Fawaz A. Gerges - ISIS: A History

A HISTORY

ISIS

FAWAZ A.

GERGES

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

PRINCETON AND OXFORD

Copyright 2016 by Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW

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ISBN 978-0-691-17000-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015956950

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To the Yazidi women who have suffered the brunt of ISISs culture cleansing with such fortitude. Their courage in the midst of a sea of savagery is living testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is easy to dismiss the Salafi-jihadists of the so-called Islamic Statealso known as ISIS, ISIL, or by its Arabic acronym, Daesh as monsters, savages, and killers. It is also tempting to belittle their religious fanaticism and messianism as un-Islamic. This type of moral and ethical condemnation overlooks a painful truth: that an important Sunni constituency believes in the groups utopian and romantic vision of building an Islamic state, even though many might not condone its gruesome violence. Other Sunnis have lent a helping hand to ISIS because they see it as an effective bulwark against the Shia- and Alawite-dominated governments in Baghdad and Damascus respectively, as well as their Iranian patrons. Through its rapid emergence in the aftermath of the civil strife that has gripped the Middle East since 2011, ISIS has managed to effectively tap into a crisis of Sunni Arab identity in Iraq, Syria, and beyond.

ISISs planners and ideologues are not wild madmen who parachuted into Iraq and Syria from nowhere. The group is a proud member of a Salafi-jihadist family that has given birth to similar offspring, including Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda Central (AQC), Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) over the past three decades. ISIS does not differ either from its predecessors or its current jihadist rivals except by its extreme violence, a spectacle staged to deter enemies and inspire young recruits. It is worth mentioning that ISISs progenitor, AQI, pioneered the practice of staging displays of flamboyant violence, including beheadings.

Salafi-jihadism might not be a mass movement but it is surely a social movement with transnational networks and an expanding social base, especially among the youth. Across all age groups, the young seem to be drawn to ISISs message of salvation, military triumph, and domination over the enemies of Islam, defined mainly as the infidels and hereticsin particular, the Shia minority. Regardless of what happens to ISIS, the ideology of Salafi-jihadism is here to stay and likely to gain more converts, particularly after the derailment of the Arab Spring uprisings, when doors to peaceful political change have been closed. The ISIS narrative has greater appeal due to the absence of credible alternatives.

This fact calls for critical deliberation and investigation of the forces behind this complex modern phenomenon as well as its resilience and durability. This book does precisely that by focusing on the social and political factors that fueled ISISs rebirth and its current and long-term strengths and weaknesses. It examines ISIS in comparative perspective by contrasting the group with like-minded Salafi-jihadists of the Al Qaeda variety. Taking ISISs Salafi-jihadist ideology seriously, the book explores its appeal among local and foreign recruits as well as its narrative of ritualized violence. The journey of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISISs leader, is pieced together in this book from the recollections of contemporary witnesses in order to make sense of this mysterious man, but, more importantly, in order to assess his role and influence within the group.

ISISs story is complex and it cannot be derived from its propaganda narrative, a narrative that some scholars take for granted at their own peril. By relying, for the most part, on primary Arabic sources, this book critically engages with ISISs pronouncements and literature as well as the writings of protagonists within the larger Islamist and Salafi-jihadist movement; these protagonists sometimes attack and sometimes support one another, varying in respect to particular issues related to ISISs conduct and goals. In a way, this book is a dialogue in Islamist politics, shedding further light on the inner workings of the global jihadist movement and the shifting loyalties and alliances among its lieutenants and chiefs. It is an extension of field research that I have conducted on radical religious activists over the past two decades.

Given the near impossibility of conducting interviews with ISISs members (any claim otherwise would be bogus), I have relied on hundreds of firsthand articles and reports by Arab journalists, activists, and observers inside Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. My narrative has been enriched by their meticulous coverage of ISIS and the conflicts raging in the Arab heartland. There is not enough space here to list all of these contributors who report from the field and the region. Above all, though, I am indebted to the reportage of Wael Essam, Raid al-Hamed, Omar al-Jabouri, and Bassam al-Badareen at al-Quds al-Arabi , a pan-Arab newspaper; Ali al-Sibai, Alaa Yussef, Ahmed al-Anbari, Yasir al-Zaatirah, and Hisham al-Hashimi at AlJazeera.net, a popular online news site; Mohamed Abu Rumman, a specialist on Salafis and Salafi-jihadists, at Al Ghad , a Jordanian-based newspaper; Abdullah Suleiman Ali at Assafir , a Lebanese-based newspaper; Kamil al-Taweel and Hazem Amin at Al Hayat , a pan-Arab newspaper; and Saheeb Anjarini and Firas al-Hakkar at al-Akhbar , a Lebanese-based newspaper. I have also benefited from the writing of Abdel-Bari Atwan, a Palestinian journalist and author, and Hassan Abu Haniyeh, a Jordanian researcher, both specialists on Salafi-jihadists. In addition, I have widely consulted articles and studies by Western journalists and writers as well as reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the International Crisis Group, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch.

I have been extremely fortunate to have a group of sharp doctoral candidates at the London School of Economics who assisted me in my research and writing of the book. I am particularly appreciative of the great skill and invaluable input of my research assistant, Ms. Anissa Haddadi, who saw the project through from inception to conclusion. I owe special thanks to Mr. Andrew Delatolla, who edited, synthesized, and organized most of the chapters. My thanks go to Mr. Ranj Alaaldin for critiquing .

Mr. Moustafa Menshawy, a doctoral candidate at the University of Westminster, and Ms. Sherifa Abdel-Razek, an MSc student at LSE, researched Salafi-jihadist websites and helped access valuable primary material. My thanks also go to Ms. Noor Al-Bazzaz, consultant and researcher on Syria and Iraq and a promising young scholar, who edited, critiqued, and organized and the conclusion.

Of the many senior scholars whose feedback helped improve the book, I owe special thanks to Professor Nader Hashemi, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. Nader promptly and critically read every chapter and offered substantive comments. I also want to thank Emile A. Nakhleh, research professor at the University of New Mexico, who read . His critique forced me to sharpen my arguments.