Part 3
By Harith Mayar
Distorting Religious Concepts for Political Ends
A close look at the modern foundations of ISIS reveals how deliberately and systematically the group twisted essential Islamic concepts to serve its political ambitions. Through calculated strategies, it constructed a closed ideological system, severed from the long-established traditions of scholarship, and imposed new definitions that only made sense within its own narrow framework.
This self-fashioned system gave ISIS license to justify its actions without regard for the recognized interpretations of learned scholars or the standards accepted across the Muslim world. What the group described as its “new foundations” was nothing more than the corruption of sacred ideas such as the Caliphate and Jihad, reshaped and promoted in a deviant form.
Take the notion of the Caliphate. ISIS loudly proclaimed that it was reviving this historic institution, yet its claim bore no connection to authentic Islamic principles. The Caliphate, rooted in consultation and election, was reduced by the group to a political instrument for broadening its own authority. By inventing enemies and crafting selective narratives, ISIS sought to dress its expansionist ambitions in the garb of legitimacy.
In reality, the group tore the Caliphate away from its genuine foundations, invented a new narrative, and reintroduced it in its own image. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s claim to restore the Caliphate rested not on religious standards but on an ideological and political reinterpretation contrived by ISIS itself. Under this warped vision, the Caliphate no longer resembled the model of the Rightly Guided Caliphs; it became simply a means of extending territorial control and political domination. The concept, once noble, was cynically exploited to reinforce tyranny.
The concept of Jihad suffered a similar fate. In Islam, Jihad is bounded by a clear ethical framework and strict legal limits. ISIS stripped away those boundaries and redefined it as indiscriminate, organized violence. By relying on this distortion, the group sought to give its anti-Islamic and inhumane actions a false appearance of legitimacy.
Within this framework, ISIS even claimed religious sanction for its atrocities against Muslims themselves. To cement that image, the group churned out propaganda on an industrial scale, including magazines, films, and manifestos, all designed to present its bloody campaign as the true embodiment of Jihad.
Equally troubling was ISIS’s mastery of modern technology. It produced slick digital content and skillfully exploited social media to package its message in ways that resonated with disaffected youth worldwide. Its propaganda was not crude; it was calculated to deceive.
Another hallmark of the movement was its creation of a closed ideological environment. Only interpretations approved by the group were tolerated, and any alternative view was branded as apostasy. Followers were kept inside a tightly controlled information bubble, where they were shown only one side of the story and denied the tools to question it.
To maintain its grip, ISIS cultivated an atmosphere of fear. Public displays of cruelty were staged to terrify opponents and to push its followers toward blind obedience. By stirring religious emotions and manipulating faith, the group attempted to present its violence as sacred duty and divine command.
At the same time, ISIS preyed on the political, social, and economic turmoil of the Middle East. It promised justice and equality to the disillusioned, holding out the image of an ideal Islamic society, only to deceive and recruit them into its destructive project.
Though these so-called foundations appeared outwardly new, they were tied in content to familiar concepts, albeit corrupted beyond recognition. In truth, ISIS profoundly distorted Islamic teachings and used psychological manipulation and sophisticated propaganda to excuse its brutality. Far from representing Islam, this misguided movement has become one of the chief sources of Islamophobia around the world.
