The real threat from the Islamic State is to Muslims

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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/08/real-threat-from-islamic-state--201482316357532975.html
By Sunny Hundal is the author of the recently released e-book, India Dishonoured: Behind a Nation's War on Women and is a regular contributor to the Guardian and the New Statesman.

The murder of Americans such as James Foley is meant to shock the world, to bring attention and attract more support. But make no mistake: The real threat from the Islamic State is to other Muslims in the Middle East.

In the eyes of many jihadis, the Islamic State has established the most successful and feared caliphate in recent history. That in itself has spurred many to join it. The immediate goal of the Islamic State is to forcefully take over other Arab states and bring their subjects under their own banner.

Western government may worry about sleeper cells at home or radicalised Muslims travelling back from Iraq, but it is Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere who have most to worry about from the Islamic State.

Even the brutal and horrifying decapitation of the journalist James Foley doesn't change anything - the number of Iraqis executed by Islamic State fighters is far, far more.

In many ways it is perhaps the worst development in recent Muslim history since 9/11.

In a very short time, the Islamic State has become the most compelling and attractive organisation for Muslim fighters around the world, more so than al-Qaeda ever was.

India, which has the world's second-largest Muslim population, is especially in shock after Islamic State sympathisers have turned up from Kashmir in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south. There is not one recorded instance of an Indian Muslim having fought for al-Qaeda, but already four are suspected of having joined the group. Now Indians worry that more will follow.

One pollster has found support for the group to be as high as 16 percent in France. The news media will undoubtedly report on American or European Muslims joining the group or calling for violence in videos, further raising tensions and besmirching the Muslim faith.

Saudi Arabia is on high alert, worried that the Islamic State group will come after them with force.

In a recent interview, a senior Islamic State defector said their next stop would be Saudi Arabia, which includes Mecca and Medina.

Its rulers are now in full panic, sending money to the Lebanese army, funding UN counter-terrorism efforts, and even getting senior Muftis to condemn the group. And there is a reason for this panic.

The Islamic State is a direct descendant of al-Qaeda, but there is one key difference: Its leaders believe fighting "apostates" is more important than fighting non-Muslims for now. They want to unite the Middle East under their banner before truly turning their sights on the US and Europe.

Their caliphate, say its fighters, will never be truly powerful unless apostates and "fake" Muslims are first weeded out - and their definition of "apostate" expands to include anyone who stands against them - such as the Shia Muslims and Yazidis.

Sooner or later people across the Middle East will have to face up to this threat.