THE effort to prevent youth self-radicalisation must not miss “the elephant in the room”. The “elephant” is ISIS’ ideology that centres on the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth through Daulath Islamiah (Islamic State) ruled by the Khalifah (Caliph) and its call for global Muslims to perform hijrah (emigration) to this newly formed state.

The cunning use of these sacred terms by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has enabled the militants to win the support of many Muslims across the world who idealise and romanticise the belief that God’s laws must rule the earth and His authority resides within the supreme leadership of the Caliphate.

According to them, Muslims are then obliged to emigrate to this newly established abode of divine blessings to achieve salvation. This powerful ideology and its narrative must be defeated.

… The writer is Head, Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.