ABSTRACT
Amidst the conflicts that arose because of ISIS in the Middle East, one has to question how such a movement is organized, what are its goals, but more importantly where does its ideology and thus legitimacy, stem from? ISIS’s ideological lineage is important because it lays the foundation for further research that ties repression with extremism. There are four ideological stages that Wahhabism has gone through: from the politicization of its original ideology under Muhamed Ibn AbdelWahab till modern times. This politicization has led to the current radicalization in such groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. This chapter examines (1) an individual case of “jihad” exemplified by AbdelSalam Faraj and (2) the different stages of ideological transformation Wahhabism has gone through and how ISIS exemplifies a group that espouses those ideas.
