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"Many denials of the Islamic State?s religious nature....
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According to Haykel, the ranks of the Islamic State are deeply infused with religious vigor. Koranic quotations are ubiquitous. ?Even the foot soldiers spout this stuff constantly,? Haykel said. ?They mug for their cameras and repeat their basic doctrines in formulaic fashion, and they do it all the time.?
He regards the claim that the Islamic State has distorted the texts of Islam as preposterous, sustainable only through willful ignorance.
?People want to absolve Islam,? he said. ?It?s this ?Islam is a religion of peace? mantra. As if there is such a thing as ?Islam?! It?s what Muslims do, and how they interpret their texts.? Those texts are shared by all Sunni Muslims, not just the Islamic State. ?And these guys have just as much legitimacy as anyone else.?
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