O Islamic State (EI) it's a group Jihadist radical Sunni who, based on the Islamic Empire of the seventh century, through the successive domination of territories belonging to Syria and Iraq, it proclaimed itself a caliphate, that is, a government similar to a monarchy in which the Caliph is chosen on the basis of his kinship with Mohammed and must govern the State faithfully following the Sharia (a set of religious, legal and social laws based on the Qur'an and the biography of Muhammad, which dictates most aspects of the lives of Muslims).
El has as its main objective the creation of the caliphate, the practice of Islam as proposed by Muhammad and its propagation throughout the world, both from the conversion of followers, won through strong propaganda, as well as by Jihad (holy war), in which all infidels or practices inconsistent with the Islamic faith are fought.
The group emerged as an offshoot of Al Quaeda, responsible for the September 11 attack on the United States, but has broken ties with the organization in 2014, while continuing to expand its domain in Syria, being considered by this organization very extremists. In the same year, it carried out a series of attacks in Syria, conquering several cities and proclaiming itself the caliphate of the Islamic State. Very organized, with many resources, coming from various directions (from Iranian oil exploration, withdrawals and sales of valuable artifacts on the black market, collections of taxes and rents in the areas controlled by it, donations from supporters, etc.) and extreme violence, the group has gained many supporters from all over the world, including countries Westerners. It is believed that the Islamic State has between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters for the Islamic cause, of these, more than 12,000 would be foreign fighters from more than 50 countries around the world who radicalized.
Acting mainly in Syria and Iraq, countries that are weakened either by the US invasion, in the case of Iraq, or by internal conflicts, in both cases, the Islamic State has been expanding rapidly, even intending to expand its domains beyond the area occupied by these two countries and to get involved in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It is estimated² that currently the area controlled by him reaches more than 230 thousand square kilometers, encompassing cities such as Mosul, Iraq's third largest city; Tikrit; small towns in the provinces of Salaheddin, dyala and Anbar.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
The population of the area occupied by the Jihadists, which already numbers more than 8 million, have to submit to the imposed laws, which are based on a very extreme interpretation of the Sharia. In schools, subjects such as philosophy and chemistry were banned and other subjects must pass the approval of a group board. Alcohol, cigarettes, canned food and music are prohibited. Implemented collection of taxes, often abusive, and rent, even for the owners of real estate. Gender segregation was instituted, in which girls and women must be submissive to men, cannot work, must wear the veil and burka and practice genital mutilation.
The situation is even worse for members of other religions and ethnicities (such as Christians and Yazidi, Shiites, Westerners and etc) who are considered enemies who must repent and convert to Islam or be fought brutally. There have been several cases of looting, sexual abuse, kidnapping, executions by hanging, decapitation, crucifixion, stoning, burial of people live, mass executions against foreigners, members of other religions and ethnicities, all filmed and broadcast online to demonstrate the “superiority” of the group.
Due to the extreme violence and its forced territorial expansion from the occupation of territories in other countries, the Islamic State has been considered by several countries and organizations as a terrorist militia. Also in 2014, a coalition was created with more than 30 countries to fight the advance of El, however, in due to conflicts of interest between these countries, the agreement has not yet reached major wins.
Grades
¹ MORAES, Mayara. Unraveling the Islamic State. Accessed on 01/18/2016.
² WELLE, Deutsche. Life under the Islamic State. Accessed on: 01/18/2016.
By Thamires Olimpia
Graduated in Geography
