jidoex66:
This special research project was compiled and edited in August 2015 by ING summer intern Salma Abdulkader, a rising sophomore majoring in Political Science and International Affairs at Dominican University of California.




Who is ISIS and where did they come from?

ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL, and, more recently, just IS or Islamic State. The group is popularly known as Da’-ish in Arabic. Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, former Al-Qaeda member in Iraq, is credited with laying out ISIS’ original ideology. Though killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2006, Zarqawi was the first to move the insurgency in Iraq from a struggle against U.S. troops to a Shia-Sunni war. The demographics of ISIS are diverse; it has members of different ages, ethnicities, and agendas. Former followers of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in Iraq make up a substantial portion of the organization. Following U.S. intervention, Baathist supporters who were not put in military prisons fled into hiding. When US troops withdrew, the weakness of the interim government left a power vacuum. This was an ideal setting for the creation of ISIS. Teaming up with former members of Al-Qaeda’s Iraq branch, the former Baathists created what became ISIS. Led by Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, a former Al-Qaeda member, and Omar Al-Baghdadi, a former Baathist, a handful of small insurgent groups joined together to form the Islamic State in Iraq. There is much speculation over who the original leader was, but Al-Baghdadi was identified as the organization’s public face.[1] Both of these leaders were killed in an U.S.-Iraqi air strike in 2010. In June 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed himself the Caliph. He is known as the invisible sheikh, commonly covering his face in order to create an alluring shroud of mystery.[2] He is rumored to have several college degrees in Islamic studies. In February 2014 al-Qaeda cut all ties with the group, reportedly because of its brutality, and after a falling out between ISIS and another al-Qaeda-related Syrian opposition group, al-Nusra Front,[3] but the Baathist roots within the Islamic State are very strong. Many former Saddam Hussein followers have been known to hold high positions in ISIS’ regime and ISIS makes use of Baathist intelligence tactics.[4] Today, ISIS has occupied large areas in Iraq and Syria, creating chaos and murdering and terrorizing thousands and driving many more from their homes.

Why do people join ISIS?

There are a variety of reasons that people decide to join the Islamic State. Through its propaganda and recruitment process, IS targets those who are outcasts in their community or minorities in their country or who have been discriminated against in a Western context. These individuals are usually either men in their mid-twenties who have a history of radical and violent behavior or association, or orthodox, traditional Muslims who often have personal radical views. For the younger recruits, the violent actions combined with the accessible propaganda glorifying ISIS’ victories seem to them as alluring and exciting. Orthodox Muslims, however, often confuse the Islamic State’s narrative with legitimate traditional Islam and see joining it as a pledge of loyalty to their faith. Not included in these two categories are refugees from the conflict in Syria. Often feeling that they have no other choice, many swear allegiance to ISIS in exchange for food, shelter, and a promise of safety.[5]

What role does ISIS play in Syria presently?

While the supposed focus of ISIS in Syria was to overthrow the dictator Assad, it is widely reported that there has not been direct fighting between ISIS and Assad forces. There have in fact been widely known reports and other evidence of trade agreements between the two parties.[6] By fighting alongside groups like the Free Syrian Army and al-Nusra Front, ISIS hopes to gain access to more recruits for its own agenda. When the Free Syrian Army sent a worldwide message requesting aid for their cause, the United States decided to send weapons. However, these weapons ended up in the hands of ISIS, becoming a major contributing factor to their current power.[7] Additionally, some of the Western journalists whom ISIS murdered were reported to have been captured initially by Assad forces, another evidence of collaboration between the two forces, raising the question of who is really behind ISIS (according to many Syrians, the Assad regime among others). ISIS is more focused on reaping the benefits of the situation for its own agenda than on overthrowing the Assad government or assisting the Free Syrian Army, unlike the other opposition groups; additionally, again unlike other Syrian opposition groups, it is made up of foreign fighters, not Syrians.

Where does ISIS get their resources and funding?

Though the Saudi government has publicly condemned the Islamic State, private funding has been known to come from wealthy Saudi businessmen. Often it is sent through Kuwait, a country allegedly known for being permissive in regard to funding terrorist organizations.[8] Additionally, many of the weapons currently held by ISIS were unintentionally supplied by the United States, which had originally sent them to the Free Syrian Army to overthrow the Assad regime. These resources supplied by the United States were a key component in launching ISIS from a small jihadist group to the biggest growing threat in the Middle East.

What do Muslims think of ISIS?

Muslims worldwide have universally condemned ISIS for its brutality, extremism, and what they consider as “unIslamic” behavior. Those issuing such condemnations have included the government of Saudi Arabia as well as the country’s clerics, a coalition of over 100 scholars worldwide, and the authors and organizers of numerous articles, rallies, and press conferences condemning ISIS’ actions. The most grievous actions condemned by Muslims include beheadings and other brutal killings; kidnappings; enslavement; oppression of women;[9] aggression against Christians, Yazidis, and Muslims who disagree with ISIS; and other atrocities.

How does ISIS justify its actions in the name of Islam?

