Moderate Muslim

Moderate Islam and moderate Muslim are labels that are used within counterterrorism discourse as the complement of "Islamic extremism" and imply that supporting Islamic terrorism is the characteristic of a "radical" faction within Islam, and a "moderate" faction of Muslims denounces extremist violence such as Islamic terrorism, militant jihadism and radical Islamism.

Moderation in Islam and moderate Islam are also terms that occur as interpretation of the Islamic concepts of wasatiyyah or wasat (the middle way, centre, balanced, best) as well as Iqtisad (اقتصاد) (right way, middle way, honest, truthful way) and Qasd (قصد). Those terms are used in the Quran, such as to describe the Muslim community:

And thus we have made you a wasat (moderate) community that you will be witnesses over the people.

— Al-Baqara, 2: 143

Moderate views, in the first sense, are widespread according to opinion polls. A majority in eleven Sunni Muslim countries is very negative towards the Islamic State. Moderate perceptions are especially common among Muslims in the Western world, such as Euroislam. Of US Muslims, 82 percent (2017) are concerned about Muslim global extremism, 81 percent believe that suicide bombing can never be justified, and 48 percent believe Muslim leaders have not done enough to prevent extremism (2011).