HijabWearing hijab is “passive terrorism”: USAF study

Published 25 February 2016

A study issued by the U.S. military has suggested that wearing the hijab by some Muslim women represents a form of “passive terrorism.” The study, originally issued by the USAF in 2011 and re-issued in summer 2015, includes a chapter which contains discussion of radicalization. In addition to the comment about hijabs, the chapter also claims that support for militant groups is driven by “sexual deprivation.”

A study issued by the U.S. military has suggested that wearing the hijab by some Muslim women represents a form of “passive terrorism.”

The Independent reports that a policy paper issued by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and titled Countering Violent Extremism: Scientific Methods & Strategies, included a chapter which contained discussion of radicalization. The Intercept reported that in addition to the comment about hijabs, the chapter also claims that support for militant groups is driven by “sexual deprivation.”

The USAF paper, first published in 2011, and was reissued by the Air Force last summer, after President Barack Obama’s announcement of a national counter-extremism strategy. 

The summer 2015 revised version was published online in January by Public Intelligence Web site. The introduction to the revised report referred to the counter-extremism summit convened by Obama, sayig the renewed focus by the government on countering radicalization makes “the wisdom contained in this paper collection … more relevant than ever.”

The chapter which contains the references to the hijab was written by Dr. Tawfik Hamid, who describes himself as a former Islamic extremist and fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

Hamid argues that support for ISIS and other militant groups was the result sexual deprivation among young Muslim men and that terrorism bears relation to religious dress. He says that among the best ways to combat terrorism is “addressing the factors underlying [sexual] deprivation” among young men, as well as “weakening the hijab phenomenon.”

“Extremism occurs when increasing numbers of women begin to wear the hijab, which is both a symptom of Salafi proliferation and a catalyst for Islamism,” writes Hamid. 

“In turn, the proliferation of militant Salafism and the hijab contribute to the idea of passive terrorism, which occurs when moderate segments of the population decline to speak against or actively resist terrorism.

“Speaking from my own experience with the radical groups, I believe young Muslims are motivated to join radical groups because of sexual deprivation.”