The word “militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak in 2020. Today the opening carries none. 1 remains further down the article, where a reader arriving from a search result does not go.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. “militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1.
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The opening as it read in 2020
Beheading was a standard method of execution in pre-modern Islamic law , similarly to pre-modern European law.1Its use had been abandoned in most countries by the end of the 20th century.2Currently, it is used only in Saudi Arabia . It also remains a legal method of execution in Qatar, Yemen, and was reportedly used in 2001 in Iran according to Amnesty International , where it is no longer in use. In recent times, non-state Jihadist organizations such as ISIS and Tawhid and Jihad have used beheading as a method of killing captives. Since 2002, they have circulated beheading videos as a form of terror and propaganda . Their actions have been condemned by other militant and terrorist groups, as well as by mainstream Islamic scholars and organizations. "Beheading was last used as a method of execution in 2001....beheading is no longer in use." Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Death Penalty Worldwide: Iran Sara Hussein and Rita Daou (3 September 2014). Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 965045746.
The opening as it stood in 2015
( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Countries with decapitation as a legal penalty In law but no longer in use In law and in use Organizational structures Financing Fronting Radicalization ( online ) Training camp Death squad Clandestine cell system Leaderless resistance Lone wolf Domestic Methods Tactics Agro-terrorism Aircraft hijacking list Beheading Guillotine #Reign of Terror Islamic views Salafi Bombing Animal-borne Car list Improvised Letter Proxy Threat Bioterrorism Cyberterrorism Dry run Environmental Hostage-taking Incitement to terrorism Individual terror Insurgency Kidnapping Nuclear Paper Piracy Propaganda of the deed Shooting School Spree Stabbing Stochastic Suicide attack Country categories Rockets and mortars Urban terrorism Vehicle-ramming Relationship to states Response to terrorism v t e Beheading is a formerly widespread execution method that has gradually been banned throughout the world but remains used or advocated for by some adherents of Islamism and Islamic extremism . Beheading is a legal form of execution in Iran , Qatar and Yemen , but the punishment has been suspended in those countries. The majority of executions carried out by the Wahhabi government of Saudi Arabia are public beheadings , which usually cause mass gatherings but are not allowed to be photographed or filmed. Since 2002, however, jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been mass circulating beheading videos as a form of terror and propaganda.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667091609.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Execution in Islamicate jurisdictions Beheading was a standard method of execution in pre-modern Islamic law .By the end of the 20th century, its use had been abandoned in most countries.Beheading is still a legal method of execution in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Yemen.In Iran, beheading was last used in 2001 according to Amnesty International , but it is no longer in use.In recent decades, extremist Salafi jihadist groups have used beheading as a method of killing captives and terror tactic.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1172945412.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Execution in Islamicate jurisdictions Decapitation was a standard method of capital punishment in pre-modern Islamic law . By the end of the 20th century, its use had been abandoned in most countries. Decapitation is still a legal method of execution in Saudi Arabia and Yemen.It is also a legal method for execution in Zamfara State, Nigeria under Sharia. In Iran, beheading was last used in 2001 according to Amnesty International , but it is no longer in use. In recent decades, extremist Salafi jihadist groups have used beheading as a method of killing captives and terror tactic.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1276498204. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
militant
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1
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terror
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1
islamist
1
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jihad
2
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1
1
hostage
1
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
Sections that no longer exist
Present on 6 October 2023, absent today. A heading can vanish because the section was deleted or because it was renamed or merged, and we have not separated those here, so treat this as a list of what to check rather than a verdict.
Beheading in Islamic scripture1,456 characters
Beheading in Islamic law750 characters
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
