Islamic State (IS)

On 3 August 2014 IS attacked the city of Sinjar, predominantly populated by Yazidis, and the province of the same name. The date marks the starting point of the ongoing genocide of the Yazidi population.

IS is an international terrorist militia whose declared goal is the establishment of a global caliphate. The first precursor organisations emerged from Al-Qaeda structures in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. In October 2006, the jihadist terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which had previously committed numerous attacks on civilians, renamed itself Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) and declared its supposed claim of rule to Kurdish areas in northern Iraq. Various waves of attacks followed in Iraq from 2007 to 2010, killing several thousand.

When on 11 February 2012 Al-Qaeda called on Muslims in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey to fight the Assad government, ISI also participated in the Syrian civil war. In the spring of 2013, al-Nusra Front, a jihadist Islamist organisation in Syria, and ISI united under the auspices of Al-Qaeda to form the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

From July to September 2013, the militia carried out various attacks in Iraq and Syria. During this time, jihadist fighters from all over the world increasingly travelled to the area.

After the terrorist militia took control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, the caliphate was proclaimed in June 2014. They changed their name to Islamic State (IS). But after that, their former name ISIS has still been used by others and at international levels. From Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, the terrorist organisation tried to set up state-like structures. In contrast to other terrorist organisations, IS also increasingly called on women to travel to the alleged Caliphate and bring their children.

Since 2015, the terrorist militia has also increasingly committed attacks in Europe, including the attack on the Bataclan Theater on 13 November 2015 in Paris and the attack in Nice on 14 June 2016. Although the terrorist organisation has a more classic military strategy than its predecessor organisations, terrorism is one of its main weapons of war.

Since 2017, IS has been increasingly pushed back by a military coalition between Kurdish forces, the Iraqi army and the US army. In July 2017, Mosul, the capital of IS in Iraq, was liberated. In September of the same year, with US support the Kurdish dominated SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) finally liberated Raqqa, the centre of IS in Syria. Since then, the Islamic State has been in military retreat.

In 2021 and 2022, the terrorist militia gained strength in various areas, especially in Afghanistan.
Significant terrorist attacks have occurred in Afghanistan during the last two years since the Islamic State competed with the radical Islamist Taliban due to the existing power vacuum in the country. IS sleeper cells have become active again in Syria and Iraq.

In 2007, the terrorist organisation published a pamphlet titled ‘Notifying Believers of the Birth of Islamic State,’ attempting to substantiate a caliphate’s alleged legitimacy. However, the claim is not limited to just one geographical area, although the Islamic State often states this in its propaganda videos. Instead, according to IS ideology, a caliphate should be proclaimed wherever its fighters publicly appear with weapons.

Muslims are the world’s largest group persecuted by IS. Since most Muslims practice a different interpretation of Islam, IS denies them their status as believers and declares them so-called kaafir, which means infidels or deniers of God. Shiites, in particular, are hated and persecuted by IS because they can not convert to the terrorist organisation’s ideology.

Another central aim of IS is the cultural and religious erasure of the identity of the Yazidis. Yazidis are regarded by IS and other Islamist groups as alleged devil worshipers because they worship Tausî Melek, the angel peacock, whom IS interpreted as a fallen angel, i.e., the devil. The terrorist organisation uses this interpretation as a pretext for the ongoing genocide against the Yazidis and the associated murder and enslavement of the Yazidi population since 2014.

IS ideology can not be understood without looking at conspiracy ideologies to which their propaganda repeatedly refers. Anti-Semitic motives regularly play an important role in the terrorist organisation’s fake news. A repeatedly emphasised goal of the Islamic State is annihilating the State of Israel and the entire Jewish population. Jews are defamed in the Islamic State ideology as a closed group that supposedly rules the world. Western politicians are referred to in this context as puppets or so called mules’ of the Jews. It is claimed that Jews try to dissuade Muslims from their faith.

These are not just elements of a classic anti-Semitic narrative. They also provide the basis for IS supporters to display themselves in a constant defensive attitude towards the West or the westernised world. All elements that are identified with Western life or modernity – the increasing equality of the sexes, freedom of expression of (homo)sexuality, revealing fashion or the increasing softening of the traditional family role models – are used by IS propaganda as allegedly threatening the traditional way of life contrasted by IS.

In this context, the deprivation of the rights of women, whom Shari’ah severely restricts in public and private life, is a particular focus.

Shari’ah is the Islamic law that forms the basis of life in the caliphate. It comprises various codes of law and provides the basis for judicial and extrajudicial decisions, legal norms and interpretations of the law. For example, IS used Shari’ah as a justification for the discrimination, persecution and murder of so-called infidels and used it as a pretext for the ongoing Ferman against the Yazidis. However, as defined by IS, Shari’ah is also a justifying element for various regulations within Muslim society.

IS published a 16-point catalogue that banned the consumption and sale of alcohol, tobacco products and other drugs. Public gatherings, possession and use of perceived idols were banned. Women were forced to cover their bodies, hands, face, and even eyes. The Ministry of Propaganda also censored mosque announcements. The breeding of pigeons was banned because IS considered it sexually offensive. There were also precise regulations on mobile phones, which served to monitor and control the caliphate’s population.

In the interpretation of IS, violations of these Shari‘ah ordinances are punished with draconian punishment, especially corporal. Scores of people were publicly mutilated, flogged, or executed within the caliphate. These practices also serve to deter the population and are a display of public terror within the caliphate.