To understand why the Islamic State not only decapitates its “infidel” captives, but also mutilates and mocks their corpses—and all to sadistic laughter—one need only turn to the Koran and deeds of Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The Koran exhorts believers to “Fight them [those who oppose Islam], Allah will torment them with your hands, humiliate them, empower you over them, and heal the hearts of the believers, removing the rage from their hearts” (Koran 9:14-15).
As usual, to understand the significance of any Koran verse, one must turn to the sira andhadith—the biography and anecdotes of Muhammad, respectively—for context.
Thus we come to the following account concerning the slaughter of ‘Amr bin Hisham, a pagan Arab chieftain originally known as “Abu Hakim” (Father of Wisdom) until Muhammad dubbed him “Abu Jahl” (Father of Stupidity) for his staunch opposition to Islam.
After ‘Amr was mortally wounded by a new convert to Islam during the Battle of Badr, Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, a close companion of Muhammad, saw the “infidel” chieftain collapsed on the ground. So he went to him and started abusing him. Among other things, Abdullah grabbed and pulled ‘Amr’s beard and stood in triumph on the dying man’s chest.
According to Al-Bidaya wa Al-Nihaya (“The Beginning and the End”), Ibn Kathir’s authoritiative history of Islam, “After that, he [Abdullah] cut his [‘Amr’s] head off and bore it till he placed it between the hands of the Prophet. Thus did Allah heal the hearts of the believers with it.”
This, then, is the true significance of Koran 9:14-15: “Fight them, Allah will torment them with your hands [mortally wounding and eventually decapitating ‘Amr], humiliate them [pulling his beard], empower you over them [standing atop him], and heal the hearts of the believers, removing the rage from their hearts [at the sight of his decapitated head].”
The logic here is that, pious Muslims are so full of zeal for Allah’s cause that the only way their inflamed hearts can be at rest is to see those who oppose Allah and his prophet utterly crushed—humiliated, mutilated, decapitated. Then the hearts of the believers can be at ease and “healed.”
This is surely one of the reasons behind the Islamic State’s dissemination of gory videos and pictures of its victims: the new “caliphate” is trying to heal the hearts of every believer inflamed for the cause of Allah.
If this sounds too farfetched, consider the following picture of a decapitated “infidel” from the Islamic State’s websites. The Arabic caption to the left says “healing for hearts”—a clear reference to the aforementioned Koran verse… Click for images and to keep reading

John Spielman says
More proof that Allah is Satan and Muhammad was his pseudoprophet
CornHolio says
Never heard that hadith before. Sadly interesting.
My god. How can any neutral person read stuff like that and conclude that Allah is God and not someone “else”?
richard sherman says
Decapitation is foundational to Islam..
there is no doubt!
Twostellas says
Pure evil. In Christianity the Holy Spirit heals your heart and fills it with love and removes hatred and anger. There is no Holy Spirit in Islam. Instead they have a spirit of murder and brutality that “heals” them, though it never does heal them, the hate and anger is always there, lurking. For 1400 years. Such astray people.
boakai ngombu says
Jesus speaks of The Vine and the branches:
(ESV, John 15: 8-9, 11): “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love … These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full….”
there is no joy in Islam
mortimer says
A remarkable article by Raymond Ibrahim! This is the inner word of the Muslim: a blind, uncontrollable, homicidal rage! Allah encourages it and demands it.
Islam is inherently out-of-control, psychopathic and violent.
Jay Boo says
What we see in ISIS is not so much of their deeply held conviction as it is a willfully ignorant wish to believe that they are part of something greater that allows them license to act like Muhammad, the homicidal pig.
Remove their myth foundation and they unravel.
boakai ngombu says
truly, a helpful article.
here’s more info which substantiates the article…
http://adinakutnicki.com/2014/09/13/dhss-brotherhood-point-manelibiary-islamist-isis-supporter-leaves-his-post-whats-going-on-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
[a statement inserted in the kutnicki article … Dave Gaubatz (co-author, Muslim Mafia)]:
“ … I have had several Islamic leaders tell me that Muslims who practice ‘Pure Islam’ have what is called ‘Black Hearts’. These Muslims had no conscience, feelings, emotions, love or caring about anything or anyone aside from Allah. Essentially they have no souls. They have an empty heart. These people have no feelings for even their own children; needless to say they have no feelings for children who are not theirs. It is just as easy for them to behead a neighbor child as it would be to behead even their own children. Children are simply a tool for them to use to achieve their ultimate goal of an Islamic Ummah (nation) under Shariah law….”
