ISIS: Understanding The Psychology Of The Terrorist Network, Will It Bring About Their End Of The World Prophecy? [Video]
ISIS has been leading the news circuits all over the world for the past couple weeks. Within a short span of time, ISIS conducted terrorist attacks in which they killed in Beirut, brought down a Russian plane over Egypt, and launched synchronized strikes in Paris in which 130 people were killed. After the attacks in Paris, ISIS sent out a press release stating the following.
“Allah granted victory upon their hands and cast terror into the hearts of the crusaders in their very own homeland.”
Experts have wondered how such a deadly terrorist organization has been able to recruit people from all over the world to fight for their cause. The cornerstone of their recruitment ability stems from prophecies that they claim are written in the Quran. According to ISIS, an Islamic Caliphate will rise to take on the infidels of the West. The infidels will gather in the village of Dabiq and the final battle will begin. This final battle is predicted to bring about the end of the world. There is a problem with these prophecies, though. They were written after the death of their prophet Muhammad. These prophecies did not come from him.
Some may recognize the name Dabiq, as it is a village on the border of Syria and Turkey that was captured by ISIS. The interesting thing is that Dabiq is a small village with no military value. ISIS captured the city based on the prophecy alone. Dabiq is so important to ISIS that they named their magazine Dabiq.
New issue of #ISIS/Daesh magazine Dabiq: Cover is a scene from emergency response in #Paris #France. #ParisAttacks pic.twitter.com/1O709Rwc6o
— James Wheeler (@wheelertweets) November 18, 2015
ISIS’ claims that the end of the world is coming is the motivation that they use to get others to join their ranks. Will McCants wrote the book, The ISIS Apocalypse. McCants spoke with Yahoo News and talked about how ISIS uses the end of the world as their recruiting tool.
“The belief that the end of the world is coming and you’re going to be fighting on the side of the good guys when the world ends is a powerful motivator. Young people going to join [ISIS] believe they are participating in a apocalyptic prophecy.”
A terrorist expert and psychologist from Georgia State, John Horgan, also commented about how ISIS is using psychology to their advantage.
“The really interesting thing here from the psychological perspective is the sense of urgency. They’re sending the message that the forces of evil are about to reach their goals so you need to act now rather than later. You don’t have the luxury of waiting for this to happen.”
One of the main points of the ISIS prophecies is that the flags of 80 nations will be in the village of Dabiq when the final battle begins. A member of ISIS sent out a tweet about how many more nations need to join the fight.
“Thirty states remain to complete the number of eighty flags that will gather in Dabiq and begin the battle.”
This could be why ISIS appears to try and make enemies out of as many countries as possible. They are trying to get to the prophetic number of 80. ISIS makes sure that the prophecy is seen as much as possible. The badges that ISIS fighters wear and the coins that they print, the following message can be read, “a Caliphate in Accordance with the Prophetic Method.”
What are your thoughts on the end of the world prophecies made by ISIS? Will their terrorist actions lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy? Will their actions be the catalyst that brings about World War III and the end of the world?
[Photo by Gokhan Sahi/Getty Images]
