Mr. Crooke:
“There is no “true Islam” in Islam. There has never been any central “authority” in Islam that could define such a thing. For better or worse (mostly for the better), Islam wears many faces. But paradoxically, there is one contemporary orientation that does make the big claim of being “true Islam”: Wahhabism.
As Professor As’ad AbuKhalil notes:”
“What Mohammed Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahab insisted upon — and what is followers today insist upon — is that men with the sword judge on behalf of God here on earth, and on all matters, small and big. This is where the Saudi Kingdom and ISIS fit. They are outside the boundaries of mainstream Islam, in that they refuse to even concede that they speak as representatives of a sect. Wahhabis (of all stripes) protest to even the name of Wahhabis: we are only Muslims, they assert; i.e. they alone are Muslim and everyone else is a kafir [unbeliever] who should be fought as ancient pagans at the time of Mohammad. Wahhabis claim that they represent the ‘true Islam’ when the strength of Islam throughout the ages is that there is no such thing as ‘the true Islam.'”
ISIS, in short, is as Wahhabist — or more so — as the Saudi King, Abdullah. There is here, surely, a delicious irony in Obama and Kerry taking upon their shoulders the task of seeking the “delegitimization” of the very doctrine from which the Saudi kingdom is derived.
So, the only upholder of “true Islam” and custodian of Mecca happens to share the “same” Islam as ISIS. How can King Abdullah then denounce it? And how could any Muslim, familiar with the issues, take any such denunciation — were it to be made — seriously?”
Mr. Crooke is 1/2 right. The Iranian state also makes a claim to being a one true religion. These claims to combine the role of General and Prophet are dangerous .. again memories of Europe’s wars should not fade. Personally, I would argue that Staln’s communism was yet another manifestation of a state that claimed to have the one true religion.
He goes on:
” Unlike al Qaeda which only had an “idea,” ISIS has a clear purpose: to establish God’s “principality” here and now. It has a doctrine for how to bring such a state into existence (drawn from the wars launched to establish the original Islamic State); it holds a territory greater in size than that of Great Britain; it has large financial resources; it has a handsomely equipped army (courtesy of the U.S., the U.K. and others), one that is led by competent commanders; and it has a leader who, many find, spoke well (on the one occasion that he has appeared publicly).
In brief, this development (the “Islamic State”) may be much more serious, be more grounded, and have much wider appeal than western bluster about “thugs” and “mindless killers” would imply.”
….. (The troops of the Muslim allies) are NOT there to fight IS as a thug state, but to ) “but to fight a quite different war. They want to turn it into a renewed offensive against President Assad and Syria. Indeed, at their preliminary summit in Jeddah, the Arab States agreed to a new Arab security architecture that would subvert the “war on ISIS” into war not just on ISIS, but also on President Assad and all Islamists (plainly they hope to pull the West into a larger war with the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.). Leading Saudi commentator, Jamal Khashoggi made the Saudi plan clear in a recent op-ed:
“We can thus say that eliminating ISIS also calls for the elimination of Assad … The operation must target Moscow’s ally in Damascus and topple him or pave the way to toppling him. Perhaps this is the logical explanation as to why Saudi Arabia approved training camps for the moderate Syrian opposition. It’s tantamount to declaring an indirect war on the Syrian regime … The Jeddah alliance is everyone’s opportunity for a new beginning. It is not limited to its immediate task of eliminating ISIS but also includes the possibility of expanding towards reforming the situation in Iraq and Syria.”
The Iraqi Shiite will defend their territories with utmost vigor, but may well choose to stay aloof from entering the Euphrates Valley with its long history as a militant Sunni heartland. Baghdad will not wish to pursue the war into a full-court sectarian conflict.