US Opinion and Commentary

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Sohaira Siddiqui / The Brookings Institution

Posted March 26th, 2015 at 5:06 pm (UTC-5)
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How Does ISIS Approach Islamic Scripture

When reading materials released by ISIS or legal verdicts produced by their courts, ISIS relies upon various sources: sacred texts, namely the Quran and hadith, and the actions of the Prophet’s early companions and subsequent generations … The use of scriptural sources and history is not only important for religiously legitimizing their actions, it also promotes their overall objectives. In other words, they subject scripture and history for their own political and religious motivations. Thus far, when Islamic scholars have assessed ISIS’s use of scripture, many have asserted that ISIS is literal and also cherry-picks from scripture to fulfill their desired objectives. While I agree, I would argue that ISIS ago engages with purpose based reasoning and thus often steps away from the literal meaning of texts when necessary.

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