ISIS’ CATACLYSMISM: A PHILOSOPHICAL APPRAISAL

By Dominic E.B. Anyalagbuna

1.0.ABSTRACT:

The very inhumane hazards of the so-called Islamic militant group named ISIS are indeed highly cataclysmic! However, this paper is faced with the problem of undertaking a philosophical examination of the named group. This, the paper does, using the critical-evaluative method by considering their history, aims and activities. Upon this examination, this work discovers that, among other relevant theories, this rebel group seems to be operating on the Transcendental Idealism of Immanuel Kant which states that ‘only ideas in the mind exist,’ though one cannot absolutely arrive at it. This theory follows from the militants’ idea of Muhammad’s prophecy that ‘there will be a time when the whole world will be subjected under a ‘caliphate,’ with a ‘caliph’ as their head. Nevertheless, in the end, this treatise highlights that the solution to ISIS’s crisis is mental and intellectual re-formation. In such-wise, this work adequately recommends an urgent mental re-configuration founded on re-interpretation of the Quran among these Islamic extremists, which
fundamentally, is the task of philosophy to rationally and critically accomplish.

2.0. PREAMBLE:

There is a profound state of topsy-turvy in almost the whole countries of the world, but principally and most intensely in Syria and Iraq. This is superabundantly generated by the insurgent undertakings of the Islamic militants baptised ISIS. However, there seem to be so many factors underlying this menace ranging from religious to political ambitions. Looking into this, as far back as 610 A.D., it was believed that Muhammad prophesied that, “there will be a caliphate according to the prophetic method.”¹ The whole world, according to the prophecy, ‘were’ to be under this caliphate, with a caliph as the head. Working on this conception, the Islamic extremists, have sworn to achieve this ‘ideal state’ at all cost. This makes the whole situation to be both religiously and politically spearheaded. Countless number of innocent lives have been wasted in this bargain, together with many other atrocities. Nevertheless, inasmuch as the issue of ISIS is a controversial one, the fundamental questions remain: What is actually the meaning of ISIS? How did they come about? How do they source funds? What do they really want? Has any scholar said anything in response to their insurrection? What is the philosophical theory that rationally justifies them? What do they engage in? And lastly, has philosophy any role to play in this situation? Consequent upon this, these questions will constitute the crux of this work. But before then, there is need to clarify some key concepts I used in this paper.

3.0. CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS:

According to T. Ishaan, the acronym ‘ISIS’ is an English abbreviation standing for ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fīl-ʿIrāq wash-Shām in Arabic, which represents the acronym DA’ISH or DAESH.² The Arabic acronym DA’ISH or DAESH is equivalent to ISIS or ISIL in English. Thus, ISIS implies ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’ or ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)’ or simply ‘Islamic State.³ However, among the Arabic acronyms for ISIS namely: DAʿISH or DAESH, the former is often used by ISIS’s Arabic-speaking detractors, whereas the latter has wide acceptance.  Hence, the rebel group considers DA’ISH derogatory, because it sounds similar to the Arabic words Daes which means ‘one who crushes something underfoot,’ and Dahes - ‘one who sows discord.’⁴ Because of this, as a punishment for those who use the name DAISH in ISIS-controlled areas, S. Khosla writes that the insurgents resort to flogging them.⁵ More so, L. Fadel has it that ISIS is an Islamic extremist rebel group controlling territories in at least four countries, including Syria, Iraq, Libya, and currently Nigeria, with operations or affiliates in Lebanon, Egypt, and other areas of the Middle East with Cash and Cachet.⁶ Their motto reads: ‘Remaining and Expanding’ (Bāqiyah wa-Tatamaddad),⁷ while their anthem is: ‘My Nation, A Dawn Has Appeared.’⁸ Their current Leader is a scholar in Islamic religion by appellation, Dr. Ibrahim Awwad Al-Badri, alias Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

On the other hand, “Islam” is word having its Arabic equivalent to be al-ʾIslām. However, it is a religion which simply means voluntary submission to Allah. Their teachings are engraved in their Holy Book called Quran. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Again, a “state” (etymologically from the Latin verb stare meaning to stand) as used in this paper, refers to a sovereign political entity in public international law. Finally, the term “caliphate” originates from the Arabic word ‘khilāfa’ meaning  a form of Islamic government led by a caliph, who is a person considered to be a political and religious successor to prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community.

4.0. ISIS: A DETAILED HISTORICAL REVIEW

In this section, the history of ISIS will be x-rayed under two headings: their genesis and their source of fund. To this effect, how then did it all begin?

4.1.          In the Beginning Was ISIS:

According to Peter Welby, ISIS was instituted in 1999 under the nomenclature Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in Iraq by the jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. ⁹ Al-Zarqawi’s group started as a small organization, though, according to Welby, it was “influential actor in Iraq’s descent into chaos between 2003 and 2007. It had an explicit policy of stoking sectarian violence with the aim of rallying the Sunni community around Sunni jihadi groups, a tactic that ISIS is replicating now.”¹⁰ Within this period of Iraqi’s invasion in 2003, they joined Osama bin Laden’s group-the famous al-Qaeda in October 2004, with the intention of strengthening their assemblage. As a result, they changed their name from Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad to Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, that is, ‘Organisation of Jihad’s Base in Mesopotamia,’ which is a short form for AQI. With this very unification, the Al-Zarqawi’s organization “gained the recruiting and resourcing benefits of being part of a global and credible jihadi organization.”¹¹

In January 2006, al-Zarqawi’s group amalgamated to smaller Iraqi insurgent groups, and as usual, they rehabilitated their name from Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (AQI) to Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC).  Both swore “...to rid Sunnis from the oppression of the rejectionists (Shi’ite Muslims) and the crusader occupiers, ... to restore rights even at the price of [their] own lives... to make Allah’s word supreme in the world, and to restore the glory of Islam....”¹² The death of al-Zarqawi on 7^th June 2006 by the United States’ airstrike made the Egyptian militant, Abu Ayyub al-Masri to succeed him as the leader of the group. However, after the death of al-Zarqawi, the coalesced groups later established what is called the “Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which … comprise [sic] Iraq’s six mostly Sunni Arab governorates.”¹³ Moreover, the attack of United States in 2007 on ISIS’s camp, led to their diminution. For Welby, the “successive ISI leaders were killed in airstrikes, and the group’s capacity to launch attacks was severely diminished.”¹⁴ The reason for this success, according to B. Roggio, was because, “the U.S. troop’s surge of 2007 supplied the US military with more manpower for operations targeting the group, resulting in dozens of high-level AQI members being captured or killed.”¹⁵ These deaths notwithstanding, the group materialised again with their current leader Dr. Ibrahim Awwad Al-Badri, alias Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Baghdadi replenished the group’s leadership by appointing some intelligent officers. They gained upper hand once more, when America withdrew their forces in 2011.

