As the Islamic State's brutal atrocities continue to shock the world, one of the recent developments that has not been explored in-depth is the terror group's recently released seventh edition of its English-language magazine titled Dabiq.
The document features an article that touches upon the end-times theology that experts claim drives the Islamic State's ongoing rampage, with the text describing Islam as the "religion of the sword, not pacifism," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.
"The article also presents numerous verses from the Koran as well as prophetic hadiths that highlight Islam's reliance on the sword in fighting its enemies," the organization explained. "In that regard, ISIS notes that the sword will continue to be drawn against Islam's enemies until 'Isa (Jesus) kills the Dajjal (the Antichrist), after which, it adds, 'Islam and its justice' will prevail on the entire earth."
CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen claims that Dabiq provides a "key window into understanding" the Islamic State's ideology. Explaining the end-times theology that appears to be present in the aforementioned article, Bergen said that the terror group has an ideology of an "apocalyptic cult that believes that we are living in the end times and that ISIS' actions are hastening the moment when this will happen."
This image is from an undated video released by Islamic State militants on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014 (AP Photo)
Bergen noted that the very name of the magazine provides further context into these eschatological themes, as Dabiq is the town in Syria where the Prophet Muhammad purportedly predicted that "Roman" and Islamic armies would fight the final battle that would come before the end of time, ushering in dominion for Islam.
The Dabiq article indicated that the Islamic State has no plans to stop its murderous rampage against "unbelievers," which Bergen said would square with the terror group's belief that it has been tasked with fighting a prophetic battle in an effort to usher in a win for "true Islam." Read more of Bergen's analysis here.
The Dabiq article also takes aim at Muslims who the Islamic State says are improperly communicating with the West. The terror group takes particular issue with the notion that many Muslims and non-Muslims, alike, declare Islam a "religion of peace," specifically mentioning Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry as individuals who embrace this mentality.
"There is a slogan repeated continuously by apologetic 'du'at' [callers for Islam] when flirting with the West and that is their statement: 'Islam is the religion of peace,' and they mean pacifism by the word peace," the article reads. "'How far is their claim from the truth, for Allah has revealed Islam to be the religion of the sword, and the evidence for this is so profuse that only a zindiq (heretic) would argue otherwise.'"
The article is said to rely on select Islamic teachings known as the hadith that the Islamic State believes command its members to rule by the sword to take down its enemies.
In this file image made from a video released Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015 by militants in Libya claiming loyalty to the Islamic State group purportedly shows Egyptian Coptic Christians in orange jumpsuits being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant. (AP)
In a separate piece published in the Atlantic, Graeme Wood claims that, while most Muslims decry the actions of the Islamic State, the movement is "very Islamic" and holds to religious elements that require serious analysis.
"Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn’t actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combatted, has already led the United States to underestimate it and back foolish schemes to counter it," he wrote. "We’ll need to get acquainted with the Islamic State’s intellectual genealogy if we are to react in a way that will not strengthen it, but instead help it self-immolate in its own excessive zeal."
Wood expands upon the theological claims outlined by Bergen here.
Watch Glenn Beck discuss the Islamic State's ideology on his radio show below:
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(H/T: Christian Post)
In this file image made from a video released Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015 by militants in Libya claiming loyalty to the Islamic State group purportedly shows Egyptian Coptic Christians in orange jumpsuits being led along a beach, each accompanied by a masked militant. (AP)
