ISIS between Islamism and Extremism - Coursework Example

Research Paper: Ideological Roots of ISIS Introduction ISIS is a domination of power that threatens the national security within the Arab region, making many people homeless, refugees, dead women and children, and perpetrating crimes against humanity. Regardless the media is playing a huge role to deliver the message to the nation, the misperception of the news has prompted many scholars to contribute towards the different thoughts and point of views pertaining ISIS. Until today, various news were broadcasted making lots of accusation and claims about ISIS, some of it wrong and it some accurate. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) refer to a terrorist group that functions across the Middle East region, with its notable operations being carried out in both Iraq and Syria. Scholars hold the opinion that the operations of ISIS routinely bring about both insecurity, violation of human rights and instability. In as much as the establishment has enhanced its operations since 2010, it has lost considerable influence in most of its strong bases in recent past. In Syria for example, the organization has faced rebellion because it routinely attacks innocent civilians, hospitals, doctors as well as those who take part in humanitarian organizations. Activities that lead to loss of lives, and the citizens of the nation receiving poor services. The activities of the present government of Iraq, has in like manner reduced the influence of the organization, as the Prime Minister has often laid more emphasis on uniting the two warring Islamic factions namely the Shia and Sunni-Muslims. Various nations such as the United States and the European Union have come in handy in reducing the influence of the organization in Iraq as they have provided intelligence that has aided security agencies in preventing attacks propagated by ISIS. Moreover, the US has led global coalitions, including Arab Sunni countries, in carrying out airstrikes against ISIS and aiding Kurdish Peshmerga forces in averting the effects of the organization. This research paper therefore aims to provide more insight on ISIS as an organization, its ideologies and the theories upon which it operates. Moreover, the paper sheds more light on Jihad, which is a tenet of Islam and has often been interpreted and practiced across history and geography. History and Functionality of ISIS The origin of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria can be traced back to Al-Qaida way back in 2006. Though its operations were considerably minimal then, religious scholars have overtime stated that the organization was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an extremist of Jordan descent. Zarqawi’s tenure at the helm of the establishment nevertheless did not last for long as both United States and Iraq Intelligence killed him. Abu Ayyoub al-Masri took over as the leader for a while, before Abu Baker al-Baghdadi declared himself the leader in 2010. Religious scholars hold the opinion that al-Baghdadi has majorly focused on expanding the influence of the organization since he took over leadership. According to (Al-Etaibi, 2014) the evolution of ISIS has not been so easy as its influence declined in 2004 when it formed a close association with Al-Qaeda as well as in 2013 when it suffered several attacks, notably from Western intelligence. That notwithstanding (Anderson, 2014) holds the opinion that ISIS is not founded on jihad for it does not solely focus on the religious responsibilities of Muslims and is not controlled by Al-Qaeda. Presently, ISIS has three major operation bases; namely in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The organization often employs different approaches in recruiting its members: including arming the locals and at the same time giving the impression of repression under the secular government. Various scholars have overtime stated that ISIS has extensive funding even though the source of the funding cannot be accounted for. It is for this reason that (Anderson, 2014) asserts that the establishment acquires its funding from black-market and criminal activities within the nations that it operates. This line of thought is similarly shared by (Barnes, 2014), who holds the opinion that ISIS customarily takes part in several illegal activities such as abductions, robberies, extortions and fraud to procure the funds that can enable its members take part in their daily activities. According to Fadel Abdul Ghani who is the founder and chairperson of the Syrian Human Rights Board, Daish is an establishment that flourishes at the expense of much casualties, as it has an inclination of instigating surprise attacks, which result in maximum fatalities. Abdul Ghani asserts that ISIS has a high tendency of initiating fear within those who hold different ideologies from theirs, which is coercion in religion and presuming that they have a greater indulgence of Gods knowledge and aspirations for humanity. To further prove his point, Abdul Ghani refers to the Mosul situation, where ISIS controls and taxes local businesses ranging from family owned grocery stores, construction companies all the way to mobile phone companies. In addition, the organization routinely carries out attacks within Mosul, which leads to further destruction of property and loss of lives. Prof. Ibrahim Sharqiah, a fellow at the Centre for Middle East Policy shares this perspective when he reaffirms that Daish forcefully engages the services of untrained foreign volunteers in carrying out their bomb attacks and most of its operations, which involve the perpetrator losing his or her life. He employs the example of bomb attacks to drive his message home by saying that some of the suicide