By: Abu Hudaifa
ISIS effectively exploits impressionable youth to achieve its goals, utilizing various tactics. Here are some key methods that ISIS employs to recruit and exert control over individuals:
1. Extremist Propaganda:
ISIS utilizes social media and the internet to disseminate extremist propaganda. Through videos, audio messages, and writings, they entice individuals to their deceptive caliphate by promoting unfounded ideas about oppression, violence, and jihad, attracting naive individuals.
2. Misrepresentation of the Islamic Caliphate:
ISIS portrays the regions under their control as governed by Islamic principles, where inhabitants purportedly enjoy peace and tranquility. They disseminate videos showcasing schools, hospitals, and markets to portray an ideal and righteous Islamic state. For instance, they have disseminated videos entitled “Daily Life in the Caliphate,” depicting individuals engaging in various activities within a serene environment. The objective is to entice foreign Muslims to relocate to their counterfeit caliphate.
In truth, these areas are afflicted by oppression, insecurity, and injustice. Frequently, the visuals presented are doctored or manipulated to fabricate a false impression.
3. Ideological Indoctrination:
ISIS’s ideology is rooted in religious extremism. They distort religious tenets and present their beliefs as endeavors to establish a true Islamic caliphate. They misinterpret and manipulate verses from the Quran and Hadith to sway individuals into joining their false caliphate.
4. Social Pressure and Threats:
In certain regions, ISIS employs coercion or intimidation to recruit individuals. They also use threats against families and subject them to harsh treatment. Within communities, they propagate fear and terror, compelling individuals to join them in order to evade oppression.
5. Exploiting Emotions:
ISIS manipulates the emotions of disillusioned youth, promising them false hope of combating injustice. They promise them paradise in exchange for martyrdom, encouraging them to participate in battles and carry out suicide attacks. They falsely assure young people that if they join ISIS, participate in wars, and carry out suicide bombings, they will enter paradise as “martyrs” and their families will be rewarded generously by Allah.
6. Financial Incentives:
ISIS attracts individuals facing economic adversity or unemployment by providing financial assistance. They guarantee competitive salaries, aid for their families, and seemingly improved living conditions.
7. Using Children in Propaganda:
ISIS involves children in their propaganda efforts, designating them as “lions of the caliphate.” They showcase children undergoing training in combat camps, receiving instruction on weaponry and ideology. This is intended to indoctrinate both the present and future generations with extremist ideas.
If the ideology of ISIS is carefully studied, it can be concluded that its foundation does not lie in the implementation of Islamic principles. Instead, its goal is to defame Islam and promote anti-Islamic conspiracies. The group consistently provides a distorted interpretation of Islamic Shariah, particularly in regards to jihad, the caliphate, and legal boundaries.
Beneath the guise of jihad, they perpetrate atrocities against innocents and rationalize their oppression in religious terms, while Islam is a religion espousing peace, tolerance, and justice.
ISIS asserts that their path, policies, and objectives are geared towards establishing the only legitimate Islamic caliphate in the modern era. According to this claim, they view anyone who does not pledge allegiance to them or opposes them as a disbeliever who deserves death. This concept of takfir (excommunication) is fundamentally opposed to the core tenets of Islam.
Muslims must understand that ISIS and similar factions do not truly represent Islam, nor are they striving to establish a valid caliphate. Individuals must shield themselves from these distorted ideologies by arming themselves with knowledge, understanding, and religious guidance. This will prevent them from falling victim to the false propaganda of the ISIS.
Awareness and education serve as potent tools against these extremist ideologies. Muslims should seek knowledge from Islamic scholars and credible sources and stand against any form of extremist thought and movement.
