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Summary of The ISIS Apocalypse

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Summary
The Islamic State (IS) came up as extremely dreadful jihadist group amongst all the

groups which emerged in recent history. In some accounts it even surpassed al-Qaida group.

So one questions as to how it emerged and became as popular as it is still able to attract a lot

of following and is able to conquer so much land over a brief period of time.

In The ISIS Apocalypse, William McCants assesses IS schemes and objects, and

various methods it adopted to become so cruel, apocalyptic, and more focussed on state

building as compared to any of its predecessor. McCants account is sourced primarily from

Arabic resources, which include religious text and confidential al-Qaida & IS

communications, assessable to very few people. The letters show how strong religious

fervour the IS group has, and how much strategy & calculations it involves. In the text,

McCants says that the doomsday prophecies shapes ISIS past, present and future (McCants).

Many interpreted the Arab springs as failure in the evolving of democracy. Jihadists

viewed the various uprisings very differently. According to their account 2011 events and

their consequences herald the beginning of Mahdi or Muslim Messiah. The fierce and

prolonged battle would follow and would lead to the Doomsday. This has been interested as

the Islamic version Armageddon. These people sense this as double opportunities. A quick

turn of event, like quick action and recruitment, hastens the apocalypse. The Arab springs

assist in creating power vacuum and they would quickly fill the vacuum.

So the dual theme of apocalypse & jihad came along in McCantss interesting research

on IS. There is a lot of contemporary literature on the emergence of IS in Iraq from the year

2006 onwards, which extended to Syria by the year 2011 and spread widely in the two states.

McCants, who is Islamic Studies expert in Brookings Institution, Washington, has also co-

edited website known as jihadica.com. So in both the sources he has provided very close to

reality accounts, almost inside accounts with the help of letters captured or leaked as well as
from other sources like intercepted messages. Both these sources have earned a lot of respect

due to close to reality accounts.

The worldwide IS movements spring from factious, quarrelling, disused and extended

family. Very first incarnation, which was a self-styled IS was debacle. The emir of Iraq was

its head. He was a small time policeman, and possessed no religious qualification. Other de

facto leader was Egyptian, and he was worthless and rude personality. Soon they both were

killed by joint American & Iraqi force by the year 2010. By that time IS became

dysfunctional, and embarrassed its restless creator Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda.

Hs efforts went in vain as he advocated the focus of their act of violence be directed to win

over the local heart & mind of population under the states. However IS took a premature

move to rush to declare Islamic state. He was helpless to see its failure which resulted in

besmirching his brand as well.

Mr McCants then analyses the exact reasons of the revival of IS as it becomes fearless.

He explained that in essence it was a 3-fold approach which led it to become a fearsome

force. Firstly, better leaders took the helm of their affairs. For instance, Abu Bakr al-

Baghdadi, the new emir, claims to be the descendant of the Prophet. He also has the

qualification on some Quran study, and apart from that he is an astute and properly

connected. This helps him in consolidating his resources and power and is truly helped by the

sinister Hajji Bakr, the cold blooded colonel of ex-Saddam Hussein army. He walks in the

footsteps of Saddam Hussein and follows his policies like eliminating the rivals.

Secondly, the happening of Syria from the year 2011 to 2014 helped IS as it gave

powerful bases. It also caused the ultimate breakdown from al-Qaeda. The separation is

referred to by McCants as biggest split ever in the global jihadist community. This made IS

biggest jihadist while al-Qaeda became very weak. Thirdly, IS in the year 2014 proclaimed
restoring of caliphate, and in the Islamic prophecies, which is one portent of apocalypse. This

proves as a mastermind step from IS. Osama on the other hand did not adopt this step as he

hardly took this as seriously. Soon as IS publicized this idea, several people from Muslim

world came to join hands under their black banner flag. Soon some twenty thousand Muslims

from even foreign countries joined them in their fight.

McCants provides incredibly large details about the happenings. He informs in this

account that Osama lectured al-Shabab leader, the Somalis affiliated, about the drought &

changes in the climate, and urged to avoid cutting the tree for making charcoal. Perhaps

Osama did not like even the name of his group al-Qaeda which meant the base, as it

could hardly become like a true Islamic Base. At this point, McCants wondered in his

account that whether the gross brutal activities of IS would be defeating and prove their

undoing. He pointed that to a point brutality works, but beyond certain threshold, there is a

tendency to weaken the group. So, extended brutality beyond a point will shift the balance of

power as local support starts to shift. Jihad group then starts tasting the defeat as balance of

power shifts. So the author opines in this account that ultimately IS would also crumble. But,

as it does, other may soon follow the suit, as IS itself followed the footsteps of Saddam and

Osama to some extent (McCants).

McCants also discusses IS strategies and fate of their terrorist activities. He noted in the

account that IS had assumed a power to reckon. He highlighted as to how the tens of

thousands of their people ran across the Syrian and Iraqi States and subjugated over million

men and enslaved, enslaving women. They beheaded many captive people, and dared those

who stopped or intervened their movement. Many from their group also spread terrorism

across Middle Eastern countries under their black symbol of terror. The astute and able leader

of the terrorist group is still able to attract many towards their fold. They played around the

contradictory idea that Islam will return to form only Islamic State in the world. They based
this idea behind the prophecies. As per the authors account, IS leaders maintained that this

was the worlds final mission or destiny. Consequently they found many zealous fighters

joining their force and making it a powerful organization (McCants).

The whole writing form the author has the accounts which are very well described, for

instance the account of Zarqawi ascent has been ably depicted by McCants. So anyone who

wishes to get a very close understanding of the rise of ISIS, this writing from the author

serves as most authentic resource. McCants writing are very insightful, enlightening and

clearly articulate IS origin, rise to power and their ideology. He understood the religious

nuances & principles and did a masterly work by explicating those and laying them in front

of the readers deftly. For one, he gave a very true depiction of the IS doomsday theology. He

listened to the groups communications, letters and other firsthand resources with meticulous

details and so whatever he wrote can be interpreted as true happening and can even be used

for making the policy decision over ISIS (McCants).

The gross brutality as McCants reports can hardly be imagined is more alien &

revolting than anything in the world. His clear explanation of the reasons of this brutality and

his vision about the future of IS looks too credible. Overall it was a very thought provoking

reading and many have recommended this as a must read for the countries who wish to make

a policy decision in ISIS. This is also a must read for all who want to know as how the

organizations exploit religion to spread terrorism.

Works Cited
McCants, William. The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the

Islamic State . New York: St. Martins Press, 2015. ISBN: 9781250080905.