bombers are forced to move on foot while wearing the suicide bombs. In some situations however, the suicide bombers are ordinarily forced to drive vehicles, which are packed with explosives. Religious experts have over time asserted that duress in religion, which is the event of forcing non-Muslims to embrace Islam, is the ideological foundation of ISIS and other Islamic movements. Members of ISIS for example hold the belief that they have superior understanding of the wishes of God for humankind. Moreover, they hold the perception that they are entitled to act on behalf of God. To that effect, they are always obliged to act on the behalf of God and that explains why they routinely tend to punish those who they consider to go against the divine will of God (Baderoon, 2013). Of more interest is that ISIS customarily claims that they do no not seek power for themselves, but rather they are always driven by the urge to make the world more religious. According to (Al-Etaibi, 2014), the major aim of Daish is to establish a caliphate and to help it accomplish that, the organization employs several strategies including defeating its opponents and forcing new laws on communities. Moreover, they use their centralized administration to control the necessities and often export their ideology into other nations such as Algeria, Egypt and Indonesia. Members of ISIS hold the opinion that discriminating against associates of the wrong faith is the right thing to do for to them; Islam is the only true religion. Moreover, the failure to discriminate against them will contribute to further slump of Islam as a religious affiliation. One of the mechanisms through which ISIS spreads its ideologies is education and the syllabus that children and youths who believe in it go through. Moreover, The ISIS education system has all the disciplines altered in favor of Sunni-Muslims. Of more interest is the fact that even disciplines like Geography that touch on regions are taught from an Islamic point of view (Baderoon, 2013). It is for this reason that ISIS perceives Shia-Muslims as infidels who should be discriminated against. The Role of Jihad The Islamic concept of jihad for both Muslim and western scholars is conceivably the most intricate, contentious, misinterpreted and religiously, politically, historically, and culturally charged concept in Islamic thought. Much material has been documented on Salafi-Jihadists, their ideologies and foundations upon which they operate. Scholars have had ideological differences on the topic, with (Meijer, 2005) asserting that Salafi-Jihad is a movement that represents people who are against global growth. (Bhardwaj, 2012) on the other hand differs with this perception, arguing that jihadists are driven by the urge for defense and not violence. Understanding jihad therefore requires individuals to take keen interest in the history of Islamic movements notably, their past and present events. In doing this, it is imperative to take into consideration the fact that not all Muslims uphold the importance of Salafi-Jihadists. This therefore implies that other Islamic movements exist that do not share the same ideologies as Salafi-Jihadists. It is imperative to acknowledge the fact that ISIS differs from other Islamic movements such as Al-Qaeda and Taliban in several ways. ISIS for example has a centralized system of administration while Taliban and Al-Qaeda both have a decentralized structure. Similarly, in as much as Al-Qaeda has overtime reaffirmed the significance of keeping the same identity; Daish has overtime focused on reconstructing identity (Shafeeq, 2014). As an organization, ISIS has taken advantage of both the Syrian and Iraq crisis to expand its sphere of influence. Moreover, it has fully exploited the advancement of technology and its strong media branch to reach out to a considerable population of its potential members. Amidst all this, it is similarly imperative to note that daish differs from the According to Shaikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, who is the Chairperson of the Islamic Supreme Council of America “jihad has many meanings; It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam. Moreover, many political and religious groups have hijacked the concept of jihad over the ages in a bid to justify various forms of violence.” The aspect of jihad has been witnessed from early centuries though religious scholars began taking keen interest in it from 1900. According to (Wilson, 1973), Sufis based on the oral traditions of Prophet Muhammad developed jihad. Apart from being a religious ideology therefore, Salafi-Jihad similarly doubles up as a guiding doctrine upon which most of the Islamic movements are founded on. Wilson (1973) holds the opinion that Salafi-Jihad raises awareness to Muslims as a religious outfit, thereby linking their thoughts to their beliefs and actions. As a religious ideology, Salafi-Jihad similarly confers identification and a sense of purpose to Muslims. Since the 19TH century when Salafi-Jihad was practiced, perpetrators of the establishments have reiterated the fact that their purpose has been the dislocation of turbulent effects of the social, political and the economic jurisdictions of life (Khan, 2010). To that effect, Salafi-Jihad as an institute, aims to raise awareness among Muslims that Islam, which is their religion has been on the decline for quite some time. Moreover, the establishment reiterates that Islam was at its peak in the course of the early centuries and that times have turned and presently, Islam has been undergoing constant decline. Salafi-Jihadists therefore feel obliged to do all within their reach to assist Islam regain its former status. The slump in Islam has not only been registered because of religions, but