The Jihadist Preachers of the End Times

Focusing on apocalyptic manifestations found in ISIS propaganda, this book situates the group’s agenda in the broader framework of contemporary Muslim thought and elucidates key topics in millennial thinking within the spiritual context of modern Islamic apocalypticism. Based on the group’s primary sources as well as medieval Muslim apocalyptic literature and its modern interpretations, the book analyses the ways ISIS presents its message concerning the Last Days as a meaningful, inventive and frightening expression of collectively shared expectations relating to the supposedly approaching the End Times. Key features The first comprehensive study of ISIS primary sources, previously only discussed as part of the background to broader interpretations of the ISIS campaign Introduces and analyses the key topics of ISIS propaganda Places particular manifestations of ISIS apocalypticism in a consistent and meaningful framework Based on a coherent critical approach to the primary sources, both in Arabic and Western languages, including new media and social network sources Interpretations are interspersed with extensive quotations from ISIS sources, providing the reader with the specifics of the Jihadist approach to apocalyptic rhetoric. Includes an appendix containing an ISIS ‘apocalyptic reader’ of primary source material