Abstract
In The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State William McCants has correlated Jihad (holy war) and the Apocalypse in a very profound manner. The genesis and evolution of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been explained in detail from three different dimensions. First, a credible leadership in the form of emir (ruler) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi claiming its descent from the Holy Prophet (PBUH) emerged, which consolidated power through support from Hajji Bakr, a former colonel in Saddam Hussein’s army. Second, political turmoil in the Middle East, particularly the Syrian crisis provided a powerful base and the split between ISIS and Al-Qaeda made the role of the former preeminent and latter weaker in the global jihadist (those fighting in the name of Islam) community. Third, ISIS’s proclamation of a ‘caliphate’ (a state governed in accordance with Islamic law, or Sharia), or ‘Islamic State’ in 2014 also proved successful in attracting Muslims from around the globe to fight under its black banner and flag. The Islamic State’s ‘cause proved so compelling among jihadists that it supplanted its former master, Al-Qaeda’, to lead the jihadist movement. ‘The spread of the flag, then, traces the spread of an idea and chronicles a major changing of the guard in the global jihadist movement’ (p. 6-7).