Jay Boo says
According to an MSN article the ‘Islamic State does not want to be referred to as Daesh — short for Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham.— short for Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham.
They believe it shows defiance and disrespect.
These followers of Muhammad’s slave trade religion who butcher and rape like a pack of frothing jackals and murder children while hollering Allahu Akbar do not wish to be called Daesh because they feel it is too demeaning,
gravenimage says
Raymond Ibrahim: Beheading Infidels Is How Allah ‘Heals the Hearts of Believers’
……………………….
What “heals the hearts” of pious Muslims is giving in to their every savage impulse.
God, I hate Islam.
I decided to Google “what ‘heals the hearts’ of Christians?”.
Besides references to this appalling story, I got hits on “Jesus is love. He heals the hearts and minds”, “One Man Devotes His Life to Using a Special Gift that Heals the Hearts of Cancer Patients in Need”, and “He (God) not only heals the hearts but fills it with wisdom to touch others”.
Compare and contrast…
Salah says
Another disgusting hadith:
“When the Prophet was informed by a shouter for help, he sent some men in their pursuit, and before the sun rose high, they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut off. Then he ordered for nails which were heated and passed over their eyes, and whey were left in the Harra (i.e. rocky land in Medina). They asked for water, and nobody provided them with water till they died.”
Bukhari :: Book 4 :: Volume 52 :: Hadith 261
http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2012/03/muhammad-and-torture.html
Wendy says
What a fabrication I looked it up far out I thought Christians don’t deceive ?
Angemon says
Wendy posted:
“What a fabrication I looked it up far out”
The problem with Wendy’s assertion is that it is, at the lack of a better word, completely and utterly false. Bukhari’s and Sahih Muslim’s collections of ahadith are second to the quran alone in terms of authority. And the hadith Salah quoted from is part of Bukhari’s collection, therefore is considered authentic:
http://www.quranexplorer.com/Hadith/English/Hadith/bukhari/004.052.261.html
Wendy is either a muslim ignorant of his own religion or a muslim desperately trying to whitewash his religion. And since Salah gave the source for his quotation, ignorance seems to be the least likely of those two options.
Wendy says
U made me look that fake hadith liar. Torture is against Islamic policies on animals slaughter ed for meat so imagine HUMANS? U make me ashamed to say I. Christian
Angemon says
Wendy posted:
“U made me look that fake hadith liar.”
Apparently, you didn’t look hard enough:
http://www.quranexplorer.com/Hadith/English/Hadith/bukhari/004.052.261.html
Wendy is either a muslim ignorant of his own religion or a muslim desperately trying to whitewash his religion. And since Salah gave the source for his quotation, ignorance seems to be the least likely of those two options.
“Torture is against Islamic policies on animals slaughter ed for meat so imagine HUMANS”
Yeah, why would anyone consider that slicing the throat of a living creature while it’s fully awake and aware of what’s happening is as being torture…
Coolio says
Gosh, who else gets all steamed up about ‘disrespect’? Oh yeah, common thugs and drug gangs. Good company to be in ‘brothers’ [of satan].
Wolfgang says
Here is a link of two Israeli soldiers who were mutilated the Palestinians in 2000 , 13 years later there families are still looking for justice, notice the IDF made no attempt to rescue them, apparently even the mighty IDF has its limits……
http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2014/03/27/flashback-2000-muslim-cannibalism-jewish-soldiers-lynched-and-thrown-to-blood-thirsty-masses-who-ripped-them-apart-and-ate-their-organs/
duh_swami says
What you see in the picture is a very black, black magic ritual. The high priest with the dagger is a familiar figure in the movies and in reality. What’s interesting is that there is no shortage of people in Islam willing to do that kind of work. If the black magician was not having a sexual orgasm while doing it, he wasn’t doing it right/
Richie says
Well, according to the leftists, when Muslims kill in the name of Islam (and use passages from the Koran to try and justify their acts of depravity), it has nothing to do with Islam
Angemon says
How many non-muslims currently know what sira and ahadith are, or of their relevance to islam?
Susan Geary says
Beheading ‘heals’ the believer! I wonder why they don’t behead themselves, maybe they would ‘heal’ that way.
Violence and killing doesn’t really heal anyone. Hate begets hate.