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Looks at how ISIS employs a millennial agenda within the presentation of its ideas
Focusing on apocalyptic manifestations found in ISIS propaganda, this book situates the group's agenda in the broader framework of contemporary Muslim thought and explains key topics in millennial thinking within the spiritual context of modern Islamic apocalypticism.
Based on the group's primary sources as well as medieval Muslim apocalyptic literature and its modern interpretations, the book analyses the ways ISIS presents its message concerning the Last Days as a meaningful, inventive and frightening expression of collectively shared expectations relating to the supposedly approaching the End Times.
Key features
The first comprehensive study of ISIS primary sources, previously only discussed as part of the background to broader interpretations of the ISIS campaign
Introduces and analyses the key topics of ISIS propaganda
Places particular manifestations of ISIS apocalypticism in a consistent and meaningful framework
Based on a coherent critical approach to the primary sources, both in Arabic and Western languages, including new media and social network sources
Interpretations are interspersed with extensive quotations from ISIS sources, providing the reader with the specifics of the Jihadist approach to apocalyptic rhetoric
Includes an appendix containing an ISIS 'apocalyptic reader' of primary source material
Bronislav Ostranský is a research fellow at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague.
List of contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Note on Names and Transliteration
Introduction
- Anchoring the Subject
- The Current State of Research
- Structure and Methodology
Chapter 1: The Quest for the Portents of the Hour
- Key Apocalyptic Terms and Notions
- Main Players of the Muslim Apocalypse
- Apocalyptic Sources and Historic Manifestations
Chapter 2: Muslim Preachers of the Approaching End
- From Dusty Bookshelves to Spiritual Blockbusters
- Modern Muslim Apocalyptic Creativity
- The Jihadist Fuse and the Millennial Charge?
- Apocalyptic Messengers and Forerunners
Chapter 3: The Topography of the Last Days
- From the East to Jerusalem
- Symbolism and Imagery of the Apocalypse
Chapter 4: The Spark Has Been Lit Here in Iraq
- The Apocalyptic March
- From Dabiq
- To Rome
Chapter 5: The Countdown to the Apocalypse
- They Plot, but Allah Also Plots
- The Islamic Armageddon
- How to Sell the Apocalypse?
Chapter 6: A Feeble Folk to Whom No Concern is Accorded
- The Apocalypse as a Battlefield
- Sunni 'Apocalypses Light'
- Doomsday Visions of the Shiites
Chapter 7: The Hour as Goal and Vehicle: A Summary of ISIS Apocalypticism
Appendices
1. A Brief Glossary of Muslim Apocalyptic and Eschatological Vocabulary
2. A Comprehensive Chronological Overview of the ISIS Phenomenon
3. An ISIS 'Apocalyptic Reader'
4. Overview Map
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Bronislav Ostranský is a research fellow at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague. He graduated from Charles University, Prague, specialising in the Arabic language and the history and culture of Islamic countries (Ph.D. in 2005). His research focuses mainly on medieval Islamic thought, especially mysticism (Sufism).
Summary
Focusing on apocalyptic manifestations found in ISIS propaganda, this book situates the group's agenda in the broader framework of contemporary Muslim thought and explains key topics in millennial thinking within the spiritual context of modern Islamic apocalypticism.
