Al-Qaida\u2019s branching out and transformation into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS\/ISIL), its capture of vast territories, its declaration of an Islamic Caliphate, and its vow to conquer lands beyond the Middle East threaten the lives and the way of life of present-day Muslims and non-Muslims alike in Syria, Iraq, and much beyond. Today, al-Qaida no longer aims to advance a limited political program, such as ousting Western military presence in the Middle East. Instead, it seeks to re-Islamize the Muslim World according to Wahh\u0101b\u012b doctrine by regulating the lives of Muslims and their relationship to non-Muslims in a manner that conforms to Muslim scriptures. By merging modern-day underdogs\u2019 quest for recognition and power with Wahh\u0101b\u012b doctrine, al-Qaida aims to preside over a rich concentration of human resources in the Middle East and direct it towards an ambitious political program: to revive the recurring ancient notion of a powerful Muslim empire, one that is free from non-Muslim political, social, and cultural influence.<\/p>\n
The rise of al-Qaida cannot be stemmed by military means alone. Because of the increasing popularity of al-Qaida\u2019s ideology among Muslim youth in the Middle East and worldwide, understanding the organization\u2019s origins is necessary if secular political forces are to succeed in mitigating its rising tide. Al-Qaida\u2019s Wahh\u0101b\u012b doctrine has gained significant ground among the Muslim masses, to the extent that in today\u2019s Syria, the vast majority of the foreign and domestic rebel groups adhere to it, whether they organizationally belong to al-Qaida, its daughter ISIL, or rival organizations that Western propaganda outlets have dubbed \u201cmoderate,\u201d such as the Army of Islam or the Free Islamic Levant, or numerous other Salafi jihadi groups.<\/p>\n
The fight against al-Qaida must be coupled with sponsoring re-education programs within Muslim communities globally to challenge the hegemony of dogmatic religious thinking over all aspects of life and to revise hate-generating and violence-inspiring scriptures.<\/p>\n
If the Muslim masses worldwide remain unpersuaded that the Saudi-sponsored terror-producing Wahh\u0101b\u012b doctrine provides bad<\/em> solutions to their needs, the other regions of the world will continue to coexist for a prolonged period with a Middle East ruled either by secular authoritarian police states, or by their tyrannical religious alternative, and thereby suffer the spillover effects of those regimes beyond the territories where they rule.<\/p>\n
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