Moreover, in the same 2011, a civil war started in Syria because of the protest against the government of Bashar al-Assad. In his view, Abouzeid says that Al-Baghdadi, using their usual tactics, utilized this ugly development by “sending Syrian and Iraqi ISI members experienced in guerilla [sic] warfare across the border into Syria to establish an organisation inside the country….This group began to recruit fighters and establish cells throughout the country.”¹⁶ This was achieved on 8^th April 2013, when al-Baghdadi announced that his planned al-Nusra Front had been established, financed, and supported by the Islamic State of Iraq, “and that the two groups were merging under the name Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham.”¹⁷ This declaration caused a serious conflict between them and their amalgamated fellow, al-Qaeda. Welby articulates that as of this time, “the alliance between al-Qaeda and ISIS was no longer convenient. ISIS could now claim a history and a support base that established its credibility, [while] al-Qaeda’s central leadership was weak.”¹⁸ Thus, agreeing with L. Sly, “in February 2014, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with ISIL.”¹⁹

To add to this, P. Welby further exclaims that:

[ISIS’s] recent history has changed [their] nature... It is no longer a mere terrorist group, but an army that can hold and administer territory. It governs according to harshly interpreted principles of Islamic law, including the imposition of dhimmi pacts on minorities-guaranteeing protection in exchange for the payment of a tax and the acceptance of second-class citizenship…[With this]….ISIS has gained and held significant amounts of territory. It captured the city of Raqqa from other rebels in early 2014, using it … as a base to launch attacks in Syria and Iraq.²⁰

With these amassed territories, “Baghdadi…declared himself Caliph Ibrahim, and goes by the title Commander of the Faithful. In the language of his speeches and in his titles, he lays claim to a form of authority from the earliest days of Islam.”²¹ However, P. Cockburn quips that the military size of ISIS are up about 200,000.²² In the words of Roggio, “they established the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produces CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related propaganda products….From July 2014, al-Hayat began publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq, in a number of different languages including English.”²³ It is pertinent to add here that their social media seem to be more sophisticated than those of America.

Besides, A. Baker and K. Vick, express that ISIS is somehow viewed as a militia rather than as a terrorist group. In their exact words:

They have shadow governments in and around Baghdad, and they have an aspirational goal to govern. I don’t know whether they want to control Baghdad, or if they want to destroy the functions of the Iraqi state, but either way the outcome will be disastrous for Iraq….They have incredible command and control and they have a sophisticated reporting mechanism from the field that can relay tactics and directives up and down the line. They are well-financed, and they have big sources of manpower, not just the foreign fighters, but also prisoner escapees.²⁴

Additionally, to show how influential ISIS is, Boko Haram, in the report of N. Elbagir, on 7^th March 2015, swore formal allegiance to ISIS.²⁵ Again, on 13^th March 2015, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan swore allegiance to ISIL. Yet again, on 30^th March 2015, the senior sharia official of Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, Abdullah Al-Libi, defected to ISIL.²⁶ But then, what are the financial sources of this rebel group?

4.2.           Their Finance:

ISIS’s militants get their finance from:  stealing and selling of antiques and  artefacts from Syria, from export of oil,²⁷ through taxation and extortion, by robbing banks and gold shops,²⁸ and donations from Facebook, Whats-App and Kik.²⁹ These raise a very further fundamental question, which is: What do this people actually want?

5.0. ISIS: THE HIDDEN AGENDA

Basically, this paper argues that ISIS’s fighters want to achieve Muhammad’s ‘ideal state’ of establishing a caliphate with a caliph as the head. In support of this view, Fernholz argues that ISIL aims at returning “to the early days of Islam, rejecting all innovations in the religion, which it believes corrupt its original spirit.”³⁰ Similarly, though they began as a mere terrorist group, Zack opines that they have the motive of forming Islamic state.³¹ In other words, they want:

To establish itself as a Caliphate, an Islamic state led by a group of religious authorities under a supreme leader-the Caliph-who is believed to be the successor to Muhammad…[And in such wise] the legality of all emirates, groups, states and organisations becomes null by the expansion of the khilafah’s [caliphate’s] authority and arrival of its troops to their areas.³²

6.0. ISIS: A THEORETICAL REVIEW

This very section dwells on the philosophical theory that rationally explains ISIS’s mayhem. The implications I derived from the theory which I will back-up with my reasons for choosing the theory will also be given. In doing this, it is important to admit the fact that the issue of ISIS is a very controversial one as far as philosophy is concerned. Due to this, there are varied number of philosophical theories that give them a rational justification, especially when we take the ISIS’s crisis from different perspectives. For instance, when we view ISIS from the point of view of Prophet Muhammad’s prophecy of Islamic Caliphate, they can be suitably called transcendental idealists. From the point of view of their fulfilment of this single prophecy, they can be called empirical realists. But, when we look at both the prophecy and its fulfilment together, ISIS group may be termed metaphysical determinists. More still, viewing them from their activities, they can be termed Masochist utilitarians. Also, when one considers the means they are using in their activities, they may be called fundamentalists. Nevertheless, in the midst of all these theories, one reoccurring theory is at the very foundation or the root of all the rest. For me, this theory is the without-which all other theories, supposedly justifying ISIS, will have no solid ground. As such, I can say that these other theories originated from the Muhammadan idea of a Caliphate. Thus, with the influences of their religion-Islam (in this case, the Mohammed’s prophecy of Caliphate), together with their political ambition respectively, I hereby strongly uphold that the philosophical theory, inter alia, that apparently gives a rational explanation/justification to ISIS is idealism, but specifically, transcendental idealism propounded by Immanuel Kant.

6.1.          The Theory:

The theory of transcendental Idealism in philosophy began with the German thinker, Immanuel Kant in the 18^th century. He conceives idealism as the assertion that “we can never be certain whether all of our putative outer experience is not mere imagining.”³³ However, in his Critique of Pure Reason, he argues that: “If I remove the thinking subject, the whole material world must at once vanish because it is nothing but a phenomenal appearance in the sensibility of ourselves as a subject, and a manner or species of representation.”³⁴ As such, Kant distinguished between things as they appear to an observer and things in-themselves, that is, “things considered without regard to whether and how they may be given to us.”³⁵ Thus, for him, we cannot approach the noumenon, the ‘thing in Itself’ (Ding an sich) without our own mental world-phenomenon. So, he maintains that the mind shapes the world we perceive. Through this theory, may we note here that for the issue of ISIS to be resolved, their mental state has to be rigorously re-configured, just as I would observe later.

