The article analyzes the ideological and political grounds for the genesis and activity of the Islamic State. The author examines the theoretical content of Islamic fundamentalism and analyzes the picture of the world that it offers its followers. The author asks what goals its supporters pursue and whether ISIS is a fundamentally new type of fundamentalist organization. The article examines the factors that allowed supporters of this organization to fight for a prolonged period against the national governments of Syria and Iraq and the forces of the international coalition of states. It explores key sources of Islamic law and cites comments by prominent theologians and scholars. The author concludes that ISIS uses Islam in a distorted form. Religious literacy is therefore an important element of any national policy to counter extremism.