similarly in economic, cultural, political and military terms. As an institution, Salafi-Jihads argue that they can highlight the source of the problems that Islam is facing, thereby identifying the origin of Muslim degradation. According to Meijer (2005), the only identity to Salafi-jihad as an organization is membership to the global Islamic community. As an organization, Salafi-Jihad promises dignity, honor and security upon the Muslim community. In an attempt to reverse the tide of history, some Salafi-Jihadists employ military action to redeem Muslim adherents and to wage war against opponents of the Muslim religion. Apart from those who do not embrace Islam as a religion, Salafi-jihads are against Muslims who have rejected jihad philosophies and regard them as infidels. Additionally, segments of Salafi-jihadists do not feel at peace with the violation of human rights because of fighting for the rights of Islam as a religion. That explains the Syrian situation where Salafi-Jihadists have waged a war against ISIS. Over and above, the connection that exists between Salafi-Jihadists and ISIS is that ISIS is founded on the same ideologies as the jihad. The only difference is that ISIS is more radical and violent in executing its objectives. In like manner, the main point highlighted in the section above is that the activities of Salafi-Jihad focus on the opponents of Islam. In addition, the organization holds the opinion that the victory by Muslims over non-Muslims is not individual victory, but that of Islam as a whole. Jihad therefore uses two vehicles in an attempt to accomplish its missions. The first is to try to convert non-Muslims by sharing the ideologies of Islam. If they refuse to adhere, then military action should be employed. To this effect, we can arrive at the verdict that the ideologies of Jihad act as the foundation upon which certain Islamic movements such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS are based. On the other hand, other Islamic movements such as the one of Shia-Muslims among others acknowledge the significance of diversity in religion, as that is integral in ensuring respect for human rights. Since the rise in the activities of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, questions have been raised regarding the reasoning of some of their actions. Various scholars have often reaffirmed the fact that ISIS has often been at the forefront of violating the basic human rights. In like manner, concerns have been raised regarding the manner in which ISIS has been violating the rights of the marginalized, notably women and children. This is majorly because they have on several occasions captured both women and young female children and subjected them to sexual exploitation, as explained by (Salim, 2014). The fact that ISIS has overtime resorted to killing those who work for the government of Iraq in various positions including rubbish collectors has made people have second thoughts on the establishment and their intentions. . Moreover, the killing of Christians who do not share their ideologies and the murder of families whose sons serve the in the Iraq military are some of the factors that have made people have misgivings about the intentions of ISIS as demonstrated by some of their former members (Salim, 2014). Fighting ISIS Bombing ISIS and tearing down its machinery of operations by the US Intelligence, as well as both the Syrian and Iraq administrations may suppress establishment for a while, but may not completely eradicate it. The perfect strategy to ensure that the establishment is eradicated is to address the ideological foundations on which ISIS is based. This is because fighting them would make them disappear for a while, and resurface later. Conclusion From the section above, it is clear that ISIS has been evolving steadily since its formation in the early 2000. In as much as both Western and Arab intelligence have overtime worked in unison to avert the activities of daish, the organization has continued to be a major source of insecurity in the Arab region. As an establishment, its activities have overtime resulted in the violation of human rights, loss of lives and destruction of property. From the research above, the main objective of daish is the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. Its activities have majorly been aggravated by its strong philosophies a fact that leaves addressing its ideological foundations as the ideal strategy through which the organization can be fought. In as much as ISIS claims that its intentions are sincere, research has pointed towards the fact that most of its members are Salafi-jihadists with little understanding of the jihad principles. In as much as the media has played an integral role in updating the global population on all the activities of ISIS, it has on several occasions provided wrong information, as it has often associated the activities of ISIS to Salafi-jihadists as well as other Islamic movements. One clear position is that further research ought to be carried out on daish, for that hold holds the key to putting an end to the activities of ISIS. References Al-Etaibi, A. (2014). Daish and Political Islam: Comparative Analysis with al-Qaeda and Taliban. Anderson, G. (2014). Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the Theory and Practice of Jihad. Small Wars. Baderoon, H. (2013). Theorising Experience, Subjectivity and Narrative in Studies of Gender and Islam. Journal for Islamic Studies. Barnes, J. (2014). Several Islamic State Leaders Have Been Killed in Iraq. Wall Street Journal. Blavatsky, H. P., Gomes, M., & Kern Foundation. (2010). Isis unveiled Secrets of the ancient wisdom tradition, Madame Blavatskys first work. 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