HomeGrown

Reviewed by: Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, Srinagar, Kashmir

Published by: London: I.B Tauris & Co. Ltd, 2021, 235pp. ISBN: 9781788314855.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a transnational network of terrorists who controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria. They also announced the revival of the caliphate to legitimize their rule. Thousands of Muslims from all over the world, particularly from the West, moved to the territories annexed and controlled by ISIS. They called this move Hijrah (migration for the sake of Allah) and waged a brutal violent war against those they deemed to be their ‘enemies.’

The manner in which ISIS carried out its recruitment drive has been researched by scholars, academics and journalists. ISIS propaganda was carried out mainly through the internet, using videos and film clips that glamourized violence. ISIS ordered its potential recruits to migrate but, when their territory started to shrink, they asked the youth they radicalize to carry out attacks in their home countries, especially if they were based in the West. In brief, they were asked to kill in the name of ISIS.