But the killing isn’t. My latest in FrontPage:
The caliphate is dead.
Last Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that the Islamic State (ISIS) had been driven out of Iraq:
Today, our troops were able to purge islands of Nineveh and Anbar in full, and they (the forces) are now fully controlling the Iraqi-Syrian borders. These victories are not only for the Iraqis alone, though the Iraqis were themselves who achieved such victories with their sacrifices. But the victories are for all Arabs, Muslims and the world alike…Honorable Iraqis, your land has been completely liberated….The flag of Iraq is flying high today over all Iraqi territory and at the farthest point on the border.
With this, the Islamic State’s chief claim upon the allegiance of Muslims worldwide, and the reason why it was able to draw 30,000 Muslims from 100 countries to Iraq and Syria to join it, is gone.
On June 29, 2014, the group that had up to that point called itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Shams in Arabic (hence the synonymous acronyms ISIL and ISIS) announced that it was forming a new caliphate – the single unified government of all the Muslims, according to Sunni Muslim thought — and would henceforth drop the second half of its name and call itself simply the Islamic State.
This claim to constitute a new caliphate became the basis of its appeal to Muslims worldwide, who have traveled in unprecedented numbers to Iraq, Syria and Libya to join it. Once it declared itself the new caliphate, the Islamic State swiftly began to consolidate its control over the large expanses of Iraq and Syria that it controlled – in its heyday, an area larger than the United Kingdom, with a population of eight million people. Blithely disregarding the world’s universal condemnation of its pretensions, it moved to assemble the accouterments of a state: currency, passports and the like. Its control of oil wells in Iraq quickly gave it a steady and sizeable source of wealth. It organized a police force, amassed an army of over 100,000 fighters, and became the world’s richest (and best-armed) jihad terror group.
The inability or unwillingness of the world to crush this rogue state in 2014, 2015 and 2016 supported its claim to be the caliphate. The caliphate in Islamic theology is the Islamic nation, embodying the supranational unity of the Muslim community worldwide under a single leader, the caliph, or “successor” – that is, the successor of Muhammad as the spiritual, political and military leader of the Muslims.
The caliph is considered to be the symbol and center of the unity of the Muslims worldwide. In traditional Islamic theology, the Muslims worldwide constitute a single community (umma), and are rightfully citizens only of the Islamic caliphate. The caliph, as the successor of Muhammad, is the only earthly authority to whom Muslims owe obedience.
Reliance of the Traveller, a manual of Islamic law that Cairo’s prestigious and influential Islamic university Al-Azhar (where Barack Obama delivered his outreach speech to the Islamic world in June 2009) certifies as conforming “to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community,” explains more of why the caliphate is so pivotal for Muslims worldwide (or at least for Sunnis, who are eighty-five to ninety percent of the world’s Muslims; the Shi’ites have a very different idea of the authority within the Muslim community).
The caliphate, the Sharia manual says, is “both obligatory in itself and the necessary precondition for hundreds of rulings…established by Allah Most High to govern and guide Islamic community life.” It quotes the Islamic scholar Abul Hasan Mawardi explaining that the caliph’s role is “preserving the religion and managing this-worldly affairs.”
The caliphate is a “communal obligation,” according to Reliance of the Traveller, “because the Islamic community needs a ruler to uphold the religion, defend the sunna, succor the oppressed from oppressors, fulfill rights, and restore them to whom they belong.” The “sunna” is what is established by the Qur’an and Muhammad’s example as acceptable practice for Muslims.
Even more, only the caliph is authorized to declare offensive jihad. Reliance of the Traveller declares that the caliph “makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians…until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax.”
This jihad is an obligation upon the Muslim community as a whole, from which individual Muslims are excused if other Muslims are performing it. But jihad becomes an obligation for every Muslim when a Muslim land is attacked – that is defensive jihad and requires no caliph. All jihads, therefore, since 1924, even 9/11, have been classified as defensive, and their perpetrators and defenders justify them by reference to a long list of grievances. But once a caliph is in power, no such justification is needed: the caliph is obligated to declare jihad – and thus non-Muslims can expect that with the coming of the Islamic State caliphate, there will be even more jihad than there has been already.
Convinced and battle-trained Islamic State jihadis will continue to commit jihad mass murder in the Western countries to which they have returned, and which have foolishly let them back in. But its claim upon the world’s Muslims has been decisively repudiated by the victory of the Iraqi army. The caliphate dream is over. For now.
elee says
You might have clarified that this does not mean they’re through killing, raping, &c, kafirs polytheists and apostates. That goes on forever.
gravenimage says
elee, Robert Spencer clearly noted, “…But the killing isn’t”. Did you miss that?
