The answer to ISIS lies in the Holy Quran

Part 1 of 2

Having worked for several years in health development in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region,  I would venture to explain the inexplicable success of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in gaining territory and winning over Muslim adherents in one Islamic state after another throughout the Middle East and beyond.

For way over a thousand years, many, even most, Muslims have dreamed of an all-embracing Islamic empire of Allah (God) on earth, much as some Christians might dream of a Christian kingdom of God on earth, that is, a political-religious state, composed of “believers,” knowing no secular boundaries ­— the dead opposite of our constitutional principle of “separation of church and state.” 

Following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, just such a model empire emerged in the form of the Caliphate, ruled by a succession of Caliphs (political-religious emperors), whose militant followers had, by the 13th century, swept the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Spain and Southwest Asia.  It was a giant migration of beliefs,” and the largest empire, ruling the most territory and the most people, that the world to that date had ever seen.

All that ended with the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, the foreign invention and use of gunpowder in that and subsequent centuries, the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century, the arrival of Western imperial armies, and from then on the establishment of European colonies, trading companies and colonial rule in the Middle East. The colonial powers set about defining national borders, deliberately cutting across cultural, sectorial, religious and linguistic differences. The pretense, of course, was otherwise, but the intent was to divide, conquer and rule — to educate and control the misbegotten locals.

In consequence, the reality of the dream of a Caliphate was dashed, leaving in its wake feelings of inferiority, insecurity, victimization and resentment toward the West. When you consider the astounding accomplishments of the Islamic world, in architecture, public works, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and literature, the loss of the dream seems all the more tragic and unacceptable even to ordinary, peace-loving Muslims today. So, as President John F. Kennedy said in another context: “The dream shall never die.” It hasn’t.

The ISIS movement is a return to the dream of an Islamic Caliphate, with no secular borders, and no room for unbelievers. All persons who are outsiders to the movement for the Caliphate are deemed to be infidels or unbelievers, and therefore worthless — even if they are Muslims. This is not so different from the so-called “Christian” Inquisition of the 15th century.  If you did not believe a very specific, authoritative dogma (whether based on the teachings of Jesus Christ or not), and if you did not convert, you could be seized, drawn and quartered, hanged or burned at the stake as a heretic or unbeliever. Burning at the stake became a popular form of public entertainment in the 15th century: Witness the “Christian” treatment of John Huss in 1415, Joan of Arc in 1431, and  Fra Girolamo Savanarola in Florence in 1498. Some of these have gained saintly Christian status since then, but a bit too late to enjoy it on earth.

ISIS fanatics, sociopaths and would-be martyrs have set the initial operational agenda, exploiting the dream of the Caliphate, using such tactics as suicide bombing, sowing devastation on communities, and assassinating unbelievers including other Muslims. But make no mistake:  Their appeal is to the Caliphate dreams of a broad spectrum of the population, from shop-keepers, businessmen, scholars, and students, to workers, soldiers, tech geeks, public relations professionals as well as out-of-work disaffected youth.  The energies of the Arab Spring have been successfully diverted away from democracy to the dream represented by ISIS — the dream of an Islamic political-religious state that knows no boundaries.

This is why when ISIS fighters succeed in taking over a city, they have both the targeted purpose and the remarkable capacity to go straight for the bank accounts, the oil, the businesses, the arsenals, the media, the schools, the shops and places of worship. They consolidate their gains. They use the latest sophisticated technologies and social media to attract believers, and to terrorize the unbelievers (defined not as those who do not believe in God, but rather as those who don’t believe in the new Caliphate, ISIS).  They pass a clear message:  “Either you are with us, or you are against us. If you are not with us, then even Allah won’t help you.”

Part 2 next time.

Anthony Piel is a former director and general legal counsel of the World Health Organization.