Part 5
Harith Mayar
The Governance System of ISIS
In today’s world, the establishment of a legitimate government depends on adherence to principles and frameworks that are recognized and accepted by society at large. Even human-made governments, which from an Islamic point of view are considered incomplete, maintain an organized and systematic structure to manage the affairs of the state.
These systems rest upon codified laws, oversight institutions, and mechanisms of accountability. In contrast, the Islamic model of governance, grounded in divine guidance, offers the most comprehensive and just framework for leadership.
The foundational example of governance in Islam stems from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who within a span of twenty-three years built an extraordinary civilization. His model was continued by the Rashidun Caliphate, which elevated the ideals of justice and prosperity to their finest expression. The defining features of that system included equitable justice, collective consultation through shura, accountability of rulers, respect for citizens’ rights, and a commitment to public welfare, characteristics that astonished both followers and adversaries alike.
ISIS, however, with its deceptive claim of reviving the Islamic Caliphate, has instead cast a deep shadow over the true spirit of governance. By exploiting religious ideas and distorting Islamic history, the group attempted to build a political structure in the name of an Islamic State that lacked even the most basic characteristics of legitimate rule.
The foundations of ISIS’s fabricated system, which it presented as a caliphate, rested on three perilous pillars: brute force and systematic violence, deliberate corruption of religious concepts, and the illusion of legitimacy.
To project a semblance of order, ISIS established institutions resembling Islamic courts and police forces. In reality, these bodies served as tools of repression, designed to silence opposition, misrepresent Islam, and justify acts of cruelty. Its so-called Islamic courts, for instance, issued death sentences and carried out torture without observing even the most fundamental principles of Islamic jurisprudence.
The system of governance claimed by ISIS not only defied universally accepted norms of statecraft but also bore no resemblance to the Rashidun Caliphate. Whereas the Rashidun rulers governed through justice, consultation, and the consent of the people, and were themselves accountable for their actions, ISIS leaders seized power through violence and coercion, driven solely by their own ambitions and the interests of their external sponsors.
Under the guise of reviving the Caliphate, this takfiri movement sought to tarnish the luminous legacy of the Islamic State. Its so-called government possessed neither religious legitimacy nor public support, nor did it demonstrate any practical capacity for governance. It was not a state in any meaningful sense, but a dangerous illusion created to mislead the youth and advance destructive ends.
A closer look at this system reveals how religious concepts can be twisted to construct a machinery of tyranny, one that harms Islam itself and threatens the stability of the region and the wider world. This article offers a framework for deeper examination of this anti-human order in future parts, showing how such an illegitimate and hollow structure is ultimately doomed to collapse under the weight of its own falsehood.