Ren says
The islamic goal of domination through terror would never end unless we put an end to islam.
MacUalraig says
Truth is he does that daily. Spencer is national treasure.
william says
Even the children are born to islamb.. There’s no such thing as innocent.. “CHILDREN”!!
gravenimage says
Civilized Infidels do not target children.
It is grimly true that most Muslim children are indoctrinated with Islamic hatred from their earliest years, though.
Christine says
We shall never forget that the jihadists are applying the Quran which is the book of all muslims.
Walter Sieruk says
The Islamic scheme of the jihadists of ISIS for the establishment of a Caliphate is a fantasy that is now through. For President Trump had the wisdom to know that the way to defeat those cruel, vicious, malicious and murderous jihadist thugs who compose the brutal and deadly jihad entity ISIS is by the use of many very strong powers of militant might. That is hit them hard, hit hem long, keep on hitting them and don’t stop hitting them. Meaning take them down, put them down, keep them down and don’t let them rise up again. As Thomas Jefferson had, so well, stated “With every barbarous people…force is law. “Second, the jihadists of ISIS in their mad Islamic quest to establish a caliphate, with all the cruel, brutal and murdering violence that is part of it, will not respond the reason. For the Muslim fanatics who compose ISIS cannot understand logic, nor do they care about reason. Those jihadists of ISIS in their irrational unquestioning blind Islamic faith have and leave no room for reason. In this unreasoning blind Islamic drive the jihadist/Muslims who make up ISIS are a reminder of what Benjamin Franklin had printed in POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK. Which is “The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.”
BARBARA says
The caliphate is a hydra, a wack-a-mole. Sure, ISIS was defeated, but Iran wants to spread its caliphate, while Erdogan has a Byzantine caliphate in mind.
Now that ISIS is defeated in Iraq and Syria, it will wreak more havoc in developed countries.
There is not much to be pleased with as far as the big picture is concerned. However, it is good that ISIS was routed so that Christians, Yazidis and sensible Muslims could be safe.
elee says
Christians Yazidis Alevis Zoroastrians Bahais Copts and needless to say Jews are not safe. Allah has a billion slaves all commanded to kill and pillage kafirs. Don’t worry Muslims, you can still be martyrs. Save your old how-to issues of Rumiyah, the directions are clear and easy to follow.
gravenimage says
Barbara, Christians, Yezidis, and minority-sect Muslims were threatened in Syria and Iraq before the rise of ISIS–but you are right that the immediate threat of genocide is somewhat lessened, with is about the best we can hope for these days.
mummymovie says
Ahhhhhhh… what comfort, what glory:
The flag of Iran…. oops! Iraq is flying in that graphic nightmare of a third world shithole so many of our fine men and women have cast their lives and money (don’t ever say “blood and treasure”) into.
What a relief!
Thanks to President Dick-chains & his ventriloquist dummy Whore-hey Bush, we can look forward to, with the global scattering of IS scumbags, a Shiite superpower who’s just been showered with unimaginable amounts of cash (thanks B. Hussein O.!), not to mention oil reserves gifted to them by Prez W.
The caliphate is dead. Wonderful news!!!
Street urchin pickpocket criminal abu bakr al-baghdadi is free to go transmit internet videos a la ayman z.
Poppy addicted (I know a junkie when I see one) Shiite mahdi army leaders celebrate by self-bloodletting and dancing in the streets of Iraq.
And these IS pigs are flown back home to kill us and rape our children free to further “radicalize” uncivilized African muslim animals from a REAL RAPE CULTURE to victimize our young, old, and weak.
Bang up f*ing job, boys!
I, for one, am not feeling so enthusiastic about the caliphate-busting.
Don’t we have any vacancy at Gitmo for these wretched subhumans?
WHY ARE WE LETTING THEM BACK IN?
