The Origins of the Islamic State (original) (raw)

A State Is Born: What Lies behind the Establishment of the Islamic State

From an historical perspective, one can view the Islamic State as a product of the region’s chronic structural instability. Over the last century, the Middle East experienced four major upheavals, each of which led to the formation of a political structure at odds with the social framework that was based primarily on ethnic, tribal, or religious affiliations. This incompatibility inevitably eroded the legitimacy of the various regimes and heightened the potential for opposition and subversion. In most cases, the nation-state model survived, thanks to an authoritarian rule dependent on effective security and intelligence services.

An Alternative Vision of Statehood: Islamic State's Ideological Challenge to the Nation-State

This study contributes to efforts to theorize contemporary challenges to the nation-state as a normative governance unit through an analysis of Islamic State's state ideology. It is argued that, by reinterpreting concepts from Islamic history, IS puts forth a religiously motivated, post-national state ideology. Based on an interdisciplinary reading of Dabiq magazine, the de facto official IS publication between 2014 and 2016, three concepts emerge as foundational in the group's state ideology: imamah (leadership), hijrah (migration), and bay'a (allegiance). The study sheds light on the enduring ideology of Islamic State, despite its territorial defeat.

Review of Origins of the Islamic State: Sovereignty and Power in the Middle Ages

The Origins of the Islamic State: Sovereignity and Power in the Middle Ages conference was hosted by the UCL Institute of Archaeology on the 16th–17th of February, 2017. As a part of the ‘Rethinking the Islamic State’ research initiative (links below), the conference explored the concept of the Islamic State both in the past and in the present, examining historical symbols of power, as well as their re-tellings in contemporary media. This dual focus allowed the speakers to not only outline some recent developments in the fields of Islamic history and archaeology, but also to engage with some relevant contemporary political issues. Such links between the past and the present, while often controversial, provided the overarching theme of the conference.

The "Islamic State": Genealogy, Facts, and Myths

Journal of Church and State, 2006

... ASMA AFSARUDDIN (AB, Oberlin College; MA, Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University) is associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the ... 1. For a discussion of Mawdudi's vision of the "Islamic State," see Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic ...

The Islamic State: A Clash within the Muslim Civilization for the New Caliphate

Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2016

This study analyzes the political reasons that allowed the Islamic State to expand successfully in Syria and Iraq, by enabling to ‘franchise’ worldwide, and the role of the regional governments in this issue. The essay provides a different explanation from the classic approach of the “clash of civilizations” theorized by Samuel P. Huntington, ascribing responsibility for the growth and expansion of the Islamic State to the complex framework of geopolitical alliances within the Muslim civilization and the Arab world. The paper highlights the attempt by Turkey to establish itself as a regional power and guidance of the Islamic world, by resurrecting the Caliphate, and, based on this, explains the contrast with the Islamic State, which goal is the foundation of a globalized Caliphate. The plans of the Turkish President Erdoğan for a Great Turkey, allied with Egypt, have foundered with the coup that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood from power. The study relates the connection of Ankara with the Kurds, regarding the management of the crisis in Syria and Iraq, and the Turkish liaison with regional powers (Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel) and other powers (Russia, Cina and USA).

The “Islamic State”: trajectory and reach a year after its self-proclamation as a “Caliphate”

On 29 June 2014, the ISIS/ISIL or Daesh announced the change of its name to just "Islamic State" (IS), proclaimed itself a "Caliphate" and named its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "Caliph Ibrahim". About a year later, this article intends to evaluate the trajectory and reach of this territorial jihadist entity. It starts by contextualizing the self-proclamation in terms of ideology and objectives and then it describes how the IS has sought to consolidate itself as a de facto "State" and the tragic effects of its policy of terror. The last part examines the international expansion of the IS, analysing its reach in attracting "foreign fighters", the new wilayats created outside Syria and Iraq, the newly affiliated local groups, and the activities of the IS in cyberspace.

RISE AND HISTORY OF THE ISLAMIC STATE.

The article offers a brief historical overview of the events in the Middle East and systematic analysis of international relations affecting the development of the crisis with the Islamic State (ISIL). An attempt to unravel the causes of the civil war and ISIL as an organization.

Contemporary discourses on the possibility of an ‘Islamic state’: an overview

Contemporary Arab Affairs, 2016

The surprising rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and its proclamation as the caliphate on 29 June 2014 imposed an obvious threat to nation-states. The continuous controversy over the nature and applicability of Islamic tenets to governmental institutions has yet to be solved. The possibility and impossibility of an Islamic state in contemporary times is observed by analyzing the very nature of Islam. The concept of an Islamic state is based on the teachings of the Koran and Sunnah, as meant for human welfare and happiness that, according to Muhammad Asad, would automatically preclude the government of such a state from contemplating wars of aggression. This article attempts to analyze the political developments that have taken place since the beginning of the twentieth century and the failure of the Muslims in establishing an Islamic state, despite upholding sharī‘ah principles.

Islamic State the Product of a Bridging Between Regional Competitions and Islamic Radicalism

The Islamic state that was formed in 2006 in territories outside the control of two war-torn countries, with the capture of the city of Mosul in 2014 was world famous and be of interest to all news circles across the globe. This state used extremely cruel methods in relation to its prisoners of war, which is not a venue to discuss in this paper, came more than ever to fill the headlines of newspapers and online media. After a period of relative silence news, now with fighting to retake the city of Mosul, the "Islamic state" is once again under the focus of the news circles. This paper intends to review primarily on the formation of the "Islamic State" and introduce a summary of the main factors involved in forming this state with a slightly different perspective than the views have been described earlier.

