ABSTRACT

A state can be defined as “an organized body of people usually occupying a definite territory” or it can simply refer to a particular territory which is recognized to be sovereign.4 Regardless of how one defines a state, it is a legally and politically recognized term that gives gravitas to an area and the people that inhabit it. It also means, to other countries, respect should be given to the borders and the governmental structure which has been put into place. To be able to take on the moniker of a “state,” a legally recognized entity, the Islamic State is attempting to be recognized as more than a mere terrorist organization. They want to be viewed as an entity that wields true power, with the authority to speak for a large and powerful group of people. According to Joseph Blank, former staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and current RAND Corporation employee, the use of the term Islamic State shows that the group is claiming to “represent all Muslims everywhere-they have declared the establishment of a new caliphate.”5 However, it should be noted, that since the Islamic State is based upon a “strict interpretation of Sunni Islam,”6 it only claims dominion over Sunni Muslims around the world, and, in reality, it is only interested in those Sunni Muslims who see religion exactly as the Islamic State sees it. Therefore, this desired dominion over Muslims truly only extends to a relatively small population. The Islamic State has campaigned against Shia Muslims and the “unfaithful” Sunnis (for example, Sunni Sufis) as idolaters and apostates. Numerous Shia and Sufi shrines and mosques have been destroyed and its people have been terrorized, forced out of their homes, and/or slaughtered by the Islamic State in “justified” retribution for their disbelief.7