The Ideology of the Islamic State has been described as being a blend of Salafi jihadism, Sunni Islamist fundamentalism, Wahhabism, and Qutbism. Through its official statement of beliefs originally released by its first leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2007 and subsequently updated since June 2014, the Islamic State defined its creed as "a middle way between the extremist Kharijites and the lax Murji'ites".
Important doctrines of IS include its belief that it represents a restoration of the caliphate of early Islam to which all Muslims are required to pledge allegiance;Endtimes Brewing Huffington Post (UK) article by Anne Speckhard, 29 August 2014 that a "defiled" Islam must be purged of apostasy, often with sectarian killings, that the final Day of Judgment by God will follow the defeat of the army of "Rome" by IS; that a strict adherence to following the precepts "established by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers" is necessary.
Experts disagree on the importance of ideology in IS. According to Cole Bunzel, not all members of IS are aware of the ideology of the group they support. On the other hand, Princeton scholar Bernard Haykel, who specializes in the study of IS, argues that many Western observers fail to understand the passionate attachment of IS—including its rank and file—to religious doctrine: "Even the foot soldiers spout Quranic verses" constantly Fawaz A. Gerges also writes "researchers have tended to underestimate the power of the Salafi-jihadist ideology"—which he identifies as ISIL ideology—"at their own peril".
Tenets
Origins The ideology of the Islamic State is based on the tenets of Al-Qaeda literature that had ascended in the Jihadist field since the 1980s. The core features of Jihadist literature during this era were outlined by the influential Egyptian Islamist scholar Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966 C.E/ 1386 A.H), who believed that Islamic principles had become titular and condemned his society as being sunk in a state of Jahiliyya (pre-Islamic ignorance). To overcome this state, Qutb proposed the implementation of the Hakimiyya doctrine, which espoused the Sovereignty of God in all aspects of life. This was to be achieved by the overthrow of the modern-day nation-states and the subsequent establishment of an Islamic order based on the society of Muhammad and his companions, through armed Jihad. Those Muslims who opposed their principles were considered renegades guilty of apostasy. Qutb drew his revolutionary ideals mainly from the works of medieval theologians Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328 C.E/ 728 A.H) and Ibn Qayyim (d. 1350 C.E/ 751 A.H); who strongly condemned the cult of saints and practices related to grave veneration. Qutb re-oriented Ibn Taymiyya's critiques against what he described as the "modern idols", i.e., the contemporary nation-states. These reinvigorated doctrines would shape the Salafi Jihadist theology from the 1970s, represented by organisations like Al-Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, etc. The Islamic State regards itself as the true successor of these theological doctrines and accuses Al-Qaeda leadership under Zawahiri of being deviated. Unlike Al-Qaeda, IS was also able to implement these doctrines in its territories during its brief stint of power in parts of Iraq and Syria during 2014-2019.
According to Professor Bartosz Bolechów of the University of Warsaw, the ideology of the Islamic State was formed as a consequence of ideological radicalisation in response to the war on terror launched after 9/11. Asserting that the binary worldview of the Islamic State and its ideological evolution is compatible with the conclusions of Terror Management Theory (TMT), Bolechów states:"Jihadi, revolutionary variant of Salafism is a modern phenomenon inspired initially by the writings of Sayyid Qutb (and then by scholars like Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and Abu Basir al-Tartusi) and born as a reaction to Islamic political fragmentation (after the fall of Ottoman Empire), colonization (by Western powers) and modernization.. If Jihadi-Salafism should be understood as a radical fringe of Salafism, the ideology of the Islamic State is so far its most extreme version. Some scholars are calling this variant Neo-Takfirism to stress the fact of its strained or even openly hostile relations with more "traditional" strains of jihadi organizations, its thinkers and leaders. This new variant is definitely an indirect byproduct of 9/11 and direct byproduct of GWOT: the chain of events started by the disruption of Al-Qaeda central in Afghanistan and then continued with an intervention in Iraq.. GWOT basically supported the narrative of the revolutionary Salafism: that counterterrorism is only a pretext used by the West in its historical quest for destroying Islam. It was a leading force and a key factor behind a further radicalization of an already radical worldview."Egyptian Jihadist theoretician and ideologue Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir, is widely regarded as the "theologian who shaped ISIS". His works provided the most influential inspiration for modern jihadist strategies. Al-Muhajir's legal manual on violence, Fiqh al-Dima (The Jurisprudence of Jihad or The Jurisprudence of Blood), became IS's standard reference for justifying its extraordinary acts of violence. The book has been described by counter-terrorism scholar Orwa Ajjoub as rationalizing and justifying "suicide operations, the mutilation of corpses, beheading, and the killing of children and non-combatants". His theological and legal justifications influenced IS, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, as well as several other jihadi terrorist groups.
