Islamic State's strong narratives help militants embark on a path to their version of 'absolute truth'

In Berlin’s Topography of Terror museum, there is a photo of Josef Mengele and associate Nazi officers sharing a happy moment, posing for the camera. This picture, with smiling innocent faces of Nazi officers flirting with the camera is fairly unnerving. How could they gas and torture thousands of Jews and yet share such a human moment? The simple fact is that evil is quite human and always someone’s version of the ’truth'.

Cut to 2014 when jihadist group Islamic State made an appearance in the international arena by seizing sizeable chunks of Syria and Iraq — rape, brutality, killing, beheading and abduction became their weapons to pursue their truth — to bring back the glory of God’s rule on earth and defend the Muslim (Shia) community against infidels and apostates.

Relying greatly upon radicalisation through propaganda, the Islamic State is following the Nazi Germany technique where books, posters and slogans endeared a hapless and hopeless Germany into blaming its problems on the Jews — Handbuch der Judenfrage (Handbook of the Jewish Question) by Theodor Fritsch, first published in 1887 was hailed as the most “definitive work on anti-semitism” by Adolf Hitler. Posters stereotyped Jews as fat men with big noses who were out to mix with the pure Aryan race. Much like Nazi literature, the Islamic State discourse is coherent and intelligent, with high-level interpretations of Islam.

There is a binary of us vs them in the Islamic State caliphate — the others aka the infidels or the kafirs are those who are denying the world the glory of God’s rule and therefore must be destroyed. Islamic State’s magazine, Dabiq, a slick and sophisticated publication with high-quality design, layout and printing standards, is published in several languages, including English. The language is excellent and could put even The New Yorker to shame. The narratives and the ’truth’ that Islamic State presents through Dabiq have a purpose — to not just convince you, but to make you believe in them and their ideology.

“Brussels, the heart of Europe, has been struck. The blood of its vitality spilled on the ground, trampled under the feet of the mujāhidīn. Flames ignited years ago in Iraq have now scorched the battleground of Belgium, soon to spread to the rest of crusader Europe and the West. Paris was a warning. Brussels was a reminder.” - Dabiq

Wild west and perfect Islamic State narrative 

It’s easy to think of the Nazis or the terrorists — Islamic State or otherwise — as psychopaths, sociopaths, crazy idiots and to put them in boxes — that they aren’t somehow as human as you and I. In the last six months, there have been 729 attacks by the Islamic State, including the horrific Brussels attacks and the deadly mass shooting in the Orlando gay club, Pulse. What is at play here isn’t an incoherent recruitment drive, but a carefully devised system that is efficient in turning people into believers of the cause.

Why people join the terrorist outfit is not an easy question to answer; radicalisation is quite complex and there are various factors at play — according to ICSR , grievance, beliefs, social dynamics and even chance play a big role. ““Many defectors became convinced that IS represented a perfect Islamic state which every Muslim had a duty to support and help succeed. In their view, it offered the opportunity to live in accordance with Sharia law and fight for a holy cause,” says the report.

Orlando shooter Omar Mateen wrote a series of Facebook posts right after the shooting rampage about the “filthy ways of the West” and “I pledge my alliance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi…may Allah accept me” and that “the real Muslims will never accept the filthy ways of the West.” These phrases are in line with how Dabiq speaks of Kafirs in its texts as well.

“On perhaps the other end of the “Sūfī mainstream” spectrum, there is the joke of al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb – also called “Imām Will” – who has spent his career making a name for and a fool of himself as the all-American imām. Adopting a Southern inner-city accent sprinkled with thug life vocabulary and the latest pop culture references when addressing young crowds, he is quick to switch to an ordinary voice when speaking to CNN and other media outlets. A clown in most senses of the word, he has surprisingly gathered a following and is seen by many crusader supporters as an important tool for taming Muslim youth in the West. Responding to the tāghūt Barack Obama wishing Muslims a blessed Ramadān, Suhaib Webb tweeted, “Obama makes me proud. Thank you, Mr. President.” Does this “imām” truly feel honored through his kāfir leader?” - Dabiq

This BBC report explains how young people attracted to radical ideology think — they look at the West as evil and want to blame it for everything. Omar, a british citizen, who is now a part of the Islamic State told the BBC journalist in their online interactions that he made his journey to Syria to do his “Islamic duty” and was “leaving the land of immorality and going to a land of jihad.”

According to Documenting The Virtual ‘Caliphate ' , the supporters of Islamic State are presented with an idea of what life is like in the caliphate. Though propaganda material includes brutality, mercy and belonging are more significant narratives of the Islamic State recruitment drive. Another important narrative is that of reinforcing the victimhood narrative — “playing upon the ‘War on Islam’ conspiracy,” states the report. San Bernardino shooters and Brussels attack terrorists were given tributes in the Islamic States publication, celebrating their ‘sacrifice’.

According to intelligence sources in India, there is an increasing number of youth “gravitating” towards Islamic State instead of Jaish-e-Mohammed, LeT or Simi. Even in Bangladesh, there has been a mind-boggling surge in the number of killings of secular and minority community members. Islamic State literature often refers to Bangladesh as “Bengal” and routinely calls Hindus of Bengal as “anti-Islamic propagandists” who “adhered to this filthy, cow-worshiping religion initially before becoming full-fledged atheists and denying ‘religion’ entirely.”

Not mosques, virtual radicalisation networks

According to an Open Democracy report , the Islamic State group have an incredibly active media wing, which consistently circulates communication, posters, videos, online discussion and annual reports of Islamic State activities.

The recruiters are not only openly linked to Islamic State, but are hardcore believers of the Jihad-Salafist ideology — with their expertise in technology, they consistently guide foreign fighters to online communities, discussion boards that discuss Islamic literature in detail. “It is virtual and, while disseminators may provide linkages and moral assistance to facilitate travel to the region, predominantly conducted on an individual level,” states the Open Democracy report. The International Centre for Study of Radicalisation’s report on the defectors of Islamic State paints an exquisite picture of the Islamic State world:

“We saw the videos. They hyped us up” - Islamic State fighter

Take Nafees Khan’s case for example. According to Rahul Tripathi’s report in Economic Times , Nafees started a Facebook account and had come in contact with a juvenile, and a deputy chief of Islamic State (India), Nafees learnt how to make bombs online. Twenty five-year-old Najmaal also imbibed Islamic State ideology since 2014 through Facebook and Twitter. According to the Brookings report on the ISIS Twitter Census, as of 2014, there were at least 46,000 IS-related Twitter accounts; in the last two years, the number has only grown.

Who is at risk?

Another Firstpost article describes how the Islamic State gathers foothold in poor Muslim neighbourhoods in Western Europe — how lack of job opportunities and everyday racism prime them to be perfect candidates for radicalisation. This is complemented by research findings that the total number of foreign ‘fighters’ in Syria now exceeds 20,000 and this has surpassed the number during the Afghanistan conflict of the 1980s.

According to scholar Animesh Roul, Islamic State’s emphasis on “true Muslims” and brotherhood has resonated well across South Asia. The Islamic State theology is attractive because it is committed to it’s ’truth’. CISR reports show that more than 100 of foreign Islamic State fighters are from the US and these aren’t individuals who are “lost”, in fact, it is the opposite — the fighters believe their are answering a call.

Islamic State’s strong narratives allow these fighters to believe in a certain right and wrong and help them embark on a path to the Islamic State version of absolute truth.