For God’s sake. WHY?
roger woodhouse says
How do you defeat an ideology.?The muslim world will never change their indoctrination programme .We know that ,so ,if we in the West allow this ideology to take root here and its propogation we will in time be overthrown by it.Our so called leaders in Europe turn a blind eye and continue to appease the muslims in the vain hope that ‘oneday they will become just like us’ and give up their ridiculous belief.Well that can only happen if their ‘ridiculous belief’is exposed as a fraud and its adherents ‘encouraged’to give up on it.That of course is very unlikely so if the West is happy to renounce everything it has fought for and cherished these past 500 years then carry on ‘appeasing’.Our future is looking bleak unless we can overthrow this current bunch of spineless troughers we have sitting in Westminster
Flavius Claudius Iulianus says
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/13/public-overwhelmingly-reject-soros-plan-mass-migration-europe/
gravenimage says
*Good*. Now they just have to make their voices heard.
derek says
So If I am not mistaken ISIS is gone for good !? Hooray !!!! that means I can go to Iraq and visit a place were Garden of Eden once stood, and visit a place were tower of Babel and a place Noe ( Noah) has built an ark, and where Abraham ( Abram) was called by God to go distance land and be a father of many nations. My dreams are surly coming true 🙂
Z says
Cockroaches are good at hiding
ac says
In Iraq. What ‘s in Syria? Aren’t they anyway spreading propaganda about the deep meaning of Syrian cities, even in the eschatological meaning, like “Dabiq, Syria”
Also ISIS does stand for “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” but can they still claim the shorter “IS” variant?
warmac9999 says
Unless islam is utterly defeated, the caliphate dream will never be over.
NERO says
Now that the caliphate is over then:
1,what is the ruling of allah on a failed caliphate.
2,did allah failed to protect his caliphate?
Wellington says
Here’s a theory for you: The Iraqi Army, long term, is actually more of a menace than ISIS because it gives great cover to Islam, posing as it does as something rational, moderate, OK, on the side of freedom, blah, blah, blah. Thus, the Iraqi Army is part and parcel of that Great Pretend Game (GPG), to wit, that Islam is just fine and it’s only been hijacked by some extremists (such as ISIS members), which, of course, no one could or would deny except one of those terrible Islamophobes who keeps trying to warn all the world, and especially the West, that Islam is like no other religion on earth and distinctions between “radical Islam” and “Islam,” or “Islamism” and “Islam,” are phantom distinctions.
Yeah, ponder this, i.e., that the Iraqi Army is even worse than ISIS. After all, slow jihad is so much smarter than fast jihad.
Until the world, and especially the West, wakes up to the fact that ALL of Islam is rotten, the games will continue. So tired of these games. How can anyone who knows the truth about Islam not be?
gravenimage says
All grimly true, Wellington.
We might as well raise a glass–a Yuengling beer for you, my friend–in recognition of this victory, for victory it is.
But we should also, as you well note, not regard the war as over–not by a long shot, I’m afraid.
mortimer says
Agree with Wellington that the jihad will go on in the minds of Mohammedans, but I truly believe they see the impossibility of reviving the caliphate.
The dream of reviving the caliphate is now DEAD.
Muslim fundamentalists around the world will slowly let this sink in!
This is what the defeat of the caliphate means: 1) ISLAM IS IMPRACTICABLE IN THE MODERN WORLD 2) therefore, since Islam cannot be fully practiced and Allah did not save the caliphate (Allah’s will), ALLAH IS FALSE, the KORAN IS FALSE and ISLAM IS FALSE.
ALLAH DID NOT SAVE ‘HIS’ CALIPHATE!
shortfattexan says
ISIS (or IS, or ISIL) may have been driven from Iraq, but that does not mean that it is “dead”. I assure you we have not heard the last of ISIS – their dream of becoming a legitimate national government seems to have failed, but they can, and will, easily switch gears and focus on “traditional” terrorist activities.
And even if ISIS was dead, that does not mean the dream of a Caliphate has died along with it. As long as Islam exists, there will always be a significant percentage of them who want a Caliphate.
Wellington says
I’m not as sanguine as you are, mortimer, that the idea of a caliphate is now dead. Don’t forget two factors: 1) What I call “Muslimthink” which allows for, among other things, freedom to be wrong, submission to be good, love to be bad, death embraced and life dismissed, abrogation in the Koran perfectly sensible when, in fact, it is absurd, etc.; 2) Islamic terrorist groups like al-Qaeda can simply say, as they already have, that ISIS was premature in establishing the caliphate and that the time is not right for it yet; indeed, this has been a MAJOR difference between al-Qaeda and ISIS all along.
With Muzzies, anything is possible and forever like. Best, I think, to keep this always in mind. The only true release for any Muslim is to entirely cease being a Muslim, which itself carries great danger as I know you know and which serves as just one more reason to detest the worst religion ever created by man.
gravenimage says
Mortimer, like Wellington I do not believe that Muslims have given up on their dream of a Caliphate.
