Is ISIS Islamic?

Is killing Muslims who are not committed to Islam firmly Islamic? Is crucifying and beheading non-Muslims and taking their wives and daughters as slaves Islamic? Can ISIS be called Islamic since it has been killing people and aiming to erase the borders among Islamic countries and make them a united Muslim nation under the black flag of Islam? Is it un-Islamic when ISIS claims the caliphate, the Islamic global government, and calls all non-Islamic nations to join Islam?

What is the ultimate authority in Islam to distinguish how genuine ISIS is in its Islamic claim and proclamations? Is it really the Saudi Arabian leaders or the leaders of any Islamic country that can categorize ISIS as un-Islamic or should it be the Quran? Is it the leaders in America and the West that have the authority to label ISIS as un-Islamic and as a group that has hijacked Islam? Or is it the Quran, the Muslims’ holy book, which is given the absolute authority to define what a true Muslim is and what he is expected to do?

For years, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and some other Arabic country leaders called the members of ISIS the true fighters of Islam and poured out their millions at their feet so that the Islamic jihad could continue. As long as the overriding focus of ISIS was to fight the Shia government of Syria, Iranian and Hezbollah militias in both Syria and Iraq, it was Islamic. It was only in 2014 that ISIS was called non-Islamic by some of these countries. ISIS linked its mission to the Islamic apocalyptic caliphate and called all Muslim nations to give up their full governing rights to ISIS in order to fulfill the eschatological mission of Islam. It was then that Saudi Arabia felt desperate for help from the West and called ISIS non-Islamic. Consequently, some mosques in the West followed Saudi Arabia, the great money master, and raised their banners in opposition to ISIS. The White House and the leaders of other western countries also ranked ISIS as non-Islamic and blamed it for hijacking the so-called peaceful Islam.

It is so sad that the western leaders align their foreign policy with the fluctuating foreign policies of Islamic countries that are shaped by the capricious political philosophy of Islam. As an ex-Muslim and a scholar in Islam, I have found nowhere in Islam that Muslims should be honest in their approaches to non-Muslims even if they are in desperate need.  If the Quran teaches Muslims (Q. 9:23) not even to befriend their own Muslim parents who follow a moderate path, how could Muslims befriend non-Muslims who do not share anything of Islam with them?

Saudi Arabia and others who are afraid of ISIS are not following pure Islam as much as ISIS is. They are perfectly aware that ISIS is following Muhammad’s 7th century AD political philosophy which is reflected in the Quran, especially in Suras 8 and 9. Muhammad never put critics of Islam in prison, as Saudi does. He killed all who did not apologize. No matter how intolerant Saudi Arabia is, it is still affected by some western values through international relationships and through expatriates who work in that country. The prophet of Islam would not tolerate such non-Islamic influence.

Another grave weakness of Saudi Arabia is that its kingdom never matches the leadership style of Muhammad. Muhammad never allowed himself to be a wealthy man as the kings, princes and leaders in Islamic countries are. He was a kind of revolutionary and guerilla leader who always participated in war personally as the chief commander and fought alongside his fellow jihadists. His overriding focus in Islam was to invade and loot others, destroy every non-Islamic value and share everything with his followers, including enslaved women and girls. He never retreated from warring with others. Islamic country leaders never represent the leadership of Muhammad, but ISIS does. That is why ISIS sees itself a better solution for Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries.

One may ask, if Saudi Arabia is not following pure Islam, why then has it been pouring millions of dollars into the pockets of terrorists throughout the past decades? The answer can be multidimensional. There are powerful Muslim clergies in Saudi Arabia with significant number of followers that even the Saudi kingdom cannot stop from supporting terrorists. A great portion of terrorist monies flow out from these clergies. Secondly, as long as terrorists are not serious threats to Saudi Arabia, Saudi leaders would not mind if they destroy other cultures. Thirdly, Saudi leaders believe that Allah is happy with their system otherwise he would not bless them. As a result, they are happy to export their own kind of Islam, Wahhabism, which means to ruin other cultures and still please Allah. Fourthly, they also need to please many of their people, including those who serve their interests in non-Islamic countries, and to export Islam. Islam cannot be exported unless it is involved with some kinds of terrorism, either physical, cultural, social or political. Saudi must get involved in some kind of terrorism in order to gain support from its people.

What Saudi and other fundamental Islamic countries are doing is only enough to pave the way for the promised eschatological caliph of whom Muhammad spoke. But the Saudi king is not that caliph. He must humble himself to that caliph. The leader of ISIIS saw the qualities of that caliph in himself, announced himself a caliph and expected the Saudi king to know Islam well and accordingly bow down to him.  But the Saudi king is firmly attached to his throne, unlike his prophet, and never showed allegiance to the caliph.

The leader of ISIS, Al Baghdadi, is deep in Islamic study. He knows that the money from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Emirates and Turkey helps in the advancement of the true Islam but not those countries’ political philosophy which is affected by western politics. ISIS is honest in its call to Muslim nations to follow its model. ISIS is well aware that no Islamic country leader fits the eschatological government of Islam. ISIS knows the Quran well and how the Quran defines a true Muslim.

The Quran in Sura (chapter) 49:14 defines a Muslim as someone who surrenders to Islam without any choice for understanding. In his biography, Muhammad said that he himself was forced and violated by an angel to accept the Quran. He said this so that his followers would know that force in Islam is inherent and they had no choice to question the Quran. Muslims who want to take a softer approach are called infidels. (Sura 4:150-151) But the life in Saudi Arabia does not match the qualities of theses verses strictly.

The Quran also in Sura 9:123 defines a pious Muslim (Al-Muttaqûn) as someone who is harsh in his attitude and ready to kill non-Muslims, even relatives and neighbors. In Sura 4:95 it says that Allah has granted a grade higher to those who personally go to war and kill than to those who sit at home.

The responsibility of every pious Muslim is to punish, shame and terrorize those who reject Islam and Allah. (Suras 8:12, 9:2, 14 and 58:20) These verses teach that killing non-Muslims or infidel Muslims is a remedy to pious Muslims’ souls. That’s why they need to control every part of people’s lives and make sure that everything is solely in accordance with Islam. Even prayer that is expected to be a personal thing is not personal in Islam. If you do not pray, you and your family can be locked in your house and be burned by a pious Muslim. The prophet of Islam said: “I was about to order for collecting firewood and then order someone to pronounce the Adhan (prayer call) for the prayer and then order someone to lead the people in prayer and then I would go from behind and burn the houses of men who did not present themselves for the (compulsory congregational) prayer.”  (Bukhari V9, B89, H330).

What ISIS has been doing is the true reflection of the Quran’s instructions and of Muhammad’s life. ISIS sees its model in Muhammad, not in the king of Saudi or in any other Muslim leader. All evidences in Islam prove that ISIS is following the pure Islam. The western leaders will never be able to help Muslims, especially the young, if they continue blaming ISIS and other terrorist groups with non-Islamic actions and indirectly question the authority of their very sacred book, the Quran. The facts cannot be hidden long; sooner or later they will be obvious.

Islamic country leaders also need to stop hiding Islamic facts. Islam has not left any choice for living in peace with non-Muslims or even with moderate Muslims. They therefore need either to join ISIS, get involved in unceasing wars like their prophet Muhammad, pour out the blood of innocent people and please their Allah or to leave Islam and find a better alternative so that their nations can live in peace at home and with others.