A Most Un-Islamic Islamic State

The self-styled Islamic State (IS), formerly known as ISIS, which claims to have established a new caliphate in the parts of Syria and Iraq it has conquered, is renowned for its barbarism, cruelty and medieval world-view.

Yet the Islamic State claims that it is acting in the name of Islam and that it obeys the Shariah (Laws of God as understood by Muslims) in everything it does.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Islamic State is a fake, its leaders a bunch of apostates who propagate a twisted and self-serving form of Islam.

Virtually everything that the Islamic State does contravenes the Islamic laws it claims to promote. Its brutally ruthless methods of warfare clearly breach the rules of war laid down by the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) 1,400 years ago, its treatment of women is a return to the barbarism of pagan times, and its imposition of the Shariah by force denies mankind's God-given right to freedom of will.

In this short book, Paul Kennedy explains clearly the fundamental doctrines of Islam relating to personal, social, economic and political life, and how the Islamic State is breaking all the rules it pretends to hold dear.