6.2.           My Implication of the theory:

Strictly in the sense above, Kant can be understood, in a way, as representing “the world as it might or should be.”³⁶ Further implication of his theory above is that the objective depends on the subject’s representation, and is conditioned by the subject only. Still, his transcendental idealism, also boils down to suggesting “the priority of ideals, principles….and goals over concrete realities.”³⁷ As such, idealists generally argue that the aim of education is to preserve one’s culture: “idealists give much importance to the spiritual and cultural possessions of the individual.”³⁸ Therefore, “any philosophy that assigns crucial importance to the ideal or spiritual realm in its account of human existence may be termed idealist.”³⁹

6.3.           Reason for Using the Theory:

There appears to be an idea or better still, ideal which ISIS group is aiming to achieve. The menace of ISIS today could be said to be a fight in restoration or fulfilment of the prophecy believed to have been made in 610 A.D. to Muslims by their prophet Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, who is today generally regarded as Muhammad, when he was over 40 years of age. The phrases of the prophecy by Muhammad explain how religious authority will become increasingly secular and abusive after his death until the idea - caliphate is restored. I will quote this prophecy at length:

Prophethood will be among you as long as God intends, and then God will take it away if He so wills. Then there will be a caliphate according to the prophetic method. It will be among you as long as God intends, and then God will take it away if He so wills. Then there will be a mordacious monarchy. It will be among you as long as God intends, and then God will take it away if He so wills. Then there will be a tyrannical monarchy. It will be among you as long as God intends, and then God will take it away if He so wills. Then there will be a caliphate in accordance with the prophetic method. ⁴⁰

The above, especially the highlighted ones, suitably give credence to the traumatic operations of ISIS today. Placing this prophecy and the goals of ISIS to fulfil such prophecy side by side, one immediately ‘resurrects’ our working theory, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism. This prophecy stands as an idea and as such, an ideal to pursue. They want to present the world as it should be, that is, to have an ideal state after the minds of Prophet Muhammad. Following the implication of Kant’s Idealism, that one cannot know the noumenon, they (ISIS) in concurrence, interpret their Quran as it appears to them, and such interpretation has a full extremists’ blood mixed with a tincture of fundamentalism. Logically thus, we can derive here that fundamentalism is a child of extreme idealism. As such, they are called religious extremists or rebel group or terrorist group or suitably fundamentalists (much of this will be seen in my philosophical examination). Moreover, in establishing a caliphate, they want to preserve their culture, of course, intertwined with their religion-Islam. Nevertheless, their fight for an ideal state-caliphate remains and may continue to remain an idea, since the said caliphate cannot be peacefully and objectively realized international wise. This is because, it is highly irrational that the whole world can, in a day or for once, be all converted to Islam, and worse still, be under a caliph in a caliphate. From these arguments, I, de facto, call these ISIS’s insurrectionaries transcendental idealists.

7.0. ISIS: AN EMPIRICAL REVIEW:

So many scholars have aired much views about the insurgent activities of the rebel group called ISIS. Therefore, I will carefully review some of their works on the said group one after the other.

7.1.           Graeme Wood:

Though not much is known about his birth, Graeme - an Egyptian scholar, attended Deep Springs College, Harvard; Indiana University, and American University in Cairo respectively. He is currently a lecturer in political science at Yale University, United States. More still, the erudite scholar, is a contributing editor to the following journals: The Atlantic and The New Republic, and also the book editor of Pacific Standard.

In his article published in The Atlantic which he captioned: “What ISIS Really Wants,” Graeme argues that ISIS’s activities are founded on Islamic religion. According to him, “reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe.”⁴¹ He further quips that ISIS is a materialization of Osamar’s purpose, because Bin Laden viewed his terrorism as a prologue to a caliphate he did not expect to see in his lifetime.  In the end, he adds that:

There is no need arguing that ISIS are non-Islamic for Islamic religion allows many interpretations, and Islamic State supporters are morally on the hook for the one they choose. And yet simply denouncing the Islamic State as un-Islamic can be counterproductive, especially if those who hear the message have read the holy texts and seen the endorsement of many of the caliphate’s practices written plainly within them.⁴²

7.2.           Khalid Jamil Rawat:

Khalid is an Arabian Doctorate degree holder from Hamdard University, Pakistan. He has written so many research papers such that they have been published in prolific national and international journals. Thus, his work on John Dewey is significantly admired by the national and international academics. However, in his “The Reality of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria),” Rawat contends that ISIS is nationalistic in their operation. In his exact words: “ISIS… is symbolic and has a deep relationship with Arab nationalism.”⁴³ He, therefrom, attributes ISIS to the Egyptian goddess - Isis “who led a political movement to take back the throne of Egypt from Seth. [For] Seth killed Osiris, her husband … [thus], Isis reared up her son Horus who fought and defeated Seth and reclaimed the throne of Egypt, the root of all Middle Eastern Civilizations.”⁴⁴ In continuation, he believes that ISIS was a symbol of political resistance to reinstate the right ruler, the true heir of the ancient father king Osiris. ISIS’s struggle revolves around reinstating a legitimate ruler to the Caliphate of Islam. Finally, he claims that the Islamic terrorists joined hands with other terrorist groups so as “to avenge the various Osiris like figures of Arabia like Saddam, Gaddafi (whose phallus was in fact cut by the revolutionaries), Yasir arafat etc.”⁴⁵

7.3.           Muhammad Sheikh:

Sheikh’s full name is Abdu’l-‘Azīz ibn ‘Abdu’llāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Abdu’l-Laṭīf Āl ash-Sheikh. He was born on February 10, 1941 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He studied in Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University. He is a Muslim scholar and the current Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. As Grand Mufti, he is the head of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas. Nevertheless, Sheikh completely rejects and disavows the inhuman actions of ISIS.  Because of this, he published an article which he entitled: “Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Denounces Islamic State Group as Un-Islamic.” In this work, he argues that ISIS “which spread decay on Earth, destroying human civilisation, are not in any way part of Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims are their first victims.”⁴⁶ However, the implication of his view calls for it to be healthier labelled apologetic in defence of Islamic religion against the carnages the rebels commit under the matrices of Islam. Obviously, he appears to be shouting that ISIS is not part of Islamic faith. His view thus shows that ISIS’s activists are literalists, who take the contents of Quran as it appears to them (refer back to Kant’s Transcendental Idealism) to the detriment of other ‘good’ Muslims, if there is any.

