Theideology of the Islamic State, unofficially referred to asIslamic Statism orDaeshism,[1][2][3] has been described as being a blend ofSalafi jihadism,[4][5]SunniIslamistfundamentalism,[6]Wahhabism,[7][8] andQutbism.[9][10][11] Through its official statement of beliefs originally released by its first leaderAbu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2007 and subsequently updated since June 2014, theIslamic State defined itscreed as "a middle way between the extremistKharijites and the laxMurji'ites".[4]: 38
Important doctrines of IS include its belief that it represents a restoration of thecaliphate ofearly Islam to which all Muslims are required to pledge allegiance;[12] that a "defiled" Islam must be purged of apostasy, often with bloody sectarian killings,[13] that the finalDay of Judgment by God is near and will follow the defeat of the army of "Rome" by IS;[5] that a strict adherence to following the precepts "established by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers" is necessary, surpassing even that of other Salafi-Jihadi groups.[5]
Experts disagree on the importance of ideology in IS. According to Cole Bunzel, not all members of IS are aware of the ideology of the group they support.[4] On the other hand,Princeton scholarBernard Haykel, who specializes in the study of IS, argues that many Western observers fail to understand the passionate attachment of IS—including its rank and file—to religious doctrine: "Even the foot soldiers spout"Quranic verses "constantly. They mug for their cameras and repeat their basic doctrines in formulaic fashion, and they do itall the time."[5]Fawaz A. Gerges also writes "researchers have tended to underestimate the power of the Salafi-jihadist ideology"—which he identifies as ISIL ideology—"at their own peril".[14]
The names which are used to describe the group or its ideology vary.
USA Today writes that "The Islamic State is a group of Sunni militants" that "believes in the strict enforcement of Sharia law."[15] In a conversation with a Western journalist (Thomas L. Friedman), a deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia (Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud), described IS's message to Saudi and other Arab Muslims as: "The West is trying to enforce its agenda on you — and the Saudi government is helping them — and Iran is trying to colonize the Arab world. So we — ISIS — are defending Islam."[16]
The Islamic State adheres to globaljihadist principles and follows the hard-line ideology ofal-Qaeda and many other modern-day jihadist groups.[17]Sayyid Qutb is considered the "Father of the Jihadi-Salafi" movement,[18] thus followers of the Salafi-Jihadi school are often derogatorily labelled as "Qutbi". Major elements of IS ideology as well as its extremist practices are thought to be derived from theJihadist works of the Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutb and the manuals of the hard-line wings of theMuslim Brotherhood movement.[19]
The central role of Qutbist influence on Daesh is best captured in a saying popular among Islamic State supporters, attributed to Yemeni journalistAbdulelah Haider Shaye:
"The Islamic State was drafted by Sayyid Qutb, taught byAbdullah Azzam, globalized by Osama bin Laden, transferred to reality by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and implemented by al-Baghdadis: Abu Omar and Abu Bakr."[20]
Other sources trace the group's roots toWahhabism.The New York Times wrote:
For their guiding principles, the leaders of the Islamic State ... are open and clear about their almost exclusive commitment to the Wahhabi movement of Sunni Islam. The group circulates images of Wahhabi religious textbooks from Saudi Arabia in the schools it controls. Videos from the group's territory have shown Wahhabi texts plastered on the sides of an official missionary van.[21]
In a seven-page memorandum (titled "That Those Who Perish Would Perish upon Proof"),[22] the Delegated Committee of Islamic stated that while theFirst Saudi State was established to wage war against theshirk (polytheism) of grave-worship for over 70 years, theIS was established "to wage war against theshirk of the constitution, representing theglobal system, and it was thus fought bynations in theeast and thewest."[23] QuotingIbn Taymiyyah, the memorandum declares:
"Of the greatest blessings upon one for whom Allah wants wellness is that He brought him to live in this time, during which Allah is renewing the religion and reviving the slogan of the Muslims and the conditions of the believers and the mujahidin, so that they may be similar to those who preceded them of the Muhajirin and Ansar..."[22]
The Islamic State aims to return to the early days of Islam, rejecting allinnovations in the religion, which it believes corrupts its original spirit. It condemns later caliphates and theOttoman Empire for deviating from what it calls pure Islam.[24] Following Salafi-Jihadi tradition, the Islamic State condemns the followers of secular law as disbelievers, putting the current Saudi government in that category.[25]
According toThe Economist, Saudi Wahhabi practices followed by the group include the establishment ofreligious police to root out "vice" and enforce attendance atsalat prayers, the widespread use of capital punishment, and the destruction or re-purposing of any non-Sunni religious buildings.[26]Bernard Haykel has described al-Baghdadi's creed as "a kind of untamed Wahhabism".[21]Alastair Crooke described the Islamic State as adopting Wahhabi "puritanism," but denying the "Saudi Kingdom any legitimacy as founders of a State, as the head of the Mosque, or as interpreter of the Qur'an. The IS claims all these attributes for itself."[13]
