc.gov/witsbanner/docs/2010_report_on_terrorism.pdf
Osama bin Laden says:

November 25, 2011 at 2:06 pm

Ima git you George Bush

and yes all Muslims are terrorists by definition.

If you aren’t a terrorist you aren’t a true Muslim

IMMMA GIT YOU america
Layla says:

November 26, 2011 at 9:44 am

@George Bush: I’m shocked at people’s intolerance towards other religions and you seem to be a proud example. And you sent your boys “to git’em?” They are not animals to be hunted, they are lots of innocent citizens caught in this war that you seem to be so proud to send your “boys” into.

The information of the 6% is from the link posted below:

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005/terror02_05

Though, this percentage “6%” is not made in the article. If you scroll to the bottom of the page it lists terrorist attacks from 1980 to 2005. The 6% was made from grouping each of the attacks into these categories and mathematically presiding in percentages. Joe, it is here you will find the Jewish terrorist attacks that you said you couldn’t find.

But the point of this is that no person should be stereotyped due to other people or group’s fanatic actions. It is both prejudice and can be very discriminatory. Jewish, Muslim, Christianity–in all of these religions you will find problems and some that take their religion too far, but you will also find many that are very good people; people who believe in their own god, but are also tolerable and accept other religions without fear or hate.
Adnan says:

November 28, 2011 at 10:02 am

Response to top comment:
Your saying 6% percent of people in a religion is a big threat? Seriously? The Muslim terrorists attacked on 9-11 because the United States had military bases on Muslim Holy lands. What if Saudi Arabia or Iran built a military base in America, would you be happy? The U.S. spent $100 of billions of dollars on nothing. Thats why Ron Paul wants to bring the troops home if he is elected. The war is endless and useless.
Chance says:

November 28, 2011 at 10:01 pm

And regardless if most of the deaths are in the middle east or not (as demonstrated on page 7)… shouldn’t we care? Shouldn’t we try to modernize these people so they are not such a big threat to themselves and others?

http://www.nctc.gov/witsbanner/docs/2010_report_on_terrorism.pdf
Chance says:

November 28, 2011 at 10:19 pm

How’s that moderation coming along? My other posting which was “awaiting moderation” has gone away? Would you be better advised to provide more reliable statistics than those I have? Please enlighten me to where I might find them.
Justin says:

January 3, 2012 at 8:01 am

Perhaps you should recheck your number bud.
ellie says:

January 27, 2012 at 6:20 pm

“Not all muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are muslims.”
True.
There are people who are tolerant and peaceful and people who take it way to far in every religion.
True.
Percentages from a source no on believe that seem fake.
Not true, and idiotic.

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