Evaluation Note / Selim Koru

"The self-proclaimed “Islamic State” (hereinafter “ISIL”) has erupted into the scene in the past few years. It adheres to the Salafi tradition of Sunni Islam, a literalist interpretation with practices extreme for the standards of modern society, such as slavery, or the mutilation of criminals. As Western leaders assemble a global coalition to defeat the group, the biggest obstacle it faces may not be ISIL fighters themselves, but regional rivalries.

The Salafi Art of Making Enemies

The forces assembling against ISIL are not the first to fight expansionist Salafist militants. When the Ottoman Empire was weakening in the 19th century, a Salafist insurrection began to raid villages in Arabia. Like ISIL fighters today, the so-called Ikhwan (no relation to the Egyptian group of the same name) killed on the pretext that anyone not of the Salafist creed was non-Muslim, and hence their "life and property was halal [religiously forfeit]." The group took over large swaths of Arabia, including the Holy City of Mecca in 1803. The worst of the violence was reserved for Shia settlements in Iraq, where they massacred women and children and destroyed shrines. The Ottoman government squashed the rebellion in 1812 and publicly executed its leader in Istanbul.."