Although IS adheres to thetheology ofIbn Taymiyyah, it rebels against all Sunni schools of law as well as traditional Salafi interpretations. Their lack of adherence to Sunni legal authorities, coupled with absence of major manuals of law for reference led IS ideologues to derive personal rulings based on self-interpretation of Qur'an and Traditions. IS does not differentiate between Sufis and Salafis in their anathemization. Although IS claims to be Salafi they condemn majority of Salafis and despite adopting aJihadist worldview, they condemn majority of Jihadists. Major scholars of the contemporaryWahhabi movement such asSaleh Al-Fawzan,Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan,Abdulaziz al-Tarefe,Adnan al-Aroor,Muhammad Al-Munajjid, etc. have refuted the Caliphate claim of IS as illegal and condemned them as a "rogue, criminal organisation" reminiscent of the "fanaticalKharijites".[27][28]
In contrast to the centrality ofCaliphate in the discourse and propaganda of the Islamic State, traditional Wahhabi scholars were not known to have called for the re-establishment of apan-Islamiccaliphate. Their doctrines onIslamic state and just leadership were a reiteration of classical Sunni beliefs and did not amount to a novel political theology. The 18th century reformerMuhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was mainly concerned with implementing religious reforms and purification of faith rather than incorporating theMuslim Ummah into a unified political entity headed by aKhalifa. This trend had continued in the Wahhabi treatises of the early twentieth century which didn't call for the re-establishment of a caliphate to fill the power vacuum left after the dissolution of theOttoman Empire. After theirconquest of Mecca, Wahhabis had not declared it the centre of a new Islamic caliphate.[29]
The BBC defines the group's ideology as "radical Islamist," that "aims to establish a "caliphate", a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Islamic law, or Sharia." Furthermore, the BBC adds that "IS members are jihadists who adhere to an extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam and consider themselves the only true believers. They hold that the rest of the world is made up of unbelievers who seek to destroy Islam, justifying attacks against other Muslims and non-Muslims alike."[30]
Cole Bunzel of theBrookings Institution andGraeme Wood ofThe Atlantic state the ideology of the Islamic State is based on Jihadi-Salafism, "a distinct ideological movement in Sunni Islam". According to their works, and IS itself, it unites two streams of Islamic thought that are the originalMuslim Brotherhood andSalafism."[4][5]
However, major figures of theSalafi-Jihadist movement have disassociated themselves from IS. The systematic policy of murder, brutality, excommunication (takfir) and anathemization were extreme even for mainstream Salafi-Jihadists. Salafi-Jihadist leader Abu Abdillah Muhammad al-Mansur, a teacher of al-Baghdadi, wrote a treatise refuting IS titled "The Islamic State between Reality and Illusion" wherein he condemned his former student as a deviant ignorant who "did not master one single book in theology or jurisprudence".[31]
Australian National Security informs that "The Islamic State is an Iraq and Syria-based Sunni extremist group and former al‑Qa'ida affiliate that adheres to the global jihadist ideology."[32]
Sunni critics, including Salafi and jihadistmuftis such asAdnan al-Aroor andAbu Basir al-Tartusi, say that IS and related terrorist groups are not Sunnis, but modern-dayKhawarij—Muslims who have stepped outside the mainstream of Islam—serving an imperial anti-Islamic agenda.[33][34]
Some journalists, historians, writers and opponents of IS andtotalitarian Islamism in Arabic countries have called IS and its self-proclaimed Caliphate's strictly ruled regime "Islamofascism" (other terms which have also been used are "Islamic fascism" and "Islamist fascism").[35]
Similarities exist between the IS militias andfascist regimes, namely their structures, their romanticized images of death, their longing for a violent struggle, their glorification ofwar andsacrifice, their imperialistic goals, theirmachismo, their brutalwar crimes and the methods oftorture which they used against their opponents, theirhatred ofpacifism, andpropaganda which mixes messages about "spirituality" with militant ideals about "forging a new man" through "warfare, action and religious discipline", etc., with the ideals and mentality of "ur-fascist" regimes, and the ideals and mentality ofClerical fascist movements and regimes, for example,WWII.[36][35][37] For example, the fanatically extremistOrthodox Christian Romanian fascistIron Guard movement and the Hungarian extremistCatholic fascistArrow Cross movement both spread similar messages in order to unite the members of their death squads and paramilitary organizations, boost their morale and school them in ideals about becoming "higher" men through hardness, war, fanatic religious worship, and motivate them to commit acts of intolerance and brutality against members of otherraces and anyone else who opposed their ideas. Their methods of "punishing" non-believers, as well as political and religious opponents, have also been compared. For example, the Iron Guard hanged Jews on meat-hooks in slaughterhouses duringpogroms in Bucharest during the 1940s, and it slaughtered them according tokosher methods and wrote the word "kosher" on their corpses, including the corpses of schoolchildren, in order to desecrate the victims and theirreligion.[38][39] During its strict rule ofRaqqa, IS published execution videos in which it murdered people on meat-hooks in a Syrian slaughterhouse according toHalal slaughter methods, during the Islamic holiday ofEid al-Adha.[40][41] Forced participation in religious ceremonies was another indoctrination tool which was used by all of the Clerical fascist puppet-states and IS because they believed that forced participation in religious ceremonies was "necessary" in order to "teach the people" through force.
