In analyzing the situation in countries and regions where more than three quarters of Islamic population are concentrated (Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Arab countries), one can easily perceive specific forms of their development, as well as noncompletion and deviation of many social and cultural processes. This environment allows extensive reproduction of marginal layers of population, which become massive base of potential extremists. In this part of the world, processes of nation state consolidation have not been completed either, which only deepens the problem even more. 'Departmental industrialization' (oil industry in Arab countries and in Indonesia, production of narcotics in Afghanistan and Pakistan) to a great extent lead to marginalization of the culture. In these regions the employment entails changes only in some external cultural features of everyday life, but it does not drive complex changes in cultural habits, value orientations, social connections. In the areas of such 'industrialization', highly strange social and cultural features are created, suitable for the development of extreme political orientations. Thus, in an environment of continuing tensions in mutual relations of central authorities and local communities, i.e. ethnic minorities, the main role in the 'consolidation' of population is taken over by Islam. In this connection, the religion's political role is significantly augmented: mosques and madrassas often become centers of Islamist extremist propaganda, and the militarization of religious-political organizations, such as Taliban, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, and others, becomes also intensified. In Islamic world, to an extent greater than, say, in the Christianity, the religion becomes a foundation of intergovernmental and international alliances, which in itself creates circumstances for generation of global conflict ideas. All the above circumstances considered, one becomes aware of the high complexity of the problem, and that this phenomenon cannot be defined just by partial perception of individual factors facilitating the growing Islamist extremism in so-called Muslim countries. Therefore, the author believes that in the light of these specific circumstances the following terms have to be clarified: shariat, fundamentalism, growing animosity towards Western democracies, jihad, as well as functional dependence between strengthening of Islamist extremism and massive terrorist acts worldwide. Finally, a global security component is discussed in the light of the rising wave of extremist ideas and terrorist acts of militant Islamic extremists.