General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: ISIS successfully recruiting more and more young western Muslim women... [View all]Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)there may not be enough to go around for everybody to have their pick of four.
This article is a long read, but gives a very interesting overview of ISIS' medieval mindset.
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/
All Muslims acknowledge that Muhammads earliest conquests were not tidy affairs, and that the laws of war passed down in the Koran and in the narrations of the Prophets rule were calibrated to fit a turbulent and violent time. In Haykels estimation, the fighters of the Islamic State are authentic throwbacks to early Islam and are faithfully reproducing its norms of war. This behavior includes a number of practices that modern Muslims tend to prefer not to acknowledge as integral to their sacred texts. Slavery, crucifixion, and beheadings are not something that freakish [jihadists] are cherry-picking from the medieval tradition, Haykel said. Islamic State fighters are smack in the middle of the medieval tradition and are bringing it wholesale into the present day.