Dyer Charles H - The ISIS Crisis: What You Really Need to Know

2015 by
CHARLES H. DYER AND MARK TOBEY

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Photographs in chapter 7 are courtesy of Charles Dyer, the author.

Edited by Jim Vincent
Interior and cover design: Erik M. Peterson
Cover image of militant copyright 2013 by zabelin/iStock. All rights reserved.

All websites listed herein are accurate at the time of publication, but may change in the future or cease to exist. The listing of website references and resources does not imply publisher endorsement of the sites entire contents.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dyer, Charles H.
The ISIS crisis : what you really need to know / Charles H. Dyer, Mark Tobey.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8024-1318-5
1. IS (Organization) 2. TerrorismReligious aspectsIslam. 3. TerrorismIraqHistory. 4. TerrorismMiddle EastHistory. 5. Islamic fundamentalismHistory. 6. Middle EastHistory21st century. I. Title.
HV6433.I722D94 2015
261.27--dc23

2014046448

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T he international terror group known as ISIS has been grabbing headlines in the past few months, and the book you hold in your hands is critical for understanding ISIS and its role in the future of the Middle East.

Charles Dyer and Mark Tobey have done a great service in helping us see that ISIS did not arise in a vacuum but is actually part of a larger tapestry of Middle East history, religion, and politics. In these pages, you will learn how the decisions made by the Allies after World War I helped shape the context for todays conflict and unrest. At that time, with the defeat of Turkey plunging the Ottoman Empire into disarray, the British, French, and Russians decided to divide up much of the crumbling empire for themselveshelping set the stage for the conflicts we see today.

There are several reasons why you should read this book.

First, you will be introduced to the complexity of the Middle East. You will learn the differences between Shiites and Sunnis, and between the Ottomans, the Assyrians, and the Kurds. You will learn how the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan galvanized a group of fighters who would eventually develop into the radical Islamic terrorist organizations that have gained both wealth and fearsome power. In addition, you will be given a basic primer on Islam, the religion that weaves its way throughout the convoluted history of the Middle East. Islam condemns democracy and views the West as being ruled by decadent imperialists who use their superior power to exploit those regions of the world that cannot resist them.

You will learn that President Obama misspoke when he said that ISIS is not Islamic. At its core, Islam is a political religion that seeks to dominate the world. Terror groups, citing Quranic commands to rid the world of all infidels, desire an ideal Islamic state that would encompass the world. As we know, these groups have America in their long-term sights.

A second reason to read this book is to better understand Israel, a country and a people spurned by the surrounding nations and the wider Islamic world. A superficial understanding of the Middle East might lead one to believe that this rejection was caused by the birth of the Israeli state in 1948, which displaced many Arabs to other territories, such as the West Bank. However, Islamic hatred for the Jews dates from a much earlier time, back to the prophet Muhammad, who oversaw the beheading of seven hundred Jewish men; he then enslaved their wives and children. This book points out the violent statements and commands found in the Quran that fuel rage against the Jews. This explains why ISIS uses these direct statements from the Quran and the Hadith to justify its brutality against all perceived infidels, whether Jewish, Christian, or even Islamic.

The third and most important reason to read this book is that all of these events are discussed against the background of the Scriptures. Although the authors do not believe that the Antichrist will arise out of the Islamic religion, we are treated to a general framework of Middle East prophecy. No surprise to us, it is clear that in the end, Jesus wins! ISIS represents a crisis for us, but not for the One who will be declared King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is a serious book, one you will want to read more than once. Read it the first time to grasp the general flow of Middle East history; then, like me, you will want to read it a second time in more detail, to unravel the nuances and various players in the Middle East and to come to grips with the terror groups that threaten our security.

After reading this book, I promise you will never see the Middle East in the same way again. You will move beyond our sound-bite culture and realize that while Middle Eastern history is multifaceted and often confusing, it also yields its lessons to those who are willing to learn.