7.4.           Mehdi Hasan:

Mehdi Hasan was born in 1979 in Britain. He studied in Christ Church, Oxford. He is a British political journalist, broadcaster and author. As a journalist and author, Hasan is the political editor of the United Kingdom’s version of The Huffington Post. Nonetheless, contrary to others’ view, Mehdi argues in his treatise, “How Islamic is Islamic State?” that ISIS’s insurgence is not Islamic only that they claim “the support of Islamic texts to justify its medieval punishments, from the stoning of adulterers to the amputation of the hands of thieves.”⁴⁷ He refutes the view that ISIS is Islamic by quoting Marc Sageman, saying that “Isis [sic] members…are using religion to advance a political vision, rather than using politics to advance a religious vision. To give themselves a bit more legitimacy, they use Islam as their justification. It’s not about religion, it’s about identity . . . You identify with the victims, [with] the guys being killed by your enemies.”⁴⁸ He therefore firmly affirms that:

To claim that Isis [sic] is Islamic is egregiously inaccurate and empirically unsustainable, not to mention insulting to the 1.6 billion non-violent adherents of Islam across the planet. Above all else, it is dangerous and self-defeating, as it provides Baghdadi and his minions [followers] with the propaganda prize and recruiting tool that they most crave.⁴⁹

7.5.           Tom Holland:

Holland, the British historian, was born in England. He studied at Chafyn Grove School, Canford School, and Queens’ College, Cambridge - where he obtained double First Class in English and Latin. He is a controversial figure in the issue of ISIS. He argues vehemently that ISIS’s menace is ultimately Islamic. He supports his view by quipping that for Prophet Muhammad, “my people…are destined to split into 73 factions - all of which, except one, will end up in hell. Who, then, Muslims have often wondered, will gain paradise? Isis [sic], like so many of the various other sects that have emerged in the course of Islamic history, appears confident of the answer.”⁵⁰ So, he upholds that:

It is not merely coincidence that IS currently boasts a caliph, imposes quranically [sic] mandated taxes, topples idols, chops the hands off thieves, stones adulterers, executes homosexuals and carries a flag that bears the Muslim declaration of faith. If Islamic State is indeed to be categorised as a phenomenon distinct from Islam, it urgently needs a manifest and impermeable firewall raised between them. At the moment, though, I fail to see it.⁵¹

8.0. ACTIVITIES: ISIS’S EXPLOITS

ISIS has engaged in countless atrocious evils all in the name of achieving a caliphate which may ultimately end up unrealised - idealism. According to Aljazeera, in December 2013, two suicide bombers from ISIS stormed the headquarters of TV station Salaheddin, [beheaded Raad al-Azzawi,] and killed five journalists, after accusing the station of distorting the image of Iraq’s Sunni community.⁵² Also, ISIS has established a system for collecting and selling human organs from fighters, captives, and hostages, including minority children in Mosul and other areas. Ahlert better puts this when he quotes Alhakim: “When we discover mass graves, we look at the bodies. Some of those bodies are killed by bullets, some of them by knives. But when you find pieces of the back is [sic] missing and the kidneys is [sic] missing, you will wonder what it is.”⁵³

Descending further, ISIS’s rebels had killed hundreds of prisoners of war and over 1,000 civilians. According to RTT News, in 2014, almost “757 civilians were killed and 599 injured in Nineveh, Diyala and Salah al-Din Provinces between 5 and 22 June. This figure - which should be viewed very much as a minimum - includes a number of verified summary executions and extra-judicial killings of civilians, police, and soldiers who were hors combat.”⁵⁴ Under Muhammad Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John, ISIS has beheaded so many residents of Libya (though he later apologised to his parents).⁵⁵ They have killed so many clerics of which Muhammad al Mansuri, the imam at Mosul was also involved because he refused to pledge allegiance to the so-called ‘Islamic State.’⁵⁶

Recounting the numerous exploits of ISIS, U. Bacchi says that they have banned the teaching of art, music, history, literature, philosophy and Christianity.⁵⁷ ISIS has warned women in the city of Mosul, Iraq to be wearing full-face veils or face severe punishment. They have also banned the use of naked mannequins.⁵⁸ In addition, in January 2015, ISIS “carried out executions on both men and women who were accused of various acts and found guilty of crimes against Islam such as homosexuality, adultery, watching pornography, usage and possession of contraband, rape, blasphemy, renouncing Islam and murder.⁵⁹

Similarly, ISIS told their fighters that they are free to have sex with or rape non-Muslim captive women. Hence, they regard extramarital sex with multiple partners as a legitimate form of holy war or sexual jihad. In line with this, M. Chastain reports that in December 2014, ISIL “killed over 150 women and girls in Fallujah who refused to participate in sexual jihad.”⁶⁰ They claim that the Quran allows fighters to have sex with the captives, including adolescent girls. ⁶¹ Thus, they justify fornication and adultery “by quoting Quran 23:5-6: It is permissible to have sexual intercourse with the female captive. Allah the almighty said: [Successful are the believers] who guard their chastity, except from their wives or (the captives and slaves) that their right hands possess, for then they are free from blame.”⁶² Wikipedia Encyclopedia summarizes their killing adventures in this way:

In the villages and towns of Quiniyeh (70-90 Yazidis killed), Hardan (60 Yazidis killed), Sinjar (500-2,000 Yazidis killed), Ramadi Jabal (60-70 Yazidis killed), Dhola (50 Yazidis killed), Khana Sor (100 Yazidis killed), Hardan (250-300 Yazidis killed), al-Shimal (dozens of Yazidis killed), Khocho (400 Yazidis killed and 1,000 abducted), Jadala (14 Yadizis killed) and Beshir (700 Shia Turkmen killed), and others committed near Mosul (670 Shia inmates of the Badush prison killed), and in Tal Afar prison, Iraq (200 Yazidis killed for refusing conversion). The UN estimated that 5,000 Yazidis were killed by ISIL during the takeover of parts of northern Iraq in August 2014. In late May 2014, 150 Kurdish boys from Kobani aged 14-16 were abducted and subjected to torture and abuse, according to Human Rights Watch. In the Syrian towns of Ghraneij, Abu Haman and Kashkiyeh 700 members of the Sunni Al-Shaitat tribe were killed for attempting an uprising against ISIL control.⁶³