Fawaz A. Gerges believes that IS has drawn from Salafi-jihadists' "repertoire of ideas and selectively borrowed whatever fits its unique worldview". In particular, he believes IS has drawn from three works that share an advocacy of offensive jihad, opposition to any gradualism or political activity, attacking the near enemy, not just the far, observing no limits in killing and brutalizing as extreme violence, as this is following the way of the prophet and is the best way to bring the enemy to submission. Three works are: Management of Savagery (Idarat at-Tawahhush). Written under the pseudonym Abu Bakr al-Najji and published online around 2004. The most famous of the three works, it has been described by several journalists and analysts as influential to IS, and intended to provide a strategy to create a new Islamic caliphate. Among its important points are that earlier jihadists wasted time on preaching, neglecting killing and destruction. "We must drag all the people to battle and bring the temple down on the heads of everyone". After all, "the worst chaotic condition is by far preferable to stability under the system of apostasy",Najji, Management of Savagery, 4. and even "if the whole umma [community of Muslims] perishes" during jihadi generated fighting, "they would all be martyrs".Najji, Management of Savagery, p.76; quoted in ... An Introduction to the Jurisprudence of Jihad by Abu Abdullah al-Muhajjer. According to this interpretation of jihad "killing kuffar and fighting them in their Homeland is a necessity even if they do not harm Muslims". It doesn't really matter if enemy killed are combatants or non-combatants because the main reason for "killing them and confiscating their property" is that "they are not Muslims".Muhajjer, An Introduction to the Jurisprudence of Jihad, p.32; quoted in ... The Essentials of Making Ready [for Jihad] by Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, (also known as Abdel-Qader Ibn Abdel-Aziz or Dr. Fadl). This work focuses on hakimiyya or rule of God, and differs somewhat from the others in encouraging attacks on the far as well as near enemy. Its author asserts that jihad against the near enemy—any Muslim who rules by non-sharia law—is fard ayn, an Islamic obligation for every Muslim male 15 and over. Anyone who avoids jihad in the path of God betrays God, Muhammad, and Islam.Ibn Abdel-Aziz, The Essentials of Making Ready, 345
The classical references of IS mainly consist of the medieval legal literature of Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya and various collections of hadiths and their exegeses. Contemporary scholarly references relied upon by IS include the 19th-century treatises of Wahhabi Aal al-Shaykhs, treatises of Sayyid Qutb, Juhayman al-Otaybi, as well as the popular Jihadi literature produced by the exponents of the Sahwa movement, Shu'aybi school and Al-Qaeda. Major references also consist of the legal works of various scholars influential in the Salafi tradition, such as the early 19th-century Yemeni theologian Muhammad Al-Shawkani. The writings of classical theologian Ibn Taymiyya are disproportionately cited throughout IS pamphlets, propaganda videos and magazines. Throughout their works, IS ideologues refer to Ibn Taymiyya by the title "Shaykh al-Islām". As of 2019, Ibn Taymiyya has been cited more than 40,000 times out of all the 300,000 pages published by various AQ and IS Publications. However, IS strategists are highly selective in appropriating the ideas found in scholarly literature; by molding them to align with their revolutionary propaganda and militant ideology.
Al-Shawkani's tracts condemning the building over graves, in particular, are often abbreviated, re-published and distributed via IS propaganda material and leaflets. During its occupation of Mosul, IS distributed Shawkani's treatises that advocated the "levelling" of tombs and elevated graves, asserting it as a core religious doctrine. Citing Shawkani, IS excommunicated those who visit graves for beseeching favours as polytheists and apostates. Executions of captured enemy combatants suspected of being Shiites are also justified through these writings. Despite resistance from the local populace, IS engaged in a campaign of destroying the tombs of various saints throughout its three-year reign in Mosul.Nováček et al 2021, pp. 43–45
Various scholars assert that the Islamic State misappropriates classical scholarly fatwas (legal verdicts) to justify their ruthless religious interpretations that diverge from traditional Sunnism, including mainstream Salafism. IS ideologues often accuse their religious critics of being guilty of Taqlid (blind following), for disagreeing with their brutal execution methods and violent tactics like suicide bombings. IS magazines such as Dabiq and Dar al-Islam regularly publish numerous articles fervently denouncing those who fall into Taqlid as heretics since "it implies following someone other than Allah and his messenger". Dabiq magazine published an article in 2015 titled "The Evil of Division and Taqlid", which emphasized the obligation to follow Prophetic commands and condemned the practice of imitating scholarly verdicts without a basis in Scriptures. An example of this literalism was manifested in the 2015 burning to death of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh which was justified by IS based on Qisas ("eye for an eye") principle in the Qur'an.
Demands of the Caliphate Having declared itself to be a new Caliphate, and al-Baghdadi to be the new Caliph, IS has declared "We inform the Muslims that, with the announcement of the caliphate, it has become obligatory for all Muslims to give Bay'ah and support him", and "O Muslims in all places. Whoso is able to emigrate to the Islamic State, let him emigrate. For emigration to the Abode of Islam is obligatory". This holds true for all other jihadi groups, including Al-Qaeda, which (IS believes) has lost its reason for existing independently.