What is ISIL or ISIS - Islamic State of Iraq and Syria?

Answer 1

ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), known as ad-Dawla al-Eslamiyya al-3iraaq w'ash-Shaam - الدولة الإسلامية العراق والشام or the acronym Daa3esh - داعش in Arabic, is an extremist Sunni Islamist organization which used to have links to al-Qaeda before al-Qaeda condemned them for their barbarity. They are fighting to bring the Sunni majority into power, especially in Sunni majority regions of both Syria and Iraq, and impose a more fundamentalist view on politics. They consider themselves to be fighting the injustices and violence of the current Assad regime and the inequalities of the US-supported Government of Iraq. ISIL is primarily supported and armed by Saudi Arabia, but the US and UK have indirectly given ISIL millions of dollars and equipment since US and UK military vehicles and assets left to the Government of Iraq have fallen into ISIL hands (especially with the fall of Mosul).

ISIL controls significant amounts of land in Syria and Iraq and conquered much of its Iraqi territory in June 2014. Despite small gains by the Kurdish Peshmerga Army and the Republic of Iraq Army, most of these territories remain in ISIL control nearly a year later.

ISIL started as an offshoot of al-Qaeda Iraq, also called Jubhat al-Nusra (the al-Nusra Front). Their main disagreement with the majority of Jubhat al-Nusra, and which prompted their leaving the organization, was that al-Baghdadi (the founder of ISIL) and his supporters argued that the Islamic Caliphate should be formed today as opposed to the majority who wanted to only set up the building blocks for a future Caliphate. The split occurred only in 2012. Because ISIL wants to create an Islamic Caliphate immediately, they have been working at a feverish pace to achieve that goal.

In ISIL's conception, the failures of the Islamic World in terms of economy, morality, military power, and political acumen are directly the result of abandoning Islam as a religion and its principles. They hold that the Western ideals have pervaded the Islamic World, which distances them from following the words of the Qur'an literally to achieve salvation for all Muslims. Only by returning to an extreme literalist interpretation and the legal enforcement of those values can Muslims be the world leaders.

Answer 2

Answer 1

They're an amalgamation of groups in Iraq and Syria which had formerly been aligned with Al-Qaeda. They're a Sunni Muslim militant organization, and have been known by a couple of names in the past, including Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (which is what they were when I was there). They've been in the media a lot lately, albeit referred to as ISIS (which probably rolls off a western tongue a little better). They've captured a substantial amount of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Answer 2

ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), known as ad-Dawla al-Eslamiyya al-3iraaq w'ash-Shaam - الدولة الإسلامية العراق والشام or the acronym Daa3esh - داعش in Arabic, is an extremist Sunni Islamist organization which used to have links to al-Qaeda before al-Qaeda condemned them for their barbarity. They are fighting to bring the Sunni majority into power, especially in Sunni majority regions of both Syria and Iraq, and impose a more fundamentalist view on politics. They consider themselves to be fighting the injustices and violence of the current Assad regime and the inequalities of the US-supported Government of Iraq. ISIL is primarily supported and armed by Saudi Arabia, but the US and UK have indirectly given ISIL millions of dollars and equipment since US and UK military vehicles and assets left to the Government of Iraq have fallen into ISIL hands (especially with the fall of Mosul).

ISIL controls significant amounts of land in Syria and Iraq and conquered much of its Iraqi territory in June 2014.

Answer 3

Isis is the Egyptian goddess of fertility or the daughter of Geb.