The modern IS regime and the old Fascist movements openly advocatedgenocide, and they also committed genocide against minorities and murdered anyone else who did not conform to their worldviews, such as "traitors" to their faiths or countries, members of different ethnic groups, people who practiced different religions,atheists, members of progressive or secular groups (for example,Jewish people,socialists andSlavs inNazi-occupied Europe andKurds,Yazidis and members of non-religious Syrian groups in IS-occupied zones), people who their ideologies considered "weak", "decadent", "pacifist", etc. (see the Fascist & Nazi ideas of "purity",supermen andsubhumans).[42][43][44]
In classicalItalian Fascism, and the so-called "ur-fascist" weltanschauung, the belief in performing actions for the sake of actions, the idea that war was a "natural place for the worthy man" and the belief that conservative and extreme traditionalist values should be defended were all important parts of the movement's ideology and "culture of violence"; the same contempt for "weakness", and the glorification/romanticism of engaging in "actions that speak louder than words" (i.e.terrorism andviolence) and the belief that going to war is something which "the new man" should "naturally want to do" is just as central and important to IS's ideology, propaganda and recruiting tactics as it was to the European Fascists. Fascism and IS's variant ofIslamism are ultra traditionalist and they also have goals and dreams of waging war in order to conquer territory and form an "empire". Fascists want to reconquer territory and restore the glory of theRoman Empire, while IS wants to conquer territory and create its own version of aCaliphate. This view which is based on machismo, the desire to rule over conquered lands and cities and impose a harsh regime on others with theright of might is central to both movements' ideologies.[45][43][46]
In terms of economics theIslamic State supportsanti-capitalism,[47][48][49] however in finance politics they also embraceneoliberal elements.[50] While the IS ideology has many similarities toItalian futurism it isn't known if they adopt their economics.[51][52] TheIslamic State advocates forZakat[53][54][55][56] and forJizya.[57]
The ideology of theIslamic State is based on the tenets ofAl-Qaeda literature that had ascended in theJihadist field since the 1980s. The core features of Jihadist literature during this era were outlined by the influentialEgyptianIslamist scholarSayyid Qutb (d. 1966 C.E/ 1386 A.H), who believed that Islamic principles had become titular and condemned his society as being sunk in a state ofJahiliyya (pre-Islamic ignorance). To overcome this state, Qutb proposed the implementation of theHakimiyya doctrine, which espoused the Sovereignty of God in all aspects of life. This was to be achieved by overthrowal of the modern-daynation-states and subsequent establishment of anIslamic order based on the society ofMuhammad and hiscompanions, through armedJihad. Those Muslims who opposed their principles were considered renegades guilty ofapostasy. Qutb drew his revolutionary ideals mainly from the works of medieval theologiansIbn Taymiyya (d. 1328 C.E/ 728 A.H) andIbn Qayyim (d. 1350 C.E/ 751 A.H); which strongly condemned the cult of saints and practices related to grave veneration. Qutb re-oriented Ibn Taymiyya's critiques against what he described as the "modern idols", i.e, the contemporary nation states. These re-invigorated doctrines would shape theSalafi Jihadist theology from the 1970s, represented by organisations likeAl-Qaeda,Egyptian Islamic Jihad, etc. The Islamic State regards itself as the true successor of these theological doctrines and accuses Al-Qaeda leadership underZawahiri of being deviated. Unlike Al-Qaeda, IS was also able to implement these doctrines in its territories during its brief stint of power in parts of Iraq and Syria during 2014-2019.[58][59]
According to Professor Bartosz Bolechów of theUniversity of Warsaw, the ideology of theIslamic State was formed as a consequence of ideological radicalisation in response to theWar on terror launched after9/11. Asserting that the binary worldview of Islamic State and its ideological evolution is compatible with the conclusions ofTerror Management Theory (TMT), Bolechów states:
"Jihadi, revolutionary variant of Salafism is a modern phenomenon inspired initially by the writings ofSayyid Qutb (and then by scholars likeAbu Muhammad al-Maqdisi andAbu Basir al-Tartusi) and born as a reaction to Islamic political fragmentation (after thefall of Ottoman Empire),colonization (by Western powers) and modernization.. IfJihadi-Salafism should be understood as a radical fringe of Salafism, the ideology of the Islamic State is so far its most extreme version. Some scholars are calling this variant Neo-Takfirism to stress the fact of its strained or even openly hostile relations with more "traditional" strains of jihadi organizations, its thinkers and leaders. This new variant is definitely an indirect byproduct of 9/11 and direct byproduct of GWOT: the chain of events started by the disruption of Al-Qaeda central in Afghanistan and then continued with anintervention in Iraq.. GWOT basically supported the narrative of the revolutionary Salafism: that counterterrorism is only a pretext used by the West in its historical quest for destroying Islam. It was a leading force and a key factor behind a further radicalization of an already radical worldview."[60]
EgyptianJihadist theoretician and ideologueAbu Abdullah al-Muhajir, is widely regarded as the "theologian who shaped ISIS". His works provided the most influential inspiration for modern jihadist strategies.[61][62][63] Al-Muhajir's legal manual on violence,Fiqh al-Dima (The Jurisprudence of Jihad orThe Jurisprudence of Blood),[9][61][62][63][64] became IS's standard reference for justifying its extraordinary acts of violence.[9][61][62][63] The book has been described by counter-terrorism scholar Orwa Ajjoub as rationalizing and justifying "suicide operations, the mutilation of corpses, beheading, and the killing of children and non-combatants".[63] His theological and legal justifications influenced IS,[61][62][63] al-Qaeda,[61] andBoko Haram,[62] as well as several other jihadi terrorist groups.[61]
