Crimes of ISIS

In August 2014, ISIS surged onto the global stage with the horrific killing of a journalist who had been held hostage by the group. The gruesome video was followed by several others as ISIS sought to capture and maintain the attention of the world media and encourage recruits to join them. ISIS's treatment of hostages has led some to take their own lives instead of being captured. But not all hostages are equal under the Islamic State. This book will explore to role of hostages under ISIS, from those who are killed or forced to fight to those who are used for their value as propaganda or their ability to generate income, in the form of bribes, for the Islamic State.

The world leapt to action in 2014 when it learned that 50,000 members of a Christian minority group were trapped and starving on the side of a mountain, having been driven from their homes by ISIS soldiers. These Christians are not the only minorities caught in the destructive path of ISIS; Jews and Zoroastrians have also been persecuted, as have more permissive sects of Muslim believers. While many have fled, others have been offered a choice: convert to Islam, pay a tax, or die. This book explores how the rise of ISIS has influenced religious minorities caught in the so-called caliphate and what their lives are like under this oppressive regime.

ISIS claims to have reinstated the glorious caliphate of old: a time when Islam was at the center of the world, and Islamic law was the law of the land. Many of their practices are considered barbaric by modern standards, but followers of the Islamic State claim their ways are prescribed by righteous ancestors, passed down orally and in written records. Daily life under the caliphate has been turned upside down for those caught in the path of ISIS. Students will learn how ISIS enforces a 1,500-year-old body of laws, what daily life is like for followers of the Islamic State, and what it's like to live under the caliphate for those forced to endure the rule of ISIS.

On July 5, 2014, after the stunning seizure of Mosul, Iraq, a relatively unknown man in black stepped into an Iraqi mosque and declared the reestablishment of The Caliphate, an Islamic body of governance not seen since the early days of the religion. Large swathes of Iraq and Syria have been swept under a medieval wave of violence, and groups as far away as Nigeria and Indonesia have pledged their loyalty to the Islamic State, waging their own campaigns of violence. This book charts the group's violent history, from the first signs of an emerging new jihadist group to the official declaration of the Caliphate, and tracks their use of violence as they seek power and dominance over the world's 1.5 billion Muslim practitioners.

When Muhammed swept victorious into the city of Mecca in 630 C.E., one of his first acts was to destroy all of the idols at the Kabbah, one of the holiest sites in the Islamic world. ISIS is taking the prophet's idea to the extreme, attempting to raze art and architecture they deem un-Islamic from their domain. Ancient cities have fallen beneath bulldozers and clouds of dust, while priceless artifacts have been looted from museums and destroyed. Students will be challenged to ask why ISIS is so bent on destroying artifacts of the past and what power the preservation of these objects gives those fighting against the Islamic State.

With the promise of glorious holy war and a wife, more than 20,000 foreign fighters flowed into Iraq and Syria, leaving the Islamic State hard-pressed to provide enough wives for the fighters. With the number of foreign women estimated at a few hundred, ISIS has turned to draconian measures like slavery, temporary marriages, and even child brides. Women captives of the group who managed to escape tell tales of terror and abuse despite the glowing promises of those who recruit women for the so-called Islamic State. This book explores the dangers for women and girls caught in the path of ISIS and how they're used by the group as both rewards for fighters and as warriors in their own right.

While most children learn reading and math, the child soldiers of ISIS spend their days on weapons training and religious education. Called "The Cubs of the Caliphate," these children are weapons of the Islamic State. Some are the children of Islamic State fighters, while others are kidnapped and forced to fight for ISIS if they want to live. While the world has been outraged by footage of these young fighters killing hostages and waging war, there's more to their story. This book looks at how ISIS is selecting and grooming the next generation of jihadists and what can be done to prevent a generation of lost children.

When Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi called all Muslims to join the self-proclaimed Islamic State and fight jihad, tens of thousands answered the call from all over the globe. This book explores the formation of the Islamic State and how the organization went about recruiting an army to challenge the world order. Students will learn how the Islamic State used traditional recruitment methods, such as outreach through mosques and local influencers, as well as more modern tactics like social media and smartphone apps, to amass its following, and will explore what sorts of followers each mode of recruitment attracted.