Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 18

(Photo by Associated Press)

Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim al-Badri (commonly known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi) announces his appointment as caliph (successor to Mohammad) of the
Islamic State (Daesh) 4 July 2014 in Mosul, Iraq. Under this designation, he assumed leadership of what Daesh’s adherents considered the world’s authentic
Islamic community (excluding Shia and others they regard as Muslim apostates). This event has been his only known public appearance before the media.

How Daesh Uses
Language in the
Domain of Religion
Maj. Theresa Ford, U.S. Army

Jihadis can’t seem to get enough anashid [devotional songs, often with ideological themes]. They listen to them in their
dorms and in their cars, sing them in training camps and in the trenches, and discuss them on Twitter and Facebook.
—Thomas Hegghammer
16

March-April 2016  MILITARY REVIEW