Ideology of the Islamic State
| History of the Islamic State |
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Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (1999‑2004) Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004‑2006) Jama'at Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah (2003‑2006) Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah (2004‑2006) Mujahideen Shura Council (2006) Islamic State of Iraq (2006‑2013) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
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Territorial claims (Administrative divisions)
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The ideology of the Islamic State, unofficially referred to as Islamic Statism or Daeshism, has been described as being a blend of Salafi jihadism, Sunni Islamist fundamentalism, Wahhabism, and Qutbism. Through its official statement of beliefs originally released by its first leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2007 and subsequently updated since June 2014, the Islamic State defined its creed as "a middle way between the extremist Kharijites and the lax Murji'ites".: 38
Important doctrines of IS include its belief that it represents a restoration of the caliphate of early Islam to which all Muslims are required to pledge allegiance; that a "defiled" Islam must be purged of apostasy, often with bloody sectarian killings, that the final Day of Judgment by God is near and will follow the defeat of the army of "Rome" by IS; that a strict adherence to following the precepts "established by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers" is necessary, surpassing even that of other Salafi-Jihadi groups.