The Caliph is Dead! What’s next for ISIL?
Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, the caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria is dead. On October 26th 2019, US forces conducted midnight raid in the Idlib province of northern Syria. The Leader of ISIS blew himself up using suicide vest when cornered by US forces. As per President Trump, Baghdadi ‘s body was mutilated by the blast of his suicide vest and President Trump mocked the leader saying “he died whimpering, crying & screaming all the way”. This has been termed as the most significant event to occur in the fight against terror since the killing of Bin Laden in Abbottabad.

Who is Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi?
He was the Iraqi born leader of ISIL. ISIL was designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, European Union & many other individual countries & Baghdadi was considered as a special designated terrorist by the United States.
Born in Iraq on 28th July 1971 as a third of four sons as a member of the tribal group known as Al-bu Badi Tribe. His father was said to be a farmer who was active in the religious life of the community. Baghdadi did his Islamic Law from Islamic University of Baghdad and he went on to do his doctorate in Quranic Studies from Saddam University in Baghdad.
As per an interview of Baghdadi’s contemporaries with Daily Telegraph, in his youth he was a shy, unimpressive, religious scholar who opposed violence.
During US invasion of Iraq in 2003, he was captured and detained by US at the American Camp Bucca in Iraq. He was later released and then he became the member of Mujahideen Shura Council in 2006. Later in the year it was renamed to Islamic State of Iraq. ISI was the Iraqi division of Al-Qaeda. In the 2010, he became the Leader of ISI with the death of his predecessor. In 2013, he announced the formation of ISIL merging Syrian Civil war Jihadist faction Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda afiliate) with ISI.
On 29th June 2014, ISIL announced the establishment of a worldwide Caliphate and Baghdadi was named it’s Caliph.
ISIL is known to be the deadliest and the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. They conducted attacks on government forces and opposite factions and by 2015 they successfully had a large occupied area from Western Iraq to Eastern Syria which had a population from 8 to 12 million.
What’s next for ISIL?
As per defense experts, the killing of Baghdadi is not a blow to the leadership because he will be easily replaced. Reports have confirmed that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi is the new caliph of ISIL.
It’s a resilient and evolving organization. As per Time.Com, the group like its predecessor organization, Al Qaeda in Iraq, routinely taps new commanders to fill the vacuum left by those who are assassinated. The replacements occur with such regularity that the U.S. Special Operations community jokingly refers to removing leaders as “mowing the grass.”
We need to keep in mind that this organization has more than 10 affiliates spread across Asia & Africa. This was the only organization who drew fighters outside of Iraq and Syria and people mostly from Western nations joined ISIL’s fight for a continued Islamic Caliphate. They have around 18,000 members who owe their allegiance to ISIL. The U.S. military reported in February that “absent sustained pressure,” the terrorist group would re-emerge in Syria within six to 12 months.
ISIL is an Ideology!
The most important thing that we need to understand here is that its not just another terrorist group but an ideology as well. They represent radical Salafi Islam which is a strict form of Sunni Islam. They believe that “There is no God but Allah” and people who don’t agree to this are infidels who need to be killed. They believe that they will restore the Caliphate of early Islam, with all its political and religious principles and one day the whole world will be an Islamic Caliphate.
Last Words!
If we look in world history, no country has been able to successfully kill an ideology. For Instance, the rise of Khalistan movement in Punjab during the 1980’s and its fall with the help of Punjab Police being a blunt instrument in killing its leadership & the movement. But till date, we find Sikh supporters of this movement in Pakistan and more prominently in Canada and its government supporting the movement.
Let’s hope that countries who want peace and stability across borders stick together and continue their fight against Terrorism.