And while they may not fully realize it, this does not mean that they cannot do a great deal of harm in the trying.
After all, the Nazis were not able to bring about a “Thousand Year Reich”–that does not meant that they were not able to cause incalculable suffering.
David Grisez says
The problem is that as long as there are Islamic Terrorist Groups and Islamic countries, another Islamic terrorist group or Islamic country will try to bring back an Islamic Caliphate. I suspect that Erdogan in the country of Turkey will attempt to bring back an Ottoman Empire Caliphate. There is a need to be vigilante to suppress future attempts to form an Islamic Caliphate.
mortimer says
David, I have raised this same question to myself and concluded that there is to much love for democracy in Turkey, even more than the love of Islam. Turks will not support a revived caliphate since the modernity and prosperity of Turkey is owed to destroying the caliphate and to secularism.
Mind you, Turkey is still backward compared with European countries. Turkey is outperformed by Spain, one of the lesser economies in Europe. No Muslim country is as productive or as free or as democratic as a European country.
Muslims must ask themselves why! When they do, they decide to move to a Western country, because ALL Islamic countries are made dysfunctional by Islam.
AleX says
Indeed so, Mortimer.
All islamic states are failed states. Islam is a parasite feeding on free nations’ progress, achievements.
The leech in chief (mohomot – forgotten be his name ) was a cowardly impostor.
balam says
Muslim countries are very productive through BED ROOM JIHAD only.
Savvy Kafir says
I think the collapse of the Caliphate is, on the whole, bad news for us in the West. Better to have many of the most rabid Allah junkies fighting & dying in a Muslim-majority land far from here.
Now many of those ardent, battle-tested jihadis have been allowed to return to Western countries by government “leaders” who don’t have the first clue about Islam. Now the blood of infidels will be spilled in Europe, Canada, & elsewhere — instead of Muslim blood in desert lands, where this savagery belongs.
gravenimage says
Savvy Kafir, I still think this is good news–the defeat of this Caliphate puts a crimp, no matter how small, in the confidence of supremacist Muslims, and that cannot be a bad thing. We just should be sure not to make more of this than it is.
mortimer says
I see your point, Kafir, namely, that ISIS was the WORST POSSIBLE NEGATIVE PUBLICITY FOR ISLAM.
Don’t worry! Many Muslims will continue to commit individual and small-group jihad. They will force Muslims to ask if they want to stay in this vicious Death Cult and their shouts of ‘Allah Akbar’ will be reported 5 times every day.
Michael Copeland says
The shouting may be reported, but what it is that is shouted will be withheld – all in aid, we must understand, of “community cohesion”.
gravenimage says
Today, our troops were able to purge islands of Nineveh and Anbar in full, and they (the forces) are now fully controlling the Iraqi-Syrian borders. These victories are not only for the Iraqis alone, though the Iraqis were themselves who achieved such victories with their sacrifices. But the victories are for all Arabs, Muslims and the world alike…
……………………………
Except for all of the Muslims who *wanted* a Caliphate and recognized the Islamic State as just that–a not inconsiderable number of Muslims.
More:
With this, the Islamic State’s chief claim upon the allegiance of Muslims worldwide, and the reason why it was able to draw 30,000 Muslims from 100 countries to Iraq and Syria to join it, is gone.
……………………………
I wish I could be sure of that.
Certainly, the main appeal of ISIS was of its having at least the theoretical power of the Caliphate as backing–but more Jihadists have been acting in its name, even as the territory they have held has dwindled.
I believe ISIS is still a bigger name to conjure with among Jihadists than that of other Jihad groups like Al Qaida, Al Shebaab, and Boko Haram–and they are not inconsiderable in their power themselves.
mortimer says
All of the ISIS jihadist fighters should be extradited to Iraq and to Syria to stand trial for crimes against humanity and against the countries of Syria and Iraq. The world will then see Muslim justice. They will likely get the death penalty. They will unfortunately not do that.
The West should extradite these criminals so they can be at least be tried and then jailed for terms up to life imprisonment.
gravenimage says
The idea that all Muslims are against ISIS is pretty questionable, Mortimer.
Alex says
It’s a sad day for Ibrahim Itace Mohammed.
All the grief and sorrow for the loss of his beloved khilafa.
But hey! it is still time to buy an ISIS flag on amazon and start his own jihad, all by himself to avenge the fallen lion cubs of the caliphate. The ummah needs him.
