Part 4
By Harith Mayar
ISIS presents itself as a champion of Islam, yet its doctrines, methods, and daily practices stand in sharp opposition to the faith it claims to uphold. What it teaches and how it acts betray the very principles at the heart of Islam. These contradictions are evident across the movement’s entire framework and have prompted scholars from every Islamic tradition to reject it as a takfiri faction without legitimacy.
In its pursuit of power, ISIS claimed, and continues to claim, that it is reviving the caliphate. Yet when it came to the standards laid down by Islam for leadership, it observed none of them. A rightful leader in Islam must embody justice, possess sound religious knowledge, be accepted by the people, and demonstrate the ability to govern society with wisdom.
The men who declared themselves leaders of ISIS held none of these qualities. Instead, they ruled through fear, coercion, and relentless violence, presenting themselves as caliphs by force alone. Far from reviving the caliphate, they reduced it to a brutal caricature, ignoring Islam’s insistence on consultation, consensus, and careful selection in choosing rulers.
Their reckless practice of takfir is another sign of this distortion. Declaring fellow Muslims to be unbelievers is a matter treated with extreme caution in Islamic law, permitted only in rare and exceptional cases. ISIS, however, hurled the charge of disbelief broadly and carelessly, condemning entire communities without regard for the Qur’an’s call to unity or the Prophet’s command to avoid division. By sowing discord and hostility among believers, the group openly defied the spirit and letter of the faith.
Violence was the movement’s primary language. In the name of jihad, ISIS murdered civilians, executed prisoners, and even targeted children. Yet Islam sets clear boundaries for armed struggle. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, forbade the killing of non-combatants such as women, children, and the elderly, and prohibited the destruction of homes, crops, and public spaces, even in the heat of war. What ISIS carried out was not jihad but a wholesale violation of divine law.
The group’s misuse of sacred texts further exposed its departure from authentic Islam. Verses of the Qur’an and sayings of the Prophet were stripped of their historical context, recited without reference to the circumstances of revelation, and bent to serve political ambitions. In the Islamic tradition, interpreting the Qura’n demands deep scholarship and broad mastery of the sciences of religion. ISIS’s shallow and self-serving readings have been dismissed outright by the learned scholars of every school.
Even those Salafi movements from which ISIS claimed inspiration rejected its methods and condemned its crimes. They made clear that the group’s actions bore no resemblance to the teachings of Islam. Far from defending the religion, ISIS distorted it before the world and cast dishonor upon the very religion it claimed to represent.
In the end, ISIS must be recognized for what it is: a deviant, takfiri faction, divorced from Islam and corrupted by its own lust for power. It exploited the sacred emotions of ordinary believers in order to advance a narrow political agenda, leaving behind destruction, division, and dishonor. To expose these contradictions is not only to unmask the falsehood of ISIS but also to safeguard the integrity of Islam itself and strengthen the fight against extremism.