Leaked Daesh Documents: Majority of Recruits Knew Nothing about Islam
The thousands of Daesh documents shed light on over 4,000 recruits that made their way into Syria during Daesh’s heyday.
These documents, after being analyzed by the Associated Press, showed that 70% of recruits had just a "basic,” the lowest possible category, knowledge of Shariah, while 24% had an "intermediate” knowledge, and 5% "advanced.”
According to the AP, this recent revelation suggests that individuals with a limited knowledge of the Islamic faith may be more susceptible to recruitment by Daesh militants — more so than those with a deeper, fundamental understanding of the faith.
This theory is supported not only by AP’s documents, but by court testimonies from European Daesh recruits who have allegedly defected from the terrorist organization.
"I realized that I was in the wrong place when they began to ask me questions on these forms like 'when you die, who should we call?',” a 32-year-old recruit said.
The anonymous recruit also detailed the intake process that he and fellow enlistees underwent: new recruits were indoctrinated with videos with Daesh propaganda, were forced to sever ties with their family, and were required to surrender their electronic devices.
Former CIA case officer Patrick Skinner explained in the AP report that most of these recruits are those who yearned for a sense of belonging, notoriety, and excitement.
"Religion is an afterthought," said Skinner.
Although many of these oblivious recruits may appear to be prepared for martyrdom, the fate of those that possessed an advanced or intermediate knowledge of Shariah may differ.
"Those with the most religious knowledge within the organization itself are the least likely to volunteer to be suicide bombers," states a report from the United States Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center.
Tariq Ramadan, an Islamic Studies professor at Oxford, elaborated on the implications of Daesh’s convoluted messages to AP, "The people who are doing this are not experiencing martyrdom, they are criminals. They are killing innocent people. Nothing in Islam, nothing ever can justify the killing of innocent people, never, ever."
Source: Business Insider