Fawaz A. Gerges believes that IS has drawn from Salafi-jihadists' "repertoire of ideas and selectively borrowed whatever fits its unique worldview".[14] In particular, he believes IS has drawn from three works that share an advocacy of offensive jihad, opposition to any gradualism or political activity, attacking the near enemy not just the far, observing no limits in killing and brutalizing as extreme violence as this is following the way of the prophet and is the best way to bring the enemy to submission.Three works are:
The classical references of IS mainly consist of the medieval legal literature ofIbn Taymiyya,Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya and various collections ofhadiths and their exegeses. Contemporary scholarly references relied upon by IS include the 19th century treatises ofWahhabiAal al-Shaykhs, treatises ofSayyid Qutb,Juhayman Al-'Utaybi, as well as the popularJihadi literature produced by the exponents of theSahwa movement,Shu'aybi school andAl-Qaeda. Major references also consist of the legal works of various scholars influential in theSalafi tradition; such as the early 19th centuryYemeni theologianMuhammad Al-Shawkani. The writings of classical theologian Ibn Taymiyya are disproportionately cited throughout IS pamphlets, propaganda videos and magazines. Throughout their works, IS ideologues refer to Ibn Taymiyya by the title "Shaykh al-Islam". As of 2019, Ibn Taymiyya has been cited more than 40,000 times out of all the 300,000 pages published by various AQ and IS Publications. However, IS strategists are highly selective in appropriating the ideas found in scholarly literature; by moulding them to align with their revolutionary propaganda and militant ideology.[72][73][74]
Al-Shawkani's tracts condemning the building over graves, in particular, are often abbreviated, re-published and distributed via IS propaganda material and leaflets. During itsoccupation of Mosul, IS distributed Shawkani's treatises that advocated the "levelling" of tombs and elevated graves, asserting it as a core religious doctrine. Citing Shawkani, ISexcommunicated those who visit graves for beseeching favours as polytheists andapostates. Executions of captured enemy combatants suspected of beingShi'ites are also justified through these writings. Despite resistance from local populace, IS engaged in a campaign of destroying the tombs of various saints throughout their three year-reign inMosul.[75][76][77]
Various scholars assert thatIslamic State misappropriates classical scholarlyfatwas (legal verdicts) to justify their ruthless religious interpretations that diverges from traditionalSunnism, including mainstreamSalafism. IS ideologues often accuse their religious critics of being guilty ofTaqlid (blind following), for disagreeing with their brutal execution methods and violent tactics like suicide bombings. IS magazines such asDabiq andDar al-Islam regularly publish numerous articles fervently denouncing those who fall intoTaqlid as heretics since "it implies following someone other than Allah and his messenger".Dabiq magazine published an article in 2015 titled "The Evil of Division and Taqlid", which emphasized the obligation to followProphetic commands and condemned the practice of imitating scholarly verdicts without basis in Scriptures. An example of this literalism was manifested in the 2015 burning to death of Jordanian pilotMuath al-Kasasbeh which was justified by IS based onQisas ("eye for an eye") principle inQur'an.[78][79]
Having declared itself to be a new Caliphate, and al-Baghdadi to be the new Caliph, IS has declared "We inform the Muslims that, with the announcement of the caliphate, it has become obligatory for all Muslims to giveBay'ah and support him", and "O Muslims in all places. Whoso is able to emigrate to the Islamic State, let him emigrate. For emigration to the Abode of Islam is obligatory".[4] This holds true for all other jihadi groups including Al-Qaeda which (IS believes) has lost its reason for existing independently.
Salafi Jihadists such as IS believe that only a legitimate authority can undertake the leadership ofjihad, and that the first priority over other areas of combat, such as fighting non-Muslim countries, is the purification of Islamic society. For example, IS regards the (non-Salafi) Palestinian Islamist Sunni groupHamas as apostates who have no legitimate authority to lead jihad and it regards fighting Hamas as the first step before confrontation with Israel.[21][80]
But IS goes further, ordering all jihadists everywhere that they obey and must pledge their loyalty to the commander of the faithful — i.e. their now deceased caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — who had ordered his fighters to "split the head" and "strike the neck" of those who do not.[14] That IS is serious about this demand for obedience is reflected in its attacks on theAl-Nusra Front in Syria, a group which declined to pledge loyalty to ISIL. The fight has involved "wholesale rapes, beheadings and crucifixions" and killed "thousands of skilled fighters from both sides".[14]
According to Hayder al-Khoei, the central importance of the restoration of thecaliphate of early Islam to IS's philosophy is symbolized by theBlack Standard IS has adopted, a variant of the legendary battle flag of Muhammad displaying theSeal of Muhammad within a white circle, with the phrase above it, "There is no God but Allah".[12][81]
Without a caliphate, there can be no offensive jihad, according to traditional Islamic law. According to jihadist preacherAnjem Choudary, "Hitherto, we were just defending ourselves," but now IS can fight to the forcible expansion into countries that are ruled by non-Muslims. Waging of war to expand the caliphate is an essential duty of the caliph, so according to its ideological supporters like Anjem Choudary, IS is not just allowed to fight offensively but forbidden not to.[5]
The workTheManagement of Savagery describes three stages of jihad.
AuthorGraeme Wood has noted the importance of the "governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers" (which together with two succeeding generations of Muslims are known as theSalaf), from which IS insists it "cannot waver".
Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards, license plates, stationery, and coins, "the Prophetic methodology," which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail.[5]
While other jihadis are salafist in doctrine, IS been more exacting in following early practices by "embrac[ing] slavery and crucifixion without apology," as well as ajizya tax on Christians.[5] It has boasted about its enslavement of Yazidi women in its international magazineDabiq.[14]
Despite this, IS rejects many traditional Salafi interpretations and condemns the majority of Salafis as heretics. Major Salafi scholars of contemporary era such asSaleh Al-Fawzan,Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan,Abdulaziz al-Tarefe,Sulaiman Al-Alwan,Adnan al-Aroor,Muhammad Al-Munajjid, etc. have refuted the Caliphate claim of IS as illegal and condemned them as a "rogue, criminal organisation" reminiscent of the "fanaticalKharijites".[85][28]
The ideology of the Islamic State is based on Jihadi-Salafism, "a distinct ideological movement in Sunni Islam", according to Cole Bunzel of theBrookings Institution andGraeme Wood ofThe Atlantic. According to their works, and IS itself, it unites two streams of Islamic thought that are the originalMuslim Brotherhood andSalafism, though IS regards the modern Muslim Brotherhood andHamas as traitors andapostates. "We believe that jihad in God's path is an individual obligation, from thefall of al-Andalus until the liberation of [all] Muslim lands, and [that it is an individual obligation] in the presence of a pious person or an impious person."[4][5] British newspaperThe Guardian defines the organisation's ideology as "generally viewed as identical toal-Qaida's or theSaudi version of Salafism– adherence to fundamental Islamic tenets."[86] However, the sheer brutality and extreme tendencies of IS have alienated them from mainstream Salafi-Jihadists. Prominent Salafi-Jihadist ideologues have condemned IS and wrote treatises against them.[31]
One of the most repeated propaganda tropes of IS is the denunciation of itsJihadist and other religious opponents as "Murji'ites", an ancient heterodox sect condemned as heretical by mainstreamSunnism. According to Jeffrey Bristol,
"This is an important accusation, for ISIS believes that true Islam is one wholly without sects, even without the traditional four schools of jurisprudence, so that any creation of sectarianism renders one's Islam void."[87]
TheTakfiri ideology of groups likeAl-Qaeda andIslamic State has its roots in the writings of the 20th century Egyptianmilitant Islamist ideologueSayyid Qutb (1906-1966 C.E), which preached against the governments and societies of theMuslim World. Qutb regarded the Muslim world as being sunk in a state ofJahiliyya (pre-Islamic ignorance) and by employingTakfir (excommunication); he demanded violent overthrowal of contemporary regimes.[88] Describing the contemporary conditions of society, Qutb claimed:
"Our whole environment, people's beliefs and ideas, habits and art, rules and laws - isJahiliyyah, even to the extent that what we consider to be Islamic culture, Islamic sources, Islamic philosophy and Islamic thought are also constructs ofJahiliyyah!"[89][90]
Daesh's sectarianism andtakfiri approach is historically rooted inAl-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI),[91] founded byAbu Mussab al-Zarqawi in 2004. Its ideological roots are found in the writings ofIbn Taymiyya,Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and Sayyid Qutb.[92] Thetakfir (declaring self-proclaimed Muslims to be apostates, which usually also means calling for their death) of IS on large numbers of Muslims has been a point of difference between itself and other jihadis such as Al-Qaeda. IS is "committed to purifying the world by killing vast numbers of people", according toGraeme Wood.[5] According to Jamileh Kadivar, IS has given a higher priority to fighting what it views as apostates than "original disbelievers" (Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc.).[93] Consequently, the majority of the "27,947 terrorist deaths" it has been responsible for as of 2020[Note 1] have been Muslims[Note 2] it regards "as kafir".[94] On the other hand, Troy E. Spier notes that the demarcation of believers and non-believers is more complex than a simple assignation of religious faith.[91] Takfiri ideology is "a significant part" of IS "identity and being" (according to Kadivar), and a message emphasizing the pure Islam of IS supporters and the "otherness", unbelief and apostasy of "other Muslims" permeates its media/propaganda.[94][Note 3]
From about 2003 to 2006,Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of IS predecessor group, al‑Qaeda in Iraq, expanded "the range of behavior" that could make large number of self-proclaimed Muslims infidels (kafir) -- including "in certain cases, selling alcohol or drugs, wearing Western clothes or shaving one's beard, voting in an election—even for a Muslim candidate—and being lax about calling other people apostates".[5] However, Shi'a Muslims have been its "main target" in takfir. Al-Zarqawi wrote that "the danger from the Shi'a ... is greater, and their damage is worse and more destructive to the (Islamic) nation (Ummah) than the Americans, ... so fighting the Shiites ... will not end until the land is ... purified of them".[95]
IS continued the policy of takfir, on Shia and others. "Those who reject the takfir of Twelver Shiite scholars" are "disbelievers".[96]The group states that if a Muslim who commits one of the "10 nullifiers (nawaqid) of Islam" established byIbn Abd al-Wahhab,[97] they become an apostate from Islam. The "third nullifier" was that: "Whoever does not hold the polytheists (mushrikeen) to be disbelievers (kuffar), or has doubts about their disbelief or considers their ways and beliefs to be correct, has committed disbelief"[94] An "Important memorandum" by the group from 2017 stated:
The Islamic State has not ceased for a single day from making Takfir of theMushrikin [polytheists], and that it treats the making of the Takfir of theMushrikin as one of the utmost principles of the religion, which must be known before knowing the prayer and other obligations that are known of the religion by necessity[98]
However the IS definition ofmushrikeen was not limited to those who had multiple gods in their religion. IS included amongst the sins qualifying as one of the nullifiers "adopting democracy or fighting for the sake of patriotism, nationalism or civil state".[99][100]Another example of the willingness to takfir is a statement not only calling for the revival of slavery (specifically ofYazidi) but takfiring any Muslim who disagreed with that doctrine.
