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might provide. ISIS is an example of uncontrolled, unbridled enthusiasm for the all-encompassing
religious-state position. In the Arab and Islamic worlds, the overall narratives of ISIS can seem
correct—even if the extremes of violence and aggression can seem out of place.
How might it be seen as correct? Well, because the model that ISIS proposes is something that
made sense in the Islamic world—once upon a time. ISIS is very clever in appealing to old models
that are buried in dusty histories that we can neither confirm nor deny with any ease. Certainly not
with any ease in traditional Muslim societies, where we all want to be a little more successful
globally than we currently are. Therefore their easy and straightforward approach to an allencompassing
Muslim way of life—politically, socially, economically, and morally—appeals to
certain groups.
For this reason, different authoritative Islamic figures and groups have declined to condemn ISIS
on the basis that ISIS is Muslim but acting incorrectly on some issues. This is truly unfortunate but in
accordance with a set of relatively widespread narratives of Islam, which is worrying. If we take
ISIS to be representative of a possible design solution, then we need—as Muslims—to recognize
which problems it solves and which problems it creates.
ISIS is an extension of the argument—Islam Is the Solution—often heard by those despairing of
poor government services or corruption in pre-2011 Arab countries. This position is similar to the
one that proposes vaguely that sharia—or traditional Islamic law as defined by centuries of Islamic
scholarship—be imposed as the law of the land.
What is really being proposed is that if we declare that we are acting in Allah’s name, and if we
impose the laws of Islam, and if we ensure the correct mental state of the Muslim population living in
this chosen territory, then Allah will intervene to solve the problems of the modern Arab and Islamic
worlds—illiteracy, poverty, hunger, suffering, and weakness.
The brilliance of this model—and it is a model that is openly proposed by the Muslim
Brotherhood—is that any failure can be attributed to the lack of faith and piety of the population.
That’s it. Nothing else is required. The response to failure is to look into ourselves and condemn
ourselves for not being pious enough.
This is a model that is not unique to Islam, and is not unique to the era of the Muslim Brotherhood
or of ISIS. It is an ancient model built on the expectation that the divine intervenes to save those who
are worthy of being saved. This model is also underpinned by the conflation of religion with life.
This is the direct result of the Islamist conflation of religion and existence.
When religion is life, there is no escaping the divine’s wrath or reward.
* * *
The following illustration is a famous account of the Prophet Mohammed who happened upon some
people who were busy conducting pollination experiments on date crops. To these individuals he
said, “If you would not do this, then it would still come out right.” They followed the Prophet’s
advice and stopped their experimentation. The resulting date crop was of very poor quality.