Initially the Ismâ'îlite Shiites were supporters of the Fâtimid counter-caliphate in Cairo and opposed the political and religious authority of the Sunni caliph in Baghdad and the Seljuq Sultans that he installed.
He had also obtained a PhD in Islamic studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad, and would draw on both to legitimise his unprecedented claim to anoint himself caliph of the Islamic world in July 2014, which realised a sense of destiny evident in the prison yard a decade earlier.
The underlying issue, therefore, is the rival claims of king and would-be caliph.
One of Isis's stated aims is to remove the border between Iraq and Syria, which took shape after the fall of the Ottoman empire, and impose its hardline interpretation of Sunni Islam enforced by a new caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In doing so, the assailants maintain an ancient tradition: the Sunni caliph Mansur founded Baghdad in 672 and left a crypt full of Shia corpses below his palace.
Inconveniently for the Saudi monarchy, this challenge from the upstart caliph comes at a time of uncertainty over the royal succession.
The video script identified the caliph as Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Awad al-Qurashi, who is better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State and self-proclaimed caliph of the Muslim world.
At the ubiquitous checkpoints surrounding the town, no one has bothered to paint over graffiti that still say, "Welcome to the Islamic State" and "Long Live al-Baghdadi", IS's "caliph".Holding the lineThe Kurds have had notable successes.
The worst is yet to come.By the way the new "caliph", Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, wears a Rolex watch.Walid Joumblatt Beirut* SIR – The saddest part of the story of the Arabs is that the cycle is continuing with limited hope for improvement.
This month six senior TTP leaders announced that they had declared their allegiance to IS's "caliph", Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi.As for al-Qaeda, the terrorist group now in competition with IS for leadership of the global jihad movement, it is attempting to shore up its position in Pakistan, where American drones have killed many of its leaders.
The militant group, led by a Rolex-wearing self-proclaimed caliph, expanded its jihad from fighting the Assad regime in Syria to Iraq, where it swept its way across half the country.
