The ISIS Apocalypse

The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State By; William McCants I purchased this book in the interest of adding to the information I have been gleaning for over a decade. The title of this one was what got me interested. I hoped that I could finally grasp what it is that inspires thousands of Muslims to leave their homelands and travel to the Middle East in their zeal to become a part of the Islamist State of Iraq and Syria. It started in earnest in June 2014 when the head of the Islamic State conquered the second largest city in Iraq, Mosel. Black flags were unfurled. They proclaimed the establishment of God’s kingdom on Earth and that Judgement Day approached. It will be nearly impossible for me to provide the content of this book but I will try. The U.S. invasion of Iraq and the stupendous violence that followed dramatically increased the Sunni public’s appetite for apocalyptic explanations of a world turned upside down. Throughout the centuries this has occurred before, each time believing that the end times were at hand with the call to rise up and create a Caliphate. The difference today is the weaponry that is available to them and the potential acquisition of more devastating weapons including Nuclear and chemical. I found it extremely interesting that the Islamic State’s theology and method of engaging with scripture is nearly identical with Wahhabism, the ultraconservative form of Islam found in Saudi Arabia. Penalties are identical for the same crimes; death for blasphemy, homosexual acts, treason and murder; death by stoning for adultery; one hundred lashes for sex out of wedlock; amputation of a hand for stealing. Why America continues to support the Saudi’s just doesn’t make sense to me. The weirdest part is the belief that Jesus will return to lead the Muslims in a war against the Jews. In February 2013 the Islamic State’s spokesman proclaimed, “We will not lay down this flag until we present it to Jesus, the son of Maryam, and the last of us fights the deceiver”. I have no idea who Maryam is nor do I intend to try to find out. The point is this religion has been fomenting mayhem ever since Muhammad and will continue one way or another until such time as they and all men renounce violence and agree to live in peace, one with the other. Not in my lifetime, that is for sure. I feel compelled to add a paragraph about slavery and the barbaric treatment of captives. As an example, there is a sect called Yazidi who lived near the Sinjar Mountains which is close to the Syrian border. They were deemed falsely of Devil worship. Many were killed and many captives were enslaved in August 2014. Muslim countries had forbade the practice of slavery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but in 2014 Islamic scholars permitted the enslavement of Yazidi women According to a prophecy attributed to Muhammad, the Prophet foretold the Hour would be close when “ the slave girl shall give birth to her master”. Some were sold at auction. The slaves were bought by jihadists and human traffickers, who reportedly shipped them to homes and brothels across the Middle East. The following paragraph is particularly heinous to me and I am writing it verbatim from the text. “Yazidi children were not shielded from the sexual advances of the Islamic fighters. “Is it permissible to have intercourse with a female slave who has not reached puberty?” asked a pamphlet distributed by the fighters in mosques throughout Mosel. “Yes, if she can have intercourse. If she cannot have intercourse, then one should enjoy her without intercourse”. This shows the depravity of the followers of the Islamic State. Jack B. Walters February 17, 2016