Understanding ISIS Motivations: The Battle of the Bios

An article published by Reuters recently looked at recruitment for the Islamic State (ISIS) and concluded, as noted in the title, “Joining Islamic State is about ‘sex and aggression,’ not religion.” The author wrote:

Understanding the magnetic appeal of Islamic State’s extremism is a prerequisite to developing a suitable, psychologically sensitive counter narrative. For example, an appeal to moderation and a life of patient struggle seems ill-suited to win over the hearts and minds of jihadists. Instead, the glamour of jihad must be countered by an alternative glamour; the charisma of martyrdom pitted against a different kind of charisma, the appeal to primitive drives redirected, jiu jitsu style, against the brutality of the enemy, turning the psychological tables on Islamic State as it were.

For example, young men vulnerable to the appeal of extremist ideology might be persuaded to fight the desecration of their religion and promised a place in history by defeating the satanic evil that soils their faith. Social media may need to be turned abuzz with the glory of standing up to evil, encouraging the bravery needed to undertake personal risks for “breaking bad.” This message should not be presented in faint pastels but in bright, bold colors.

The author of the piece is Arie W. Kruglanski. His bio is described as such:

Arie W. Kruglanski is Distinguished University Professor in Psychology at the University of Maryland, and a senior researcher at START, National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism. He is former editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social cognition, and of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin and is now President of the Society for the Study of Motivation.

Compare Prof. Kruglanski’s bio, to another one:

He is a former teacher and educator and a well known preacher, and a graduate from the Islamic University in Baghdad and he studied in it the academic levels (Bachelor, Masters and PhD) he was known as a preacher and erudite in Islamic culture, and Sharia knowledge and Fiqh, and an expert in the sciences of history and noble lineage…”

That biography, as you may have guessed, is from AbuBakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, and self-proclaimed Caliph. It is fair to say that by training, Al-Baghdadi may know a thing or too about what qualifies as Islamic jurisprudence, and given his experience, he may know a thing or two about terrorism, even if he is not a senior researcher for a Terrorism think tank.

It’s no surprise that Prof. Kruglanski prefers to analyze ISIS’ motivations within the context of psychology, his chosen field. Within a certain context an analysis of that sort may prove useful. But it does not entitle Kruglanski to dismiss out of hand the stated motivations of ISIS. He can not for one moment claim to know more about Islamic law, and what it does or does not require, than does Al-Baghdadi.  If he chose to Kruglanski could examine Sharia law english-language reference works, and while he would not be a doctorate, at a minimum Kruglanski could establish whether Baghdadi’s position on Jihad, beheading, sexual slavery, is based on accurate citations of Islamic law, or whether it is indeed “desecration” or “satanic.”

Until that is done, when given opinion pieces as to why ISIS does what they do, who do you believe?

The Psychologist or the Caliph?