Part 12
By Ehsan Sajadi
ISIS and its Inhuman Judicial System: The Brutal Distortion of Islam in the Name of Sharia
The extremist takfiri organization ISIS, through the calculated misuse of Islamic concepts, produced one of the most corrupt and inhumane judicial systems in modern history. Basing its authority on interpretations that lay far outside the sacred framework of Islamic jurisprudence, the group established a system that bore no genuine relationship to Islamic justice or mercy. Instead, it functioned as an instrument for entrenching violent rule and enforcing submission through terror.
The judicial structure constructed by ISIS was fundamentally at odds with the core principles of Islamic law. Under the banner of implementing Sharia, the group institutionalized oppression, intimidation, and brutality. This approach ignored a foundational truth: Islam is built upon justice, equity, and the protection of human dignity, with a judicial system designed around strict standards, transparency, and the right to a defense.
By exploiting widespread ignorance and regional instability, ISIS presented a distorted, takfiri version of Islam while portraying itself as the architect of a supposedly authentic Islamic order.
Punishments under ISIS were public spectacles designed to instill fear, including amputations, stonings, summary executions in desert wastes, and the mutilation of corpses.
Islamic law, by contrast, imposes stringent conditions for applying such penalties, including the requirement of reliable witnesses, a guaranteed right of defense, and a rigorous evaluation of evidence. ISIS ignored all such safeguards. Sentences were handed down in superficial, staged proceedings that lasted mere minutes and were devoid of due process.
In Islamic jurisprudence, for example, the punishment for theft applies only under strict conditions. The offender must not be driven by dire need, the stolen property must meet a defined value threshold, and the crime must be proven by trustworthy testimony. ISIS disregarded these criteria entirely. Amputations were carried out arbitrarily, and the punishment was sometimes misapplied to charges of “apostasy,” a concept the group fundamentally twisted. Within this lawless system, no consistent rules existed. Decisions were driven solely by rigid takfiri thinking and an obsession with violence.
Equally alarming was the total disregard for the right to a defense. In Islam, the accused has the right to speak, to present evidence, and to be acquitted if guilt is not proven. ISIS, however, operated through sham courts with predetermined outcomes. Hundreds were executed for espionage, cooperation with non-Muslims, or opposition to the so-called caliphate, often without any meaningful chance to defend themselves.
Such practices stood in stark contrast to the judicial conduct of the Prophet Muhammad’s era and that of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, where defendants were heard fully and judges listened with care. ISIS’s behavior thus represented not only a violation of Islamic teachings but also a direct contradiction of universal human rights principles.
The Islamic judicial system is founded upon the four major Sunni schools of thought, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali, each drawing on the Qur’an, Sunnah, ijmā’, and qiyās, with disciplined procedures for adjudication. ISIS dismantled this entire tradition, replacing it with a centralized system where authority rested in the hands of a single figure or a small circle, free from oversight or accountability. In true Islamic governance, both rulers and judges are subject to scholarly and public scrutiny, and no ruling is enforceable without grounding in Islamic sources.
The judicial system imposed by ISIS was devoid of transparency and justice. There was no proper record-keeping, no hearing of independent witnesses, and no public procedure. Decisions were made in secret, often based on anonymous accusations or unreliable rumors. Islamic Sharia, however, emphasizes openness, public scrutiny, and the right to appeal, safeguards that exist to prevent error and abuse. Islam has historically sought to protect individual and collective rights. ISIS, through its actions, trampled these principles and replaced justice with terror.