It’s easy to hate ISIS. They’re a group of people that destroy everything humanistic ideal. They kill innocent people for seemingly meaningless reasons. What’s not-so-easy is understanding why ISIS members do what they do.

ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. You may also hear the group being called “ISIL” which refers to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant--this is essentially the same thing, just covering a broader area. Currently, ISIS hopes to be recognized simply as IS, the Islamic State, as they try to conquer more territory and grow into further regions. Many object to using this term, however, and rightfully so, as using it evokes a sense of legitimation to the group and its power.

ISIS was originally born out of radical Sunni jihadists- otherwise known as al-Qaeda. But ISIS is so austere in their thinking that it was even disavowed by al-Qaida’s leader.

So what does ISIS want?

A caliphate. For those unfamiliar with the Islam religion, a caliphate is is an area governed by an Islamic caliph, considered to be a descendent of the prophet Muhammad. So a caliphate is literally an Islamic State, hence where ISIS gets their name.

ISIS demands that Muslims across the world swear allegiance to their leader (currently Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi) and migrate to the Islamic State that they are creating. ISIS believes they have supreme authority and thus are okay with doing anything and everything possible to restore God’s rule on earth.

You might be asking yourself, so why does ISIS need to kill so many innocent people?

Well, they don’t. But in their scripture, there is an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and their enemies and so all the violence makes sense to them.

ISIS is pure, stone-cold, evil. But at least now we better understand their actions, and how can we defeat ISIS If we don’t understand them?