Yazidi women and children [are to be] divided according to the Shariah amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated in theSinjar operations … Enslaving the families of thekuffar and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shariah that if one were to deny or mock, he would be denying or mocking the verses of the Koran and the narrations of the Prophet … and thereby apostatizing from Islam.[5]
Despite their similarities in ideology, IS also takfired other Islamists and jihadi groups—theMuslim Brotherhood (Al-Ikhwan ul-Muslimin),Al-Nusra Front and Al-Qaeda.[94] The Muslim Brotherhood in particular has been dubbed a "devastating cancer", "the brothers of Shaytan, a deviant sect, and the laboring agents of the Crusaders against Islam and its people". It claims that "To actualize the 'New World Order' project, the Crusaders (Christians) found none better than the Murtadd Brotherhood to be the role model for people".[101]
According to Jamileh Kadivar, an examination of IS public statements reveals conflict within the group over takfir—over whether takfir is "one of the principles of the religion," or merely a "requirement/necessity of religion", which has led to "warnings, imprisonment, and execution" of "Sharia office members, judges, and amirs"[102][94]
IS has been noted for what many observers have called "appalling"[103] or "horrifying" brutality,[65] its release of videos and photographs of beheadings, shootings, caged prisoners being burnt alive or submerged gradually until drowned.[104]Among other effects, the group's mass killings and publicizing of them led to a split between it and Al-Qaeda.[103]
IS's violence is "not some whimsical, crazed fanaticism, but a very deliberate, considered strategy", according to some analysts,[13] who often quote from the tractManagement of Savagery[105] This work asserts that "one who previously engaged in jihad knows that it is naught but violence, crudeness, terrorism, deterrence and massacring."[106] While "savage chaos" is unpleasant it has to be remembered that even "the most abominable of the levels of savagery" are better "than stability under the order of unbelief," i.e. any regime other than IS.[107][108]
One observer has described IS's publicizing of its mass executions and killing of civilians as part of "a conscious plan designed to instill among believers a sense of meaning that is sacred and sublime, while scaring the hell out of fence-sitters and enemies."[108] Another describes it purpose as to "break" psychologically those under its control "so as to ensure their absolute allegiance through fear and intimidation", while generating "outright hate and vengeance" by its enemies.[109] (That this doctrine has been embraced by at least some lower level IS fighters would seem to be corroborated by German journalistJürgen Todenhöfer, an opponent of Western intervention in Iraq who spent ten days embedded with IS in Mosul, and noted "something that I don't understand at all is the enthusiasm in their plan of religious cleansing, planning to kill the non-believers ... They were talking about hundreds of millions. They were enthusiastic about it ...")[110]
One difference between IS and other Islamist and jihadist movements, includingal-Qaeda, is the group's emphasis oneschatology andapocalypticism—that is, a belief that the final Day of Judgment by God are near, and specifically, that the arrival of one known as ImamMahdi is close at hand. It has been described as "a major part" of IS's "recruiting pitch."[111] The IS caliph,Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and other leaders have depicted themselves as battling the "antichrist" (Al-Masih ad-Dajjal?) according to Fawaz A. Gerges.[14]
IS believes that it will defeat the army of "Rome" at the town ofDabiq, in fulfilment of prophecy.[5] Following its interpretation of theHadith of the Twelve Successors, IS also believes that after al-Baghdadi there will be only four more legitimate caliphs.[5] The noted scholar of militant IslamismWilliam McCants writes:
References to theEnd Times fill Islamic Statepropaganda. It is a big selling point with foreign fighters, who want to travel to the lands where the final battles of theapocalypse will take place. The civil wars raging in those countries today [Iraq and Syria] lend credibility to the prophecies. The Islamic State has stoked the apocalyptic fire. [...] For Bin Laden's generation, the apocalypse wasn't a great recruiting pitch. Governments in the Middle East two decades ago were more stable, and sectarianism was more subdued. It was better to recruit by calling to arms against corruption and tyranny than against the Antichrist. Today, though, the apocalyptic recruiting pitch makes more sense.
