The group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant or simply the Islamic State (ISIL, ISIS, or IS) has attracted much attention in the past few months with its dramatic military gains in Syria and Iraq and with the recent U.S. decision to wage war against it.
As analysts are called to explain ISISâ?? ambitions, its appeal, and its brutality, they often turn to an examination of what they consider to be its religious worldviewâ??a combination of cosmological doctrines, eschatological beliefs, and civilizational notionsâ??usually thought to be rooted in Salafi Islam.
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