By Anas al-Bar | 2024-12-22

The atrocities committed by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) against religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria remain one of the clearest signs that the extremist group does not represent Islam.

When it emerged a decade ago, ISIS presented itself as "the true representative of Islam," but has repeatedly and flagrantly violated Islamic precepts and Islamic law (sharia) at every turn.

The group quickly revealed its true nature as a terrorist entity, with its hostility towards ethnic and religious minority groups violating the rights and protections Islam has afforded them through the centuries.

ISIS viciously targeted Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims and other minorities, committing all kinds of abuses in the Yazidi-majority district of Sinjar in Iraq's Ninawa province and in other diverse towns and communities.

Its fighters killed, kidnapped and sexually enslaved thousands of civilians from these communities, and destroyed their homes and places of worship.

In Iraq, ISIS elements killed more than 10,000 Yazidis, burying their remains in close to 80 mass graves.

To this day, 2,600 Yazidi women and children remain missing.

'They are just murderers'

"Fanning the flames of sectarianism and religious differences was ISIS's primary goal, to expand and impose its authority," said security analyst Safaa al-Aasam.

"It set out from the beginning to target the social fabric and coexistence."

The violations ISIS fighters committed demonstrate "the falsity of their religious commitment and the heinousness of their thinking," he told Al-Fassel.

They "do not belong to any religious school," he stressed. "They are just murderers who seek to build an arbitrary and extremist model of governance, based on the exclusion of others and ending their existence."

ISIS's hardline approach "has manifested itself in the form of unprecedented waves of violence and persecution that have ravaged peaceful communities, against which genocide and enslavement were carried out," al-Aasam said.

Yazidis, Christians, Kurds and Turkmen suffered at the hands of ISIS, he said, and "are today struggling to recover from the terrorist assault, re-establish their historical presence in their areas and attempt to turn the page on the past."

It remains necessary to "avoid a repeat of what happened with the conduct of campaigns to spread the culture of tolerance and coexistence," al-Aasam said.

These must prevent the manipulation of people's minds and the targeting of young people "with extremist ideas that deviate from the principles of religion."

Al-Aasam highlighted the importance of "taking lessons and learning from the experiences of many countries that today enjoy stability, despite the presence of many religions, sects and ethnicities."

"This diversity is the source of their strength," he said.