One of many narratives used by ISIS in its propaganda materials to win support from Muslims all over the world is the Armageddon or Al-Malhamah Al-Kubra (the Great Battle) narrative. This narrative taps on Islamic traditions concerning the End of Time that have been circulated among Muslims since the first generation of Islam.

The broad original Armageddon traditions in Islam speak about the final battle between the evil forces led by Dajjal [Anti-Christ] and the Muslim army under the leadership of Prophet Isa (Jesus) and his assistant Al-Mahdi (the Mahdi) which culminates with the death of the former and the defeat of his forces and the glorious victory for the latter. Prior to the emergence of Al-Mahdi, the second coming of Prophet Isa and the final battle, however, there will be series of battle between the Muslim and Roman army in the vicinity of Syria.

These battles will attract true Muslims to congregate in Iraq and Syria and they would form the bulk of Al-Taifah Al-Mansurah (the victorious/saved sect) of the End of Time as illustrated by Ibn Taimiyah, a much revered scholar by ISIS, in his famous book Majmu` Al-Fatawa (Compilation of Fatwas), “Islam in the end of times will be more manifested in Sham… So the best of the people on the earth in the end of times will be those who keep to the land of [Prophet] Ibrahim’s hijrah, which is Sham.”[1]

…Muhammad Haniff Hassan, Research Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.