=== Mål ===
Siden 2014 har Islamisk Stats øverste mål været at oprette en [[sunni]]-islamisk stat.<ref name="Beauchamp14">{{cite web|url=http://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/isis-goal-theocracy|title=17 things about ISIS and Iraq you need to know|author=Zack Beauchamp|date=2. september 2014|website=Vox|access-date=5. september 2014|archive-date= 3. september 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903205110/http://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/isis-goal-theocracy|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dni.gov">{{cite news|last1=Abu Mohammad|title=Letter dated 9 July 2005|url=http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/letter_in_english.pdf|access-date=22. juli 2014|publisher=Office of the Director of National Intelligence|archive-date=22. maj 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522153638/http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/letter_in_english.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown}} See page 2 onwards.</ref> Konkret har IS forsøgt at etablere et [[kalifat]], en islamisk stat ledet af religiøse myndigheder under ledelse af en øverste kalif, som menes at være efterfølger til profeten [[Mohammad]].<ref name="Johnson14">{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=M. Alex|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/deviant-pathological-what-do-isis-extremists-really-want-n194136|title='Deviant and Pathological': What Do ISIS Extremists Really Want?|date=3. september 2014|publisher=NBC News|access-date=5. september 2014|archive-date=27. april 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427045720/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/deviant-pathological-what-do-isis-extremists-really-want-n194136|url-status=live}}</ref> I juni 2014 offentliggjorde IS et dokument, hvori organisationen hævdede at have sporet lederen al-Baghdadis familieslægt tilbage til Muhammad<ref name="Johnson14" />, efter organisationen proklamerede et nyt kalifat den 29. juni, blev al-Baghdadi udpeget som kalif. Som kalif, forlanger al-Baghdadi troskab fra alle muslimer verden over, ifølge islamisk retslære (fiqh).<ref name="aj140707">{{cite news|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/inside-story/articles/2014/7/7/isil-s-leader-emergesfromtheshadowswhoisabubakralbaghdadi.html|title=Who is the U.S. targeting in Iraq air strikes?|date=7. juli 2014|author=Laith Kubba|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=17. august 2015|archive-date=12. juli 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712022105/http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/inside-story/articles/2014/7/7/isil-s-leader-emergesfromtheshadowswhoisabubakralbaghdadi.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Filosofi