Yarmuk: The Forgotten Source of ISIS’s Inspiration

Today in history, on August 20, 636, one of the most consequential battles between Islam and the West took place, the Battle of Yarmuk. Not only did it decide whether the Arabian creed thrives or dies; it became a chief source of inspiration and instruction for jihadis throughout the centuries, right down to the Islamic State, or “ISIS.”

And yet, very few in the West are even aware of this encounter’s existence—much less how it motivates ISIS. As such, and in what follows, a detailed examination is offered.

The story begins, perhaps unsurprisingly, with the prophet of Islam. Four years before the battle, in 632, Muhammad had died. During his lifetime, he had managed to rally the Arabs under the banner of Islam. On his death, some tribes that sought to break away remained Muslim but refused to pay taxes, or zakat, to the caliph, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s successor. Branding them all apostates, the caliph initiated the Ridda (“apostasy”) Wars, which saw tens of thousands of Arabs beheaded, crucified, or burned alive. In 633, these wars were over; in 634, so was the life of Abu Bakr. It would fall to the second caliph, Omar bin al-Khattab (r. 634–44), to direct the full might of the once feuding Arabs — now one tribe, one umma — against “the infidel.”

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