Originating in 1999 and later joining forces with al-Qaeda in 2004, the group, along with other insurgents, formed the Mujahideen Council which in 2006 proclaimed the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISI. It was then that, due to ideological differences, ISI and al-Qaeda began to diverge. Under the leadership of al-Baghdadi, ISI gained traction after the onset of the Syrian Civil War in March 2011, at which time delegates were sent into Syria and thereafter established a large presence in Sunni-majority areas. In February 2014, al-Qaeda renounced any ties with ISIS for its "notorious intransigence."1 On 29 June 2014, the group proclaimed a worldwide caliphate with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi its caliph, and renamed itself the Islamic State. By doing so it has claimed religious, political, and military authority over all Muslims worldwide and demanded absolute adherence to sharia law under the caliphate's jurisdiction. Since then, the Islamic State has recruited foreigners on an unprecedented scale, gaining tens of thousands of members from more than 80 countries.2 This celerity with which radicals are flocking to war-torn countries is Americans' primary concern. The swelling numbers across the globe opting to leave their native countries in order to serve under the black flag of jihad can be partly attributed to ISIS' well-funded social media propaganda; but what, aside from good salesmanship, could possibly appeal to so many? .
Yale University Professor Graehm Wood, in his article "What ISIS Really Wants," illuminates ISIS' literalistic and fundamentalist ideology. ISIS identifies with Salafism, a jihadist wing of a branch of Sunnism which etymologically means "pious forefathers," and lays emphasis on tawhid (unity of God), sovereignty of God, enthusiastic hatred of innovation, takfir, and jihad. These forefathers are Muhammad and his contemporary followers, whom "Salafis honor and emulate as the models for all behavior, including warfare.