ISIS’s distinction from other fundamentalist groups did not lie in its interpretation of divine law or its willingness to use violence, as groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban also executed brutal punishments. Instead, ISIS’s defining feature was its performative understanding of violence, elevating punishment into a spectacle of retribution.
Unlike the Taliban, which carried out punishments as acts of divine justice without concern for media or public perception, ISIS strategically used media to shape public opinion. The Taliban’s allegiance pledges happened in secrecy, whereas ISIS’s declaration of its caliphate was staged before cameras. This calculated visual strategy set ISIS apart, transforming its violence into a meticulously crafted performance.
Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks unintentionally mirrored Hollywood spectacle, yet there were no pre-positioned cameras awaiting the event. By contrast, ISIS planted cameras, carefully setting lighting, framing, and multiple angles to ensure their acts of violence were highly cinematic. Their executions were not just acts of punishment but meticulously choreographed performances.
ISIS’s use of visual aesthetics, albeit grotesque, was crucial in amplifying its message. The execution of prisoners in orange jumpsuits, a deliberate reference to Guantanamo detainees, was part of a staged narrative. The ritualistic framing of execution scenes, with masked figures standing over kneeling victims, mirrored ancient sacrificial rites. Historically, punishment evolved from religious sacrifices, where judges—often priests—restored divine order through sentencing. Punishment, like sacrifice, required a public audience.
Michel Foucault argued that torture imprints signs upon the body, transforming it into a text of divine law. Public executions have historically served as performances meant to mark both the condemned and the spectators. The presence of an audience was essential, ensuring divine justice was both witnessed and internalized. Taliban executions, though public, reverted to simple acts of punishment. ISIS, however, transformed punishment into a media spectacle, ensuring its violence was broadcast worldwide.
By replacing the physical audience with a camera, ISIS subverted traditional theological-juridical practices. Its executions were no longer punishments in a judicial sense but performances designed to instill terror. The goal was not moral correction but sheer intimidation. ISIS stripped away the pretense of “admonition” and fully embraced terror as an aesthetic, theological, and political tool.
Ultimately, ISIS’s media-driven violence blurred the boundaries between theology, aesthetics, and political propaganda, demonstrