Radical Islam poses a threat in that it facilitates the rise of violent jihadists who then spread to all corners of the earth and are willing to spill innocent human blood to achieve their evil goals (Khan, 2010). The rise of radical Islam threatens the entire world because violent jihadists openly and fearfully challenge societies with pure disregard to law and established institutions. The extent to which they are prepared to go, including being ready for suicide missions, so as to achieve their goals poses the greatest challenge to all institutions and people, including security personnel. Although radical Islam is often associated with fanatical violence, other categories such as those who regard themselves as 'peaceful revolutionaries' equally pose a threat to the civilized and orderly society. While the contemporary world of globalization requires for peaceful coexistence of people with freedom of religion and other basic human rights, radical Islam and those who regard themselves as peaceful revolutionaries openly oppose and challenge systems of governance that do not strictly conform to Islamic law (Sharia) (Boyle, 2011). While such groups may not resort to violent means to advance their agenda, their opposition gives strength to jihadists to mete out violence or use the same to purport to govern regions through the use of Islamic law. On some occasions, legitimate governments advance such radical views by enacting legislation that elevate Islam over other religions and just falls short of pure application of Sharia law. .
According to Vidino (2008), the greatest threat from radical Islam in the Middle East is not the violent jihadists nor do the peaceful revolutionaries who challenge governments that do conform to Sharia law. The author argues that the greatest threat comes from groups that openly purport to support democratization processes and the assimilation of Muslim communities to the wider global society including the US, but secretly work to radicalize the Muslim population in host cultures.
