Many people, including mainstream counterterror analysts, assume that the Islamic State (ISIS) is a spent force, a relic of the second decade of the twenty-first century that is long past its heyday and survives only as a dim reminder of past glories. Unfortunately, that is not remotely the case. Not only is the Islamic State still alive, but it’s also quite active in Africa and Central Asia, as well as resurgent in its old stomping grounds in Iraq and Syria, the former site of its short-lived caliphate. In fact, ISIS is so confident in these waning days of 2024 that it has just published a lengthy appeal to Muslims worldwide about why they should drop everything and join up. ISIS’ recruitment drive is revealing, not only because it shows that the group is confident and growing, but because of how it makes its appeal to the believers.
The most striking aspect of ISIS’ recruitment drive is that every one of the ten reasons it presents for why Muslims should join is rooted in Islamic theology and doctrine. From the way the Western political and media establishment presents the group, this is the last thing we should expect. Western politicians, intelligence officials, and, yes, those mainstream counterterror analysts who have downplayed the threat it represents for years, continue to insist that the Islamic State (ISIS) has nothing to do with Islam, or represents a twisted, hijacked version of the faith that only a tiny minority of believers follow. Until they recognize that ISIS bases its appeal to Muslims on its Islamic authenticity, and reckon with the implications of that fact, those officials will never, ever deal adequately with the ISIS threat.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported Wednesday that the latest issue of “Voice of Khurasan,” a glossy, slickly produced online publication of the ISIS-linked Al-Azaim Media Foundation, includes an article giving those ten reasons why Muslims should join ISIS. The article warns against those who “raise the banner of jihad, resistance, and sacrifice and deceive the youth of the Islamic Ummah with many ambitious slogans such as ‘we are waging jihad, eradicating disbelief, and liberating the Islamic world.’” ISIS finds fault with such groups because “when we examine their deeds in the light of the Quran and the Sunnah, it becomes clear that their wars are purely for the sake of patriotism, establishing the rule of laws other than Allah’s, gaining the approval of tyrannical institutions such as the United Nations, and other worldly goals.” ISIS, on the other hand, is all about establishing the rule of Allah’s laws.
From the confident statements Western leaders made when ISIS was in its heyday, you’d never get the idea that ISIS cared about the Qur’an and Sunnah, much less followed them. Barack Obama made it clear: “ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.” Former British Prime Minister David Cameron intoned: “What we are witnessing is actually a battle between Islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse Islam on the other. These extremists, often funded by fanatics living far away from the battlefields, pervert the Islamic faith as a way of justifying their warped and barbaric ideology – and they do so not just in Iraq and Syria but right across the world, from Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.”
Former Secretary of State and Knower of More Than You Do John Kerry said: “It’s not a state. There’s nothing legitimate about it. There’s nothing Islamic about it. It’s a complete misnomer. It’s their title and we shouldn’t use it and I feel that very strongly.”
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Mr. Kerry, meet reality: the real Islamic State says in its recruitment appeal that “it is necessary to define a line that follows the methodology of the Quran and the Sunnah in its entirety, following in the footsteps of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). This is only on the side of the Islamic State, which is endowed with monotheism and jihad.”
The Islamic State says of itself that it “does not fight for status or fame but only for the glorification of Allah’s word and the rule of Allah’s shari’a on earth.” And it isn’t all soft about it, either: “Unlike other so-called jihadi groups, it does not apply humanitarian laws under the guise of necessity, nor does it show allegiance to tyrannical institutions, nor does it establish friendly relations with tyrannical countries.” The Islamic State jihadis “practice all aspects of the religion, including dawah (invitation), jihad, knowledge, and social life, as well as other acts of worship.”
All this matters because the Islamic State has proven that its claim to represent the authentic living out of Islam resonates with many Muslims. And as long as Western analysts refuse to face that fact or examine its implications, the more their efforts to counter ISIS and impede its growth will be foredoomed to failure. Nothing is gained, by ignoring and avoiding uncomfortable facts. The only beneficiary of doing so is the Islamic State.
