Key Findings

Revolution Muslim emerged out of a broader tradition of Islamist organizing that called for the reestablishment of the caliphate, years before the inception of the Islamic State.

• Revolution Muslim was the result of the splintering of prior Islamist political organizations due to disputes over leadership and tactics.
• By embracing more radical tactics, the founders of new groups, including Revolution Muslim, generated media coverage and thereby expanded their influence.
• Revolution Muslim and other Islamist groups in the West presaged and established a reservoir of support for the reestablishment of a caliphate, which ultimately aided ISIS.

Revolution Muslim established a new method of jihadist organizing.

• Revolution Muslim promoted a more explicit advocacy of jihadist terrorism than any prior organized manifestation of Islamism in the United States.
• Revolution Muslim spread its material more extensively than prior groups through an integrated and public-facing media effort that pioneered the use of online, social media and in-person activities.

Revolution Muslim’s new approach was the most extensive and effective jihadist mobilization effort in the United States on behalf of al–Qaeda and its allies.

• In at least 15 different cases, individuals who engaged in terrorism or attempted to engage in terrorism were connected to Revolution Muslim.
• Revolution Muslim encouraged individuals to radicalize and enact their views through direct and passive interaction.
• Revolution Muslim’s efforts reshaped the original al-Muhajiroun movement that it emerged out of, encouraging al-Muhajiroun’s move toward more explicit jihadist extremism and more sophisticated online activities.

ISIS developed its own powerful online, English-language radicalization and recruitment efforts by drawing upon the foundation Revolution Muslim had developed.

• Revolution Muslim pioneered the integrated use of English-language propaganda magazines, interactive media and online direct communication platforms, which ISIS would later adopt to great success in its communications efforts.
• ISIS drew upon the human networks that Revolution Muslim had nurtured to recruit fighters to travel to Syria and individuals to conduct attacks in the West.

As ISIS loses its physical territory in Iraq and Syria, the threat from ISIS will increasingly resemble that recently posed by Revolution Muslim.

• Undercover officers, including those operating online, will be essential to track a fluid network like Revolution Muslim or a virtual ISIS.
• The template developed first by Revolution Muslim and later by ISIS will continue to pose a threat regardless of the fate of ISIS as a group. Preventing future attacks and recruitment will require action beyond the arrest of key leaders to address the power of the template.