The Authority of the Islamic State

Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers, 2016

This paper provides an analysis of the sources of authority that the Islamic State employs locally and globally in order to further the establishment of a worldwide caliphate. To allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the propositions the Islamic State makes towards its audiences, we argue that it can be regarded as a sociopolitical movement and a de facto state with different sources of authority and means of power pertaining to each. Both realms of authority guarantee and reinforce each other, thus providing the Islamic State with a stability that is often overlooked in public debates about its prospects.

The group that wanted to be a state: the 'rebel governance' of the Islamic state

Islamists and the Politics of the Arab Uprisings, 2018

The group that wanted to be a state: the 'rebel governance' of the Islamic state Truls Hallberg Tønnessen Th e Arab uprisings of 2011-12 have not only given a number of moderate Islamist actors increased political infl uence within state institutions and the opportunity to rule for the fi rst time in their history. State collapse and fragmentation of authority in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and the outbreak of civil war during the Arab uprisings in Syria, Libya and Yemen have enabled various Islamist insurgent groups to become de facto rebel rulers over large swathes of territory and populations. Of the insurgent groups in Iraq and Syria, al-Dawla al-Islamiyya (Islamic State, hereaft er IS) stands out for the breadth and extent of its rebel governance, and one of the most characteristic features that distinguishes IS-not only from other insurgent groups in Iraq and Syria, but also from al-Qaeda affi liates in other countries-is its consistent insistence on being not only a group, but also a 'state'. 1 Th is chapter focuses on the rebel governance of IS, mainly in its strongholds of Iraq and Syria. Th rough a brief overview of the history of IS and its predecessors, the chapter demonstrates that establishing territorial control and an 'Islamic state' has been a consistent focus and defi ning characteristic of the group. It also illustrates how the group's insistence on being a state has had important repercussions on its rebel governance. Th e chapter argues that, although there are other factors such as ideology, one important reason why the group insisted on operating as a state was its rivalry with other rebel groups. Both the establishment of IS and the Caliphate were att empts by the group to establish its political and religious authority in a context where it competed with a range of other insurgent groups and non-state actors.

Review: THE FALL AND RISE OF THE ISLAMIC STATE. By Noah Feldman. 2012 (new Ed)

The Muslim World Book Review, 2014

The “rebirth” of the Islamic state after its fall in 1924 CE, both in ‘symbolic and practical terms’ is the ‘story of fall and rise’ (not narrated but) discussed and analyzed, historically, in this book by Feldman—from the Prophetic to the Ottoman periods, and from the final decades of the twentieth century to the recent so-called “Arab Spring”. This book is an insightful work with many original and fresh ideas and arguments about the rebirth and rise of the Islamic state in the modern Muslim world which has gained momentum after the “Arab Spring”.

ISIS: The Origins of the Islamic State

ISIS represents a new level of radicalization in Islamism, and introduces the dimension of sectarianism in Islamist movements. This organization has its roots in the Iraqi insurgency and the sectarian strategy of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Its violence is strategically calculated to produce failed states in the region where violent extremists and irreconcilable Ba'athists can survive, grow, and thrive. ISIS is enabled by Iraqi and Syrian insurgents, foreign fighters, transnational extremist networks, and regional powers interested in competing with their adversaries through proxy wars. This book sheds light on the origins of the strategy and ideology of the Islamic State, its sectarian warfare, and extremist narratives rooted in its jihadi-Salafi worldview.

THE ISLAMIC STATE AND THE REDISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST

The emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS), a fundamentalist-terrorist organization that tends to reshape the Middle East state system, has shocked the international community and all humanity. The jihadists in Iraq and Syria that proclaimed a caliphate in June 2014 in the areas they have captured are posing a major threat to the regional state system as it was shaped with the secret Sykes–Picot agreements between France and Britain in 1916. The main argument in this paper is that the actions of the jihadists of ISIS will provoke important redistributions of power in the Middle East, resulting in major changes not only as regards the strategies of the main actors in the Middle East, but also for the Great Powers. The analysis in this paper lies in the realist school of thought in international politics. Therefore, it seeks to explain to what extent the emergence of ISIS provoked redefinition of threats and interests in the Middle East so that states and non-state actors were forced to cooperate in the light of a greater evil. In this article we also examine competing regional strategies of the Great Powers in the Middle East that we believe contributed to the ascent of ISIS. For example, the strategic inaction or cooperation of the Great Powers in Syria, because of the divergent interests of Russia and U.S., resulted in the empowerment of the jihadists. However, political realism alone cannot totally explain the emergence of ISIS, since other fields of the social sciences, such as the psychology, beliefs, and ideology of ISIS members are interconnected with the whole issue. This paper explores these important issues in order to shed light on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East. Before getting to our main analysis, though, we must detect the origins of the Islamic State.

The CALIPHATE IN THE ERA OF NATION-STATES

The abolition of the caliphate in 1924 precipitated a debate in the Muslim world as they sought to create institutions by which to organize and govern themselves. Until now the debate continues, with ISIS bringing it to the fore. ISIS is romanticizing the notion of the caliphate to legitimize its actions by proclaiming its desire to create a state reminiscent of the time of the four rightly guided caliphs. It raises the question of whether the caliphate as a system of governance remains relevant in this day and age. Should we equate the concept of caliphate with that of an Islamic state? To shed light on these questions, 'Alī 'Abd Al-Rāziq's main arguments in his book al-Islam wa-Usul al-Hukm (Islam and the Foundations of Political Power) are examined. 'Abd Al-Rāziq explored the relationship between Islam and the modern state. His primary contention was that the caliphate had no basis in the Qur'an, tradition or consensus. Since Islam does not prescribe a particular form of government, Muslims are free to determine their own systems of governance. A constructivist approach is applied in analyzing 'Abd Al-Rāziq's views on the caliphate and governance to determine the process by which the caliphate has evolved throughout history and its applicability in the modern state system.