Presently, after US warned the civilians from Mosul to evacuate the city because of their upcoming military confrontation, Lauren Williams writes that ISIS in 11^th March, 2015 threatened to behead any civilian who tries to leave.⁶⁴ In 12^th March, 2015 ISIS welcomed a pledge of allegiance by Boko Haram.⁶⁵  In 20^th March, 2015 ISIL took responsibility for a quadruple suicide bombing, carried out in Sana’a mosque in Yemen, which killed nearly 150 people.⁶⁶ In 8^th April, 2015, A. Sarhan reports that  ISIL executed 300 people in the western Anbar Province in retaliation to the offensive by the Anbar Governorate.⁶⁷

More so, the second Battle of Tikrit blazed on 17^th April, 2015 because of the killing of the 130 ISIL sleeper agents hiding in Tikrit by Iraq security forces.⁶⁸ Again, inasmuch as their leader, Baghdadi wounded during the March 2015 air raid is still recovering, S. Raghavan reports that ISIL’s Wilayat Khorasan bombed at least 33 people and injured more than 100 in Afghanistan on April 18, 2015. Also, as Sylvia Westall writes, ISIS murdered by shooting and decapitation, an approximately 30 people, who were identified as Ethiopian Christians on 19th April, 2015.  More currently, John Hall has it that ISIS executioners in Homs’ province on 25th April, 2015, smashed two gay people to death with huge rocks.⁶⁹ Still on this same fateful day, ISIS militants gunned down a Syrian jet-fighter over the As-Suwayda Governorate. However, on April 30, 2015, it is said that ISIS selected some young Syrians to be trained to help in the fight in Iraq.

9.0. ISIS: A PHILOSOPHICAL EXAMINATION

Bearing in mind that the task of philosophy is to rationally and critically examine the foundation of people’s beliefs, actions and existence, therefore, here, I am to critically appraise the rebel group-ISIS basing mainly on what I have exposed already.

In sound light of the above, it is well known that religion refutes the very object of philosophy. In this sense, one can sit and ponder the following mind-agitating questions bordering on ISIS: Why have the very acts of ISIS engraved in their religion? Why is Islam the only religion that preaches that reform of its doctrine and dogma to adapt to changing circumstances is a grave sin or bida? Why is Islam the only religion that divides the world into two spheres: the non-Islamic nations (Darul harb) and Islamic nations (Darul Islam), and encourage the latter to fight against the non-Islamists until they are completely subdued? Why is Islam the only religion which places death penalty on any of her followers who violates her holy book Quran? Why is Islam the only religion that largely forbids the free practice of other religions in her midst? Nonetheless, the answer to these questions can be deduced from the response of the Sunni imams and Islamic scholars. They refuted ISIS saying, “[You] have misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture and murder ... this is a great wrong and an offence to Islam, to Muslims and to the entire world.”⁷⁰ In addition, they argued in their open letter to ISIS’s leader and their fighters that:  

It is forbidden in Islam to kill the innocent…to kill emissaries, ambassadors, and diplomats…to kill journalists and aid workers. Jihad in Islam is defensive war….It is forbidden in Islam to declare people non - Muslim unless he (or she) openly declares disbelief. It is forbidden in Islam to harm or mistreat - in any way - Christians or any ‘People of the Scripture’….It is forbidden in Islam to force people to convert …to torture people…to attribute evil acts to God….Armed insurrection is forbidden in Islam for any reason other than clear disbelief by the ruler and not allowing people to pray. It is forbidden in Islam to declare a caliphate without consensus from all Muslims. Loyalty to one’s nation is permissible in Islam….⁷¹

Nevertheless, the above arguments seem philosophically self-contradictory when comparatively put side by side with the contents of some pages of their ‘sacred’ Quran and Sura. Almost all the verses in their ‘Holy Writ’ suggest death, violence, fight and wars. For instance, Quran (4:74) states: “Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.” Some others like Quran (5:33) orders that: “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides….” More so, Sura 2:191 stipulates: “And slay them wherever ye catch them and turn them out from where they have turned you out….” Sura 47:4 says: “Therefore, when ye met the Unbelievers smite at their necks; at length….” From these instances in their holy book, the highest common factor (HCF) is fight. Thus, from our examination so far, one can see that both the defence by the Islamic scholars that Islam is not a religion of war and that of ISIS are philosophically full of inconsistencies and self-contradictions.

More so, further examination on ISIS’s militancy shows that to complain that Quranic verses which mandate crucifixion or beheading are being cited without reference to the traditions of Islamic jurisprudence is to miss the point. For T. Holland, it may be precisely because “Isis [sic] militants imagine themselves the equivalent of Muhammad’s companions, blessed with an unadorned understanding of God’s commands, that they feel qualified to establish a caliphate.”⁷²

Additionally, ISIS’s militants appear to be very authoritarian, over-domineering! They believe that: “If you’re against me, then you’ll be killed. If you’re with me, you work with me. You submit to my will and obey me, under my power in all matters.”⁷³ Thus, ISIS seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey. These acts are not only inhumane, but also irrational.

Moreover, ISIS’s insurgents make use of any slightest opportunity to unexpectedly strike. Going through the memory lane, one discovers that they make use of any spark of violence to strike and dominate - a replica of the tactics they are using now. A perfect example to this is the case of Governor Assad. They were often found ‘cameleonically’ changing their names and then amalgamating with other terrorist groups. So, they appear good when they arrive at a territory, but once they get opportunity to strike, they utilize it. Hence, according to Martel, they use a familiar tactic in every new town they conquered: initially helping the poor of that town and carrying favour by helping build infrastructure, then establishing a brutal, murderous regime and wiping out anyone who dared defy their rule.⁷⁴ Thus, they could be said to be not only opportunists, but also, in acting this way, they concur to the philosophical dictum: ‘appearance deceives,’ and also through that, they resuscitate the problem of appearance and reality in philosophy.

