Daesh: the Union of Extremist Salafism and Baathism

The dynamic ideological power of Deash group originates from two sources. The first source is a pervading jurisprudence rooted in Ibn Taymiyyah’s (14th c.(ideas which later modernized by Abd al-Wahhab)18th c.(as the ideology of modern Salafism. Accordingly, Takfiri Daesh members say their objective is to renovate Islam. The other source, totally obvious in its organization and political objectives, is Baathism and new Baath networks since secular Baathis set the renovations of Arabs’ glory as their ultimate goal. Although Daesh group uses the doctrine of radical Salafism effectively to mobilize extremists and foreign militants, it also relies on the complex networks of former Baath Party officers to lead and control its Caliphate. This paper tries to study how these two different ideological sources can join in a single organization-Daesh. In the ideology of Baath, Islam is hardly a universal message which addresses the world to improve humanity. It is considered as a mean of governing the Arab world, and its development by Baath theorists is for showing an evidence of the gratitude of Arab culture and the thinking power of Arab people. On the other hand, Baathis’ military and organizational skills have been used by the extremist Salafis-Daesh-as means of following their objectives in battle fields.