One difference that sets ISIS from al Qaeda more than anything else is that they
have declared war on fellow Muslims. That is what the group is primarily about,
and herein lies the secret to its downfall. Its ideology and appeal can only be
discredited by the very people it claims to represent.
Let’s examine the
facts.
During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Last
month, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the spokesman of ISIS, called on sympathizers to
turn Ramadan into a month of calamity. He specified sympathizers in Europe
and the United States.
and the United States.
During the first
week of Ramadan,Omar Mateen killed 49 club goers in a shooting rampage in
Orlando after he pledged allegiance to ISIS. Two days later in Paris, a man
stabbed to death a French cop and his partner.
After the acts in
France and the U.S., ISIS saved a special ire for fellow Muslims during the
holiest month of Ramadan. Last Tuesday in Istanbul, three attackers stormed the
AtaTurk airport and killed 49 civilians after blowing themselves up near
travelers. ISIS did not claim responsibility for the assault but American and
Turkish authorities said the hallmarks of the operation point to ISIS.
Sunday was
particularly bloody: more than 200 shoppers mostly shia were killed in
Baghdad after a suicide operation that targeted a three-storey shopping mall --
the country's worst single civilian death count in years.
On the same day,
ISIS claimed responsibility for the killing of 22 people in Dhaka, Bangladesh's
capital, after gunmen targeted a café frequented by foreigners. Authorities
blamed local groups, but ISIS later posted photographs of the men to buttress
its claim.
On Monday, Saudi
Arabia was also targeted in three different locations, ISIS has also not
claimed responsibility for the attacks, which included a bombing near Islam's
second holiest place of worship, Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, near to Prophet
Mohammed's burial site.
Smoke rising above
worshipers in the holy mosque during the last days of Ramadan agitated Moslems
WorldWide.
In Islamic
traditions, Ramadan's first 10 days are of mercy, the second 10 are of
forgiveness and the latter 10 are of immunity from hellfire. Shia and Sunni
alike were united in calamity and repugnance against a group that claims to be
an Islamic State.
It is this reality
that should be highlighted in the media. ISIS shows no regard for anything that
Muslims deem sacred. It does not matter if a Muslim is a true believer.
For ISIS,
allegiance is what determines a person's chance to live. A Muslim who works for
a government that ISIS deems apostate will still be targeted. ISIS seeks to
emphasize its unsparing ideology only in as much as it serves its deterrence
purposes. Beyond that, it portrays itself as an enemy to the West and its
so-called clients in the region and that it represents Muslims and their
political aspirations.
The media helps
them by depicting the battle as such, without highlight the harrowing reality
of the same people ISIS claims to represent.
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