Going through the inscription on their black flag of Muhammad, one remembers Friedrich Nietzsche (1883-1885), one of the German renowned thinkers. In one of his most controversial works called Spake Zarathustra (Zarathustra’s Prologue), Nietzsche articulates his theory of the Übermensch, which translates ‘Superman.’⁷⁵ From this, he also advanced his idea that “God is dead,” or that traditional morality was no longer relevant in people’s lives. In connection to this, Hayder al Khoei reasons that ISIS’s black flag bears the phrase, “there is no God but Allah.”⁷⁶ Such symbolism has been said to point to ISIL’s belief that it represents the restoration of the caliphate of early Islam, with all the political, religious and eschatological ramifications that this would imply. In this way, they try by every means to dominate every other person by agreeing with Nietzsche to be ‘supermen’ and that ‘God is dead’ advocating that only the Allah lives. But the basic questions are: If only the Allah lives, who then is he? Is he a God or man? If he is a man, who created him? If he is God, what differentiates him from the God of ISIS’s inscription in their flag: there is no God but Allah? If this God is dead, where was he before he died and Allah took over? Nevertheless, in order to avoid the age-long problem of infinitum regressus, I can say that the inscription “there is no God but Allah” needs philosophy of language to clarify it.

Categorically, Kant in his book, Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, disapproves of the activities of ISIS when he defines ‘religious fanaticism’ as “the illusion of being able to accomplish anything in the way of justifying ourselves before God . . . by striving for what is supposed to be communion with God.”⁷⁷ He speaks of the fanatical superstition of seeking assurance against radical evil through anything less than perfect goodness. With Kant, ISIS can be likened, therefore, to religious fanatics.

Equally important, ISIS commands that women should be covering their whole body except the lids of their eyes. They kill those who fornicate and the gays. They forbid impure music and movies saying that they are against Quran. Fine! Looking at their atrocities, one finds out that there are some illogicalities and incoherencies comparing what they say to uphold and their actions. This is because, in their actions, S. Nebehay opines that there are “many reports of sexual abuse and enslavement in ISIL controlled areas of women and girls, predominantly from the minority Christian and Yazidi communities.”⁷⁸ Their “fighters are told that they are free to have sex with or rape non-Muslim captive women.⁷⁹ They regard extramarital sex as a legitimate form of holy war or sexual jihad. So, juxtaposing their teaching and their actions, how can the two be reconciled? Thus, their actions, events, beliefs, exploits and activities are philosophically unsustainable?

Furthermore, as I have said already, ISIS’s militants believe that they are fighting to actualize Muhammad’s prophecy of subjecting the whole world under a caliphate. Here, they are idealists. They represent an attachment to a particular idea or concept - caliphate. So, they are witnesses to what they call ‘absolute truth’- caliphate (an ideal state). It is this literal understanding of Muhammad’s ‘divine’ injunction that begets fundamentalism as a child of extreme idealism. They believe that movement to this idea or concept should involve destruction of lives and property backed up in their Quran. If they are actually going back to the root, then, it falls under the jurisdiction of philosophy of religion which is the rational study of religious experience. ⁸⁰ But the question is: Does philosophy of religion not teach that one cannot arrive at the roots or his ideas unless one is sufficiently rational or critical? Thus, ISIS is arguably uncritical and irrational. In their mind, Allah is happy if all men become followers of Islam. In this manner, we can say that they also represent a failure of human intelligence to understand human plight in the world and then the nature of reality. In stressing this, however, ipso facto ISIS is a fundamentalist group (which they heavily appear to be), then, some claims (idea of establishing a caliphate) made by ISIS group cannot be proven, and are irrational, demonstrably false, or contrary to scientific evidence. ⁸¹ As a result of this, they downplay, ignore and avoid doctrinal and Biblical exegesis. Therefore, only topical or shallow messages prevail among them. Their members, as such, learn their dos and don’ts but not what the Quran actually says.

Finally, with the afore-mentioned arguments in the critical examination above, I, as a lover of wisdom, do not agree with the ISIS’s militants, especially in their inhuman activities decorated with killings, extending to bombing together with enjoying sexual harassments, and also dwelling in religious intolerance et cetera. Through these ways, they disrupt the goodness of man on earth.

10.0.       RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION:

Ab initio, this paper set out to philosophically examine the activities of the so-called rebel group - ISIS using the critical evaluative method. To achieve this aim, I began with giving some conceptual clarifications. I also went into giving a detailed history of the group extending towards their genesis, source of fund, and goals. However, their activities were also dealt with, together with some theoretical and empirical reviews followed with a philosophical examination on them. Nevertheless, I submit that this paper has, in sum, arrived at the fact that ISIS is both religiously and politically motivated. And that the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant gives them a rational and philosophical justification among numerous other theories. This is because, the idea that there will be a time when a caliphate will be established where all human race will be under it with a caliph as its head who ensures that sharia law is obeyed by all as Muhammad prophesied is taken by ISIS as a truism. As idealism states that only objects in the mind exist and matter, so also do ISIS believe that only this idea of Muhammad’s prophecy of caliphate in their mind exists and matters. Hence, they turn to fundamentalism (being a child of extreme idealism) as a tool or means to achieve this.

Having gone thus far, it behoves me to convey the fact that a beautiful, noble and genuine religion (if there is one anyway), for T. Lambo, is the one that “fosters universal spiritual values such as tolerance, freedom, justice, peace, truthfulness, kindness, love, forgiveness, and healthy interpersonal relationship.”⁸² As such, following the arguments of this paper, the root cause of the crisis of ISIS is the idea of establishing a caliphate. As a result, I recommend mental re-configuration founded on the re-interpretation of Quran for the Muslims, as it will go a long way towards serving as a panacea to the burning wars at hand. And what does it call for? It calls for the help of philosophy of religion, since it is the task of philosophy to clarify these things, and until this is done, the crisis may continue to progressively and dangerously escalate.  

ENDNOTES:                                                       

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¹ W. McCants:  “Islamic State Invokes Prophecy to Justify its Claim to Caliphate,” (November 2014). http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2014/11/05-islamic-state-prophecy-justify-caliphate-mccantshttp://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2014/11/05-islamic-state-prophecy-justify-caliphate-mccants (Accessed 12.04.2015). (Emphasis mine).

² T. Ishaan: “ISIS or ISIL? The Debate Over What to Call Iraq’s Terror Group,” (June 2014). http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/18/isis-or-isil-the-debate-over-what-to-call-iraqs-terror-group/?_ga=1.75244306.1823250761.1403224335 (Accessed 12.04.2015).

