“Pure Mohammadan Islam”: This is what ISIS, Daesh in Arabic, promises to deliver once the caliphate has defeated “Infidel” enemies and secured its position. The promise is at the core of its propaganda, including in cyberspace.
Its recent blitzkrieg victories and high-profile beheadings are not the only reason ISIS has attracted universal attention. Perhaps more interesting is Daesh’s ability to seduce large numbers of Muslims across the globe, including in Europe and the United States.
It does so with an ideological “product” designed to replace other brands of Islamism....
The promised “Pure Mohammadan Islam” is based on three rejections, explained by the late Islamist ideologue Youssef al-Ayyeri in a book published more than a decade ago.
The first rejection is of traditional Islamic tolerance for Christians and Jews....
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The second rejection is aimed against “Infidel ideologies,” especially democracy — government of men by men rather than by Allah.
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Daesh’s third rejection is aimed against what is labeled “diluted” (iltiqati) forms of Islam — for example, insisting that Islam is a religion of peace.
In Daesh’s view, Islam will be a religion of peace only after it has seized control of the entire world. Until then, the world will be divided between the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) and the House of War (Dar al-Harb). There can never be peace between Islam and whatever that is not Islam. At best, Muslims can make truce (solh) with non-Muslims while continuing to prepare for the next war.