First of all, in response to the assertion that ISIS is a form of extremism that is not religious: ISIS is absolutely a religious organization. I wrote a paper about ISIS recently, and in my research I learned that the inspiration for ISIS as well as the justification for its deeds comes directly from the Quran, and the prophetic visions of Mohammed. ISIS believes that it is playing a central role in bringing about the apocalypse, an event that billions of Muslims, Jews, and Christians are anticipating. ISIS believes that, as foretold in the Quran, it will meet the “armies of Rome” in battle in the city of Dabiq, in Northern Syria. It believes that it will defeat Rome’s armies and that this is what will ultimately bring about the apocalypse and the return of Jesus, Islam’s second most important prophet, to earth. ISIS is definitely a religious organization. Even if most Muslims renounce it, everything that ISIS does, and every law it promulgates, is justified and sanctified by Quranic verses. Mainstream Muslims and ISIS both follow the same holy book. To say that ISIS members are “not really Muslim” is dishonest, and to that ISIS is not necessarily religious is ignorant.
I believe that the rise in Islamic fundamentalism is a problem that is inherent in the religion itself. Islam is a dangerous, harmful belief system. There are fundamentalists factions of every major religion, and none of them are as violent and misogynistic as Islamic fundamentalists. Therefore, I disagree with the New York Times op. ed. piece. It is completely reasonable to assert that this savagery is rooted in the religion itself.
Works Cited
“The Fundamental Horror of Isis.” The New York Times. 2 October 2014. Web. 27 April 2016.