³ BBC News: “What is Islamic State?” (September 2014). http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29052144 (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁴ J. Keating: “Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?”  (June 2014). http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/06/16/abu_bakr_al_baghdadi_how_did_isis_s_leader_go_from_total_unknown_to_the.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵ S. Khosla: “This is What the World’s Newest Islamic Caliphate Might Look Like,” (June 2014). http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-caliphate-might-look-like-2014-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Mondays%202014-06-30&utm_content=emailshare (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁶ L. Fadel: “With Cash and Cachet, the Islamic State Expands its Empire,” (November 2014). http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/11/18/364942091/with-cash-and-cachet-the-islamic-state-expands-its-empire (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁷ A.Y. Zelin: “Colonial Caliphate: The Ambitions of the Islamic State,” (July 2014). http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/colonial-caliphate-the-ambitions-of-the-islamic-state  (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁸ A. M. Ummatī: “How Isis Got its Anthem,” (November 2014). http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/nov/09/nasheed-how-isis-got-its-anthem (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁹ P. Welby: “What is ISIS?” (March 2015). http://tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/religion-geopolitics/commentaries/backgrounder/what-isis?gclid=Cj0KEQjwrPqnBRD56dGe1o_WlZsBEiQAb5ugt9S7h2WkIened8sf_B5YBR8mYeC-U1r-AROniUQSuOsaAsAg8P8HAQ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Ibid.

¹² MEMRI: “Jihad Groups in Iraq Take an Oath of Allegiance,” (2006). http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1910.htm (Accessed 12.04.2015). (Bold mine, for Emphasis).

¹³ U. Mahnaimi: “Al-Qaeda Planning Militant Islamic State within Iraq,” (2007). http://web.archive.org/web/20110524071632/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1782088.ece (Accessed 12.04.2015).  (Emphasis mine).

¹⁴ P. Welby, op.cit.

¹⁵ B. Roggio: “Targeting al Qaeda in Iraq’s Network,” (2007). http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/11/targeting_al_qaeda_in_iraqs_ne.asp (Accessed 12.04.2014).

¹⁶ R. Abouzeid: “The Jihad Next Door,” (June 2014). http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/al-qaeda-iraq-syria-108214_full.html#.VS2M5vnF-RU (Accessed 12.04.2014). It is worthy to note here that ISIS’s militants utilize every opportunity to always unexpectedly strike.

¹⁷ MEMRI: “ISI Confirms that Jabhat Al-Nusra is its Extension in Syria, Declares Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham as New Name of Merged Group,” (2013). http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7119.htm (Accessed 12.04.2015).

¹⁸ P. Welby, op.cit.

¹⁹ L. Sly: “Al-Qaeda Disavows Any Ties with Radical Islamist ISIS Group in Syria, Iraq,” (February 2014).  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/al-qaeda-disavows-any-ties-with-radical-islamist-isis-group-in-syria-iraq/2014/02/03/2c9afc3a-8cef-11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_story.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁰ P. Welby, op.cit.

²¹ Ibid. (Italics and Bold mine, for Emphasis). They strongly desire to have an ideal state: a caliphate.

²² P. Cockburn: “War with Isis: Islamic Militants Have Army of 200,000, Claims Senior Kurdish Leader,” (November 2014). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/war-with-isis-islamic-militants-have-army-of-200000-claims-kurdish-leader-9863418.html (Accessed 12.04.2014).

²³ B. Roggio: “US Targets al Qaeda’s al Furqan Media Wing in Iraq,” (October 2007). http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/10/us_targets_al_qaedas.php# (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁴ A. Baker & K. Vick: “Extremists in Iraq Continue March Toward Baghdad,” (June 2014). http://time.com/2859454/iraq-tikrit-isis-baghdad-mosul/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁵ N. Elbagir et al.: “Boko Haram Purportedly Pledges Allegiance to ISIS” (March 2015). http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/07/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-isis/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁶ T. Joscelyn: “Ansar al Sharia Libya Relaunches Social Media Sites,” (April 2015). http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/04/ansar-al-sharia-libya-relaunches-social-media-sites.php (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁷ C. C. Caris et al.: “ISIS Governance in Syria,” (July 2014). http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/ISIS_Governance.pdf (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁸ T. Lister: “ISIS: The First Terror Group to Build an Islamic State?” (June 2014) http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/12/world/meast/who-is-the-isis/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

²⁹ J. Giovanni et al.: “How Does ISIS Fund its Reign of Terror?”  (November 2014) http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/14/how-does-isis-fund-its-reign-terror-282607.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).

³⁰ T. Fernholz: “Don’t Believe the People Telling You to Freak out Over this ISIL,” (July 2014) http://qz.com/228833/dont-believe-the-people-telling-you-to-freak-out-over-this-isil-map/#/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

³¹ Z. Beauchamp: “17 Things about ISIS and Iraq You Need to Know,” (December 2014) http://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/isis-goal-theocracy (Accessed 12.04.2014).

³² M. A. Johnson: “Deviant and Pathological: What Do ISIS Extremists Really Want?” (September 2014). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant#Tanzim_Qaidat_al-Jihad_fi_Bilad_al-Rafidayn (Accessed 12.04.2015). (Emphasis mine).

³³ Immanuel Kant, Notes and Fragments, Edited by P. Guyer & Transl. by C. Bowman, et al. (London:        Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 318.

³⁴ I. Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, A. 383, Cited in Wikipedia Encyclopedia: “Idealism,” (April 2015). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism (Accessed 18.04.2015). (Emphasis mine).

³⁵ Ibid., A. 140.

³⁶ Wikipedia Encyclopedia: “Idealism,” (April 2015). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism (Accessed 18.04.2015). (Emphasis mine).

³⁷ Ibid. (Italics mine, for Emphasis).

³⁸ K. Rawat: “Idealism,” (August 2008). http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com/2008/08/idealism.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).

³⁹ Wikipedia Encyclopedia, op.cit.

⁴⁰ W. McCants, op. cit. (Emphasis mine).

⁴¹ G. Wood: “What ISIS Really Wants,” (March 2015). http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁴² Ibid. (Emphasis mine).

⁴³ K. J. Rawat: “The Reality of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,” (June 2014). http://pakphilosophy.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-reality-of-isisislamic-state-of.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁴⁴ Ibid.

⁴⁵ Ibid.

⁴⁶ A. McDowall: “Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Denounces Islamic State Group as Un-Islamic,” (August 2014). http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2014/08/25/saudi-arabias-grand-mufti-denounces-islamic-state-group-as-un-islamic/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁴⁷ M. Hasan: “How Islamic is Islamic State?”  (March 2015). http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2015/03/mehdi-hasan-how-islamic-islamic-state (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁴⁸ Ibid.

⁴⁹ Ibid.

⁵⁰ T. Holland: “We Must not Deny the Religious Roots of Islamic State,” (March 2015). http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/03/tom-holland-we-must-not-deny-relgious-roots-islamic-state (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵¹ Ibid.

⁵² Aljazeera: “ISIL Publicly Executes Iraqi Journalist,” (October 2014). http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/reports-isil-executes-iraqi-journalist-20141010194149556427.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵³ A. Ahlert: “ISIS Trafficking Human Organs?” (February 2015). http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/arnold-ahlert/isis-trafficking-human-organs-1-1/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵⁴ RTT News: “ISIL Militants Killed More Than 1000 Civilians in Recent Onslaught in Iraq,” (June 2014). http://www.rttnews.com/2340932/isil-militants-killed-more-than-1000-civilians-in-recent-onslaught-in-iraq-un.aspx (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵⁵ Human Rights Watch’s News: “Libya: Extremists Terrorizing Derna Residents,” (November 2014). http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/11/27/libya-extremists-terrorizing-derna-residents (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵⁶ J. Zarocostas: “Islamic State Executed Imam of Mosque Where Baghdadi Preached,” (July 2014). http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/07/08/232563/un-islamic-state-executed-imam.html (Accessed 05.04.2015).

⁵⁷ U. Bacchi: “ISIS Medieval School Curriculum: No Music, Art and Literature for Mosul Kids,” (September 2014). http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-medieval-school-curriculum-no-music-art-literature-mosul-kids-1465590 (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵⁸ P. Wood: “Islamic State: Yazidi Women Tell of Sex-Slavery Trauma,” (December 2014). http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30573385 (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁵⁹ H. Saul: “Isis Publishes Penal Code Listing Amputation, Crucifixion and Stoning as Punishments - and Vows to Vigilantly Enforce it,” (January 2015). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-publishes-penal-code-listing-amputation-crucifixion-and-stoning-as-punishments--and-vows-to-vigilantly-enforce-it-9994878.html (Accessed 12.04.2015).  

⁶⁰ M. Chastain: “Isis Slaughters 150 Females in Iraq for Refusing to Marry, Have Sex with Them,” (December 2014). http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/12/17/isis-slaughters-150-females-in-iraq-for-refusing-to-marry-have-sex-with-militants/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁶¹ A. Smith: “ISIS Publish Pamphlet on How to Treat Female Slaves,” (September 2014). http://www.newsweek.com/isis-release-questions-and-answers-pamphlet-how-treat-female-slaves-290511 (Accessed 12.04.2015). 

⁶² K. Lackey: “Pamphlet Provides Islamic State Guidelines for Sex Slaves,” (December 2014). http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/13/pamphlet-islamic-state-guidelines-sex-slaves/20359049/ (Accessed 12.04.2015). (Emphasis mine).

⁶³ Wikipedia Encyclopedia: “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” (April 2015). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant#Tanzim_Qaidat_al-Jihad_fi_Bilad_al-Rafidayn (Accessed 14.04.2015).

⁶⁴ L.Williams: “ISIS Has Polarized Turkey Domestically,” (January 2015). http://www.aina.org/news/20150104175714.htm (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁶⁵ Yahoo News: “IS Welcomes Boko Haram Allegiance,” (March 2015). http://news.yahoo.com/accepts-allegiance-nigeria-jihadists-boko-haram-201513146.html (Accessed 10.04.2015). 

⁶⁶ BBC News: “Yemen Crisis: More Than 100 Die in Attacks on Sanaa Mosques,” (March 2015). http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31983627 (Accessed 9.04.2015).

⁶⁷ A. Sarhan: “Military Operation Began to Liberate Anbar,” (April 2015). http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/military-operation-began-to-liberate-anbar-says-anbar-council/ (Accessed 7.04.2015).

⁶⁸ A. Mamoun: “130 ISIS Elements Killed, Sleeper Cells Found in Tikrit,” (April 2015). http://www.iraqinews.com/iraq-war/130-isis-elements-killed-sleeper-cells-found-tikrit/ (Accessed 18.04.2015).

⁶⁹ J. Hall: “A Hug from the Executioner... Then Two Gay Men Are Stoned to Death: Isis Murderers Stage Show of Kindness for the Cameras Before Brutal Killing,” (April 2015). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3052563/A-hug-mercy-executioner-stones-two-men-death-gay-Astonishing-scenes-Syria-ISIS-murderers-stage-kindness-cameras-brutal-killing.html  (Accessed 26.04.2015).

⁷⁰ Islamic Scholars and Leaders: “Open Letter to Dr. Ibrahim Awwad Al-Badri, alias ‘Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi,’ And to the Fighters and Followers of the Self-Declared Islamic State,” (September 2014). http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/pdf/Booklet-English.pdf (Accessed 19.04.2015).

⁷¹ Ibid. (Emphasis mine).

⁷² T. Holland, op.cit.

⁷³ F. Martel: “The Brutality of ISIS Terrifies Everyone,” (July 2014). http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/07/15/former-isis-jihadist-the-brutality-of-isis-terrifies-everyone/ (Accessed 10.04.2015).

⁷⁴ Ibid.

⁷⁵ Encarta: “Nietzsche: From Thus Spake Zarathustra,” DVD Version, 2009, Microsoft Corporation, United States of America.

⁷⁶ I. Prusher: “What the ISIS Flag Says About the Militant Group,” (September 2014). https://web.archive.org/web/20140909202210/http://time.com/3311665/isis-flag-iraq-syria/ (Accessed 12.04.2015).

⁷⁷ N. a.: “Religious Experience, Fanaticism and Kant,” (n.d). http://www.personal.kent.edu/~jwattles/relexprk.htm (Accessed 17.04.2015).

⁷⁸ S. Nebehay: “Islamic State Committing Staggering Crimes in Iraq,” (October 2014). http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-mideast-crisis-un-idUSKCN0HR0R120141002 (Accessed 14.04.2015).

⁷⁹ N. Världen: “Det jag har bevittnat i al-Raqqa kommer alltid förfölja mig (What I Have Witnessed in al-Raqqa Will Always Haunt Me,” (September 2014). http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/det-jag-har-bevittnat-i-al-raqqa-kommer-alltid-forfolja-mig/ (Accessed 16.04.2015).

⁸⁰ L. Okika: “Homo Religiosus and the Traps of Fundamentalism,” in West African Journal of Philosophical Studies, Vol. 15 (2013), p. 39.

⁸¹ Wikipedia Encyclopedia: “Fundamentalism,” (March 2015). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism#Criticism (Accessed 17.04.2015). 

⁸² D. T. Lambo, Understanding Islam and Boko Haram (N.p.: Dansquesmen Publishers, 2013), p. 5.

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