Let's not turn the fight against ISIS into a holy war

Pope Francis didn't call for a new Crusade against ISIS. But that's probably the story ISIS would like us to tell.

ISIS
(Image credit: (REUTERS))

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fashions itself as a band of holy warriors creating an Islamic caliphate carved out of the two nations in its name. Nobody else has to buy into that lie — but it's still important that we don't feed it. Religion confers a patina of legitimacy and even righteousness on those who march under its various banners. And there's nothing holy about ISIS.

Don't take my word for it. Pope Francis' unofficial benediction of an international effort "to stop the unjust aggressor," ISIS, got a lot of attention last week. The day after the pope shared his thoughts on the subject, though, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the top cleric in Saudi Arabia, called ISIS "enemy No. 1 of Islam." His statement, released by the official Saudi Press Agency, also compared ISIS to a heretical sect of Islam called the Kharijite movement. But the grand mufti's key sentence is worth reading in whole:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.