Jihadi reactions to the self-proclaimed “Caliphate”

How is the rest of the jihadi movement responding to the ISIS claim to have re-established the Caliphate? This is an important question for the future of al Qaeda, terrorism, and international security. If enough of the global but disparate jihadi movement rallies around the self-proclaimed Islamic State, this increases the pressure on “politico” Islamists like the Brotherhood and Hizb ut Tahrir, who could worry about losing adherents to a group that seems to be much more successful in achieving the ultimate Islamist goal: the Caliphate.

So look no further than Thomas Hegghammer, who “storified” reactions from across the global jihadi community. His conclusion?

On the whole, it seems that IS [the “Islamic State”] is so far not succeeding in winning over global jihadi opinion. A substantial number of influential clerics have come out against it, while IS has only a few lightweight figures to show for thus far.

To be sure, many influential voices have yet to take a public stance on the caliphate declaration.

Check it out.

Ryan Evans is the editor-in-chief of War on the Rocks.

Image Credit: The so-called Islamic State.