— William McCants,The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State[112]
Roots of the doctrinal divergences between Al-Qaeda and IS lie in the various theological and policy disagreements betweenOsama Bin Laden andAbu Musab al-Zarqawi; the Jordanian leader of Al-Qaeda'sIraq franchise (AQI). Bin Laden believed in Muslim unity (i.e. sectarianism was discouraged) and aimed the war of "vexing and exhausting" at the "far enemy" (United States). On the other hand, Zarqawi pivoted towards eliminating internal enemies, most notablyShia Muslims andsecularists; whom he regarded as the "near enemy". IS focuses on "grievance (heavily grounded in the feelings of a displaced and impoverished rural class)" which involve a "near enemy".[113] In the wake of the fall ofSaddam Hussein, not only were Sunnis removed from power but the capitalBaghdad and the Iraqi army were cleansed of Sunnis. This created a "sense of Sunni loss of privilege" and power; "a deep desire for revenge against "usurpers" specifically the "cosmopolitan, affluent elite" and "above all" the Shi'a and Iran.[114]
Al-Qaeda leadership criticised both Zarqawi and his successorAbu Omar al-Baghdadi over theiranti-Shia outlook. Bin Laden had advocated for a joint front of Shia and SunniIslamist groups to fight together during theIraqi insurgency against theAmerican occupation of Iraq. However, Zarqawi believed in igniting a sectarian war in Iraq as part of the anti-American insurgency; which eventually culminated in theIraqi civil war.[115] IS ideologues had adopted Wahhabist beliefs that Islam should be "cleansed" or purged of deviant groups that "defiled" the religion, and amplified them in their Global Jihadist strategy.[114] Al-Qaeda ideologues also regularly criticise IS for exaggerating the status of the medieval scholarIbn Taymiyyah in their doctrinal and legal manuals; accusing them of disregarding the wider classicalSunnischolarship.[116] Urging Zarqawi to refrain from harming Shia civilians and mosques;Ayman al-Zawahiri wrote:
"such acts affect the protected blood of women, children, and non-combatant Shia public, who are protected because they are excused for their ignorance [of true religious doctrine, unlike Shia clerics]. This is the consensus of the Sunni toward the Shia public and ignorant followers."[117]
Another difference is Islamic State's total rejection of traditionalIslamic scholars, whom they accuse of being agents of apostate regimes. In contrast, Al-Qaeda considers mainstream clerics as authoritative and follows the policy of appealing to them for their cause. By February 2014, Al-Qaeda had publicly severed its ties to Islamic State and condemned its brutal violence; accusing the organisation of estranging the Muslim public from theJihadist cause.[118] FormerBritish Intelligence officer and diplomatAlastair Crooke sees "two elements" to the difference between IS and Al-Qaeda:
Numerous Al-Qaeda leaders and ideologues penned key treatises contesting the legitimacy of Caliphate claims of theIslamic State, citing precedence from classical, modern and pre-modern Islamic jurisprudents such as Ibn Taymiyya,Mawardi,Ibn Khaldun,Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab,Rashid Rida, etc. In a 10-page tract titled "Taqrib Mafhum al-Khilafat al-Rashida" (Familiarising the Muslim masses with the concept of the rightly guided caliphate),Al-Nusra Front scholarSami al-'Uraydi asserts that people cannot be forced to pledgebay'ah (allegiance) to the Caliphate; rather it needs to be established throughshura (consultation) with thequalified representatives of the Muslim populations. Although a caliphate can be established forcibly in a lexical sense, the regime of IS cannot be termed "Rightly Guided Caliphate" since it was violently created by forcibly oppressing the Muslim population and is led by "Khawarij".[119][120] Citing Rashid Rida, Al-'Uraydi writes:
"Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida, (may God have mercy on him) says: 'The meaning of this is that;seizing power by force is like eating dead meat and pork in necessity to avoid starvation, is enforced by force and is less [disastrous] thananarchy... and its implication is that it is necessary to strive to always remove it when possible, and it is not permissible to settle on its permanence' "[119][120]
IS publishes material directed at women. Although women are not allowed to take up arms, media groups encourage them to play supportive roles within IS, such as providing first aid, cooking, nursing and sewing skills, in order to become "good wives of jihad".[121]
A document entitledWomen in the Islamic State: Manifesto and Case Study, released 23 January 2015 by the media wing of IS's all-femaleAl-Khansaa Brigade, (issued in Arabic and not translated by IS but by an anti-Islamist Quilliam Foundation[122]) emphasized the paramount importance of marriage and motherhood (as early as nine-years-old) for women. Women should live a life of "sedentariness", fulfilling their "divine duty of motherhood" at home: "Yes, we say 'stay in your houses,' ....."[122][123] Under "exceptional circumstances," women may leave home—doctors, teachers, women studying Islam are exempt from confinement, as are women if they are needed to fight jihad and ordered to do so by religious leaders when there are not enough men around to protect the country from enemy attack.[122][123]
In education, the document author envisions a system where girls complete their formal schooling by age 15. Women are encouraged to study, provided the content is not "worldly" knowledge, but religious, for exampleShari'ah, (Islamic law). The proper Muslim women should not study
these worthless worldly sciences in the farthest mountains and the deepest valleys, ... She travels, intent upon learning Western lifestyle and sitting in the midst of another culture, to study the brain cells of crows, grains of sand and the arteries of fish!