The Islamic State focuses on the idea of “jihad,” defined by them as “holy war.” In the Qur’an, jihad (meaning simply “struggle” or “striving” in Arabic) is not used to justify killing innocents or to condone violent behavior; even when used specifically in relation to war; jihad according to the Qur’an is permissible only as defensive action when the Muslim community is directly attacked. ISIS glorifies death in jihad among its members as martyrdom, to motivate the male (and sometimes even the female) members to fight to the death, putting before them the prospect of immediate entry into paradise. Along with this, ISIS frequently cites Qur’anic verses as justification. In their online propaganda magazine Dabiq, the Islamic State regularly quotes cherry-picked Islamic scripture.[10] Verses are often taken out of context to justify mass killings as ridding the earth of the kufar, which they define as anyone who is not a Muslim. The magazine is translated into multiple languages to cater to a worldwide audience and regularly reports on the geographical, political, and religious aspects and progress of the Islamic State. Its main purpose is to recruit more militants. According to ISIS, failure to believe in Islam is a crime deserving of death, mutilation, or slavery, in contrast to the Qur’anic injunction that “there is no compulsion in religion” (2:256).

Do its actions reflect Islamic teachings?

ISIS reflects an extremist interpretation of Islam that Muslims worldwide have declared illegitimate due to ISIS’ atrocious acts of violence toward others. Additionally, intellectuals and world leaders have universally agreed that ISIS should be treated as a political movement rather than a religious one. The political machinations involved in the conception of ISIS and the ways in which it carries out its agenda lead experts to conclude that ISIS may have religious affiliation but is fundamentally a political organization.[11]

Following is a summary of an open letter by several hundred Muslim scholars and leaders to ISIS leader al-Baghdadi, found at: http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/

Here are examples of the violation by ISIS of Islamic teachings as accepted by the majority of Muslims.

Murdering innocents: Its blatant disregard for human life in particular directly contravenes teachings about the sanctity of life and commands to avoid killing innocents or civilians even in warfare, in particular women and children.

Persecuting Christians and Yazidis: Its destruction of churches and attacks against Christians directly violate Qur’anic teachings about the status of “People of the Book,” whose lives and houses of worship the Qur’an and prophetic sayings command to safeguard (Qur’an, 60:. Yazidis are also one of the religions specifically mentioned by the Qur’an as “People of the Book” (Qur’an, 22:17). The fact that this ancient sect – along with Iraqi Christians – has survived in Muslim lands is proof of the generally prevalent tolerant attitude of Muslims towards them and other minority religious groups.

Forced conversions: Converting people by force makes a mockery of religion, which according to widely accepted Islamic teachings should be embraced for God alone, not under duress. The Qur’anic verse ‘There is no compulsion in religion” clearly states the view on that question embraced by most Muslims, as do other verses that state that God chose to create diversity among people, including religious diversity, and that had God chosen to make every one of the same faith He would have done so (Qur’an, 10:99, 18:29, 13:31).

Torture and mutilation: Mainstream Islamic teachings specifically prohibit torture in any form, as they prohibit mutilating dead bodies or any disrespect of the dead. ISIS’ barbaric acts, which reflect the worst tendencies of humankind, show the true nature of its fighters as criminals, not religious practitioners.

Oppression of women: ISIS’s insistence on women wearing black, all-encompassing garments including a face veil, is an extreme application of the general commandment to wear modest dress. Their misogynistic attitude towards women, including their insistence on confining them to their homes, at a time when Muslim women across the world are teachers, doctors, scientists, and even heads of state, is a perversion of widely accepted Islamic teachings.

Slaves: One of the goals of Islam, as evidenced in both Qur’anic and prophetic practices about the merit of freeing slaves, was ultimately to end slavery at the time of revelation 1,400 years ago. This view has been universally adopted by Muslim societies and leaders. To revert to a practice that Islam sought to do away with makes a mockery of the principles of justice, equality, and other values and is merely a reflection of the gross misdeeds that are often perpetrated in war, including those against Muslim women in Bosnia and Syria. To do to others what was done to oneself is the antithesis of religion and morality.

Concubines: Particularly noxious is ISIS’ revival of concubinage (taking female prisoners of war as sex slaves)​. This practice existed in many pre-modern societies, including ancient Greece, Rome and China, as well as in the United States, where the use of female slaves for sex continued until the end of slavery after the Civil War. Concubines are mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur’an as an existing practice that reflected a particular time and social order in the greater context of slavery, often as a result of warfare. This practice has long been rejected by Muslims worldwide. ISIS’ attempt to revive it flies in the face of today’s normative Muslim attitudes and practice. It appears that it is being used both as a recruiting incentive and a perverse justification for the horrific reality of wartime rape which has been widely used as a tool of fear and repression in numerous wars in diverse cultures and places, including recently against Muslim women in Bosnia and Syria.

Harsh punishments: The random application of what are known as hudd punishments without the proper context for such application makes a mockery of the entire process. Additionally, all such punishments require the highest level of proof, not the lowest as has been practiced by ISIS and other extremist groups.

Jihad: Jihad is meant to protect the oppressed against aggression, not to furnish a pretext for aggression against others. Driving people out of their homes and massively killing and destroying are not jihad but pure aggression. Such actions can in no way be characterized as jihad, which means striving to inculcate moral character.

Declaring a Caliphate: It is an Islamic principle that one who seeks leadership should not be given it. Additionally, one cannot merely declare oneself to be a caliph, which is a term adopted after the death of the Prophet Muhammad for those who succeeded him as heads of state in a pre-modern context. This term continued to be used in the various dynasties which followed until the early 20th century, when the Ottoman caliphate was abolished. A true caliph as it’s been understood would need to be chosen by consensus of Muslim communities worldwide based on merit and reputation, not by force.