The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State

Based almost entirely on primary sources in Arabic—including ancient religious texts and secret al-Qaeda and Islamic State letters that few have seen—William McCants's The ISIS Apocalypse explores how religious fervor, strategic calculation, and doomsday prophecy shaped the Islamic State's past and foreshadow its dark future.

The Islamic State is one of the most lethal and successful jihadist groups in modern history, surpassing even al-Qaeda. Thousands of its followers have marched across Syria and Iraq, subjugating millions, enslaving women, beheading captives, and daring anyone to stop them. Thousands more have spread terror beyond the Middle East under the Islamic State's black flag.

How did the Islamic State attract so many followers and conquer so much land? By being more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state-building than its competitors. The shrewd leaders of the Islamic State combined two of the most powerful yet contradictory ideas in Islam-the return of the Islamic Empire and the end of the world-into a mission and a message that shapes its strategy and inspires its army of zealous fighters. They have defied conventional thinking about how to wage wars and win recruits. Even if the Islamic State is defeated, jihadist terrorism will never be the same.

ISBN-13: 9781250112644

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Picador

Publication Date: 08-09-2016

Pages: 272

Product Dimensions: 5.56(w) x 8.16(h) x 0.60(d)

William McCants directs the project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution. He is adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and a former U.S. State Department senior adviser for countering violent extremism. McCants has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS


Preface to the 2016 Edition xi
Acknowledgments xv
Transliteration xix
Introduction 1
1 Raising the Black Flag 5
2 Mahdi and Mismanagement 31
3 Bannermen 47
4 Resurrection and Tribulation 73
5 Sectarian Apocalypse 99
6 Caliphate Reborn 121
Conclusion 145
Appendices: Sunni Islamic Prophecies of the End Times 161
Appendix 1: The Final Days 163
Appendix 2: The Victorious Group 173
Appendix 3: The Mahdi Is Preceded by an Islamic State 177
Appendix 4: Twelve Caliphs 179
Notes 183
Index 235

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