If instead she studiesfiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), "there is with no need for her to flit here and there to get degrees and so on, just so she can try to prove that her intelligence is greater than a man's."[123]
The treatise decries Western feminism and the blurring of lines between the roles of each sex, which has caused Muslims to forget how to worship God properly. "Women are not presented with a true picture of man", and men have become emasculated.[122]
Equality for women is criticized on the grounds that
Women gain nothing from the idea of their equality with men apart from thorns ... Under 'equality' they have to work and rest on the same days as men even though they have 'monthly complications' and pregnancies and so on, in spite of the nature of her life and responsibilities to their husband, sons and religion."[123]
Some authors have conceptualized similarities between the ideological aspects espoused by IS and the militant revolutionary strands ofMarxist doctrine. Major themes espoused by IS have been compared to various aspects of Marxist worldview such as opposition to thenation-state system, binary categorisations of human societies into oppressed and oppressor classes, advocacy of global revolution to overthrow the prevalentworld system, belief in an ideologically dedicated vanguard to carry out the armed revolution,deterministic conceptualisation of history, negation of diplomatic engagement with opponents and emphasis on violent means to change the hostile world order rather than participating in internal reforms.[124] According to political scientist Massimo Ramaioli:
"Al-Baghdadi was not unlikeLenin: leaders of an uncompromising vanguard, hellbent on the rejection of the incumbent historical bloc, ready to deploy violence to upend such order, zealots in their representation of the Enemy. The scientific truth adumbrated by an averred correct understanding of history granted both ISIS and theBolsheviks brazen confidence and frightful resolve. It revealed in their ideology and attendant political praxis."[125]
Residents report that the ISIL dress code for women was both very strict and strictly enforced.[126] Shortly after taking control of Mosul in 2014 residents reported that ISIL distributed from door-to-door a "Bill of the City," detailing its plans for governing the city, and declaring that women should wear a "wide, loose jilbab, stay in your homes and leave them only in cases of necessity."[127]
The dress code was implemented gradually and completed with the requirement that every part of the female body including the eyes be covered in public. Some former female residents complained that this prevented them from such basic tasks as seeing where they were going; or when shopping seeing what they were buying and what change was being given them.[126]
Thousands of sets ofniqab were distributed to shops in Mosul after the ISIL takeover and decrees ordered that women wear them along with gloves. ISIL billboards gave details of required apparel for women stating that outer gowns should be "thick and not reveal what is beneath" and should "not draw attention."[126] Regulations on dress are enforced byDiwan al-Hisba or "morality police" who issue citations and confiscate IDs. According to the New York Times, "depending on the offense, he was forced to pay a fine, or else either he or his wife was sentenced to a whipping, recent escapees said."[126] In one case a woman resident complained that she was arrested by a vigilant morality police officer who spotted her lifting her veil to let food enter her mouth while on a family picnic. She was sentenced to 21 lashes administered with "a cable that had metal spikes on the end" and had to be hospitalized afterwards.[126]
The Diwan al-Hisba also enforced laws on behavior for men in Mosul, who were fined and flogged for infractions such as "incorrect beard length, for failure to pray at the sanctioned time, for possession of cigarettes and alcohol".[126]
Following the announcement of theIslamic State of Iraq (ISIL's predecessor) in 2006, there was much celebration on Jihadist websites. A number of popular forums added counters that counted the number of days that had passed since the Islamic state's establishment, with a statement underneath: "[a certain number of] days have passed since the announcement of the Islamic State and the [Muslim] community's coming hope…and it will continue to persist by the will of God." However, outside of jihadists online, it was not considered by people as an official state.[4]Abu Umar al-Baghdadi andAbu Hamza al-Muhajir both insisted that the Islamic State of Iraq was not simply a new name forAl-Qaeda in Iraq, but was an actual state. When other Iraq-based Salafi factions like theIslamic Army in Iraq refused to recognize it as a state and give it theirallegiance, Abu Umar al-Baghdadi called them "sinners".[4]
U.S. Secretary Of StateJohn Kerry said in a statement that "[IS] is not Islamic", and denied it was a state, instead calling it a terrorist organization. Neither governments nor peoples recognize it as legitimate government.[128]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Thus, in essence, ISIS draws heavily from the Qutbist branch of Salafism, using and promoting the ideas and views of such Islamist scholars and spokesmen as Sayyid Qutb...
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)The central role of Islamist ideas is best captured in a saying popular among Islamic State supporters, attributed to Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye: "The Islamic State was drafted by Sayyid Qutb, taught by Abdullah Azzam, globalized by Osama bin Laden, transferred to reality by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and implemented by al-Baghdadis: Abu Omar and Abu Bakr."
Wahhabis are not known to have called for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. Neither their eighteenth-century classical sources nor contemporary publications endorse a call for this Islamic polity.. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), was mainly concerned with the purity of faith rather than the unity of the Muslim community or its incorporation in a single political entity... Neither the caliphate nor the Islamic state is theorized in the writings of Wahhabi 'ulama, including the founder of the movement.. Wahhabis are not known for producing political theology. Their views on the rightful Islamic leadership are a reiteration of classical Sunni opinions... Nothing in the Wahhabis' writings of the early twentieth century indicates that they aspired to establish a caliphate to fill the power vacuum left by the demise of the Ottoman empire. When their forces occupied Mecca in 1924 they did not declare it the centre of a new Islamic caliphate.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)The contemporary usage of takfir has its roots in Qutb's writings against the state or the society which he regarded as being in the state of jahiliyyah (ignorance). In the mid-20th century, Qutb (2014) divided Muslim societies into good and evil, and invoked the idea of takfir against those he considered evil. Through terms such as jahiliyyah and takfir, he not only considered Muslim regimes as ignorant but also demanded their overturn. He wrote against some Islamic governments and societies and considered many Muslims to be disbelievers... According to Qutb, using violence is necessary against corrupt Muslim rulers. His view on the Jahiliyyah of Muslim societies has influenced the takfiri thoughts of groups such as AQ and Daesh
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Daesh's roots, its takfiri approach and sectarian plan in Iraq can directly be traced back to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2004... while Daesh is historically rooted in AQI, its takfiri ideology's roots can be found in the Khawarij's view, and in the writings of Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and Sayyid Qutb.
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