All is not lost, Ibrahim. Stop posting here and act. Your allah, surely, has more meet to grind and your fancy prophet would wink, nudge and closely follow your aspirations from beyond the grave.
gravenimage says
🙂
Chand says
No, he should be very happy. He writes that ISIS is an ‘ evil Zionist-Israhell conspiracy hatched with the evil US and the evil Saudi Royal family’ to tarnish true Islam.
gravenimage says
He just considers ISIS a rival–he does not have any ideological differences with them.
duh swami says
The dream is not dead, only postponed…Defeating ISIS is not defeating Islam…
gravenimage says
So true, Swami.
Bashy Quraishy says
Dear Robert Spencer/Jihad Watch
Your article; ISIS: The Caliphate Dream Is Over is rather misleading for a number of reasons.
!. The idea of Caliphate is a pipe dream. It is a wishful thinking that can never be practiced in real life. The reason is simple; The huge disparity and diversity among 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.
2. ISIS is a terrorist organisation that was funded and established by CIA and other vested interests to cause chaos in the Middle East and give the west an excuse to continue exploiting the resources and geo-political hegemony. ISIS /Daesh presenting themselves as the Caliphate is the most stupid claim, any group has made but of course, the west glorifying it was a bonus for the terrorists.
3. So let us be serious and condemn all terrorists and extremists of the world, irrespective of religion, culture, nationality, ethnicity and ideology. That is the only way to peace.
gravenimage says
“Bashy Quraishy” wrote:
Dear Robert Spencer/Jihad Watch
Your article; ISIS: The Caliphate Dream Is Over is rather misleading for a number of reasons.
!. The idea of Caliphate is a pipe dream. It is a wishful thinking that can never be practiced in real life. The reason is simple; The huge disparity and diversity among 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.
…………………………….
It is almost always a bad sign when someone inflates the Muslim population, and so it is here.
There was a Caliphate a hundred years ago, though not every Muslim was part of it, and some of those who were thought that other Muslims–such as their own gang–should be running things.
The idea that every last Muslim must be in agreement or there cannot be a Caliphate is ludicrously false.
More:
2. ISIS is a terrorist organisation that was funded and established by CIA and other vested interests to cause chaos in the Middle East and give the west an excuse to continue exploiting the resources and geo-political hegemony. ISIS /Daesh presenting themselves as the Caliphate is the most stupid claim, any group has made but of course, the west glorifying it was a bonus for the terrorists.
…………………………….
Uh huh–there is no Jihad threat–it is just evil Infidels who wage Jihad in order to “make Islam look bad”.
Does this poster also claim that 9/11 was a ‘false flag operation’? I would not be surprised.
More:
3. So let us be serious and condemn all terrorists and extremists of the world, irrespective of religion, culture, nationality, ethnicity and ideology. That is the only way to peace.
…………………………….
In other words. ignore the fact that virtually all the terrorism in the world today is violent Jihad. No thanks, creep.
Sharyati says
3. So let us be serious and condemn all terrorists and extremists of the world, irrespective of religion, culture, nationality, ethnicity and ideology. That is the only way to peace.
Bashy what other terrorist exists today(In any flavor) apart for Islamic ones that cause the maximum maximum no of causalities across the world? Last time i heard there were no Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh terrorist that bombed any major city causing 100s of deaths, Hijacking planes and ramming them into buildings, selling of kuffar women as sex slaves or raping of Kuffar women, ramming vehicles into crowds during festivals or celebrations, bombing innocent children in concerts, planning to poison drinking water etc etc.
Sharyati says
If today the ISIS goes there will be a JSIS or KSIS or “*SIS”. Great the caliphate has ended but that will not do away with Jihad all together. Some other group will arise that will idealize the ISIS and would want to continue from where it left off. Islamic theology is a perennial spring for Jihad either individuals or gorups
Matthieu Baudin says
“… its claim upon the world’s Muslims has been decisively repudiated by the victory of the Iraqi army. The caliphate dream is over. For now.”
Let’s not airbrush out the victory over Islamic State in Syria. Damascus very nearly fell and it’s successful defence was due in no small part to support by Russian and to a lesser degree Iranian forces. The Obama administrations early neglect in it’s response to the ISIS juggernaut was almost catastrophic and the battle was won, with Stalingrad (Volgograd) fortitude, by an agonisingly prolonged joint Syrian/Russian military struggle.
gravenimage says
We cannot imagine that Iran is an ally of ours, though.
FYI says
If only the muslims followed God instead of their allah they would have known what a waste of time it woluld be.
Something the enemies of Israel don’t know:according to Joel 3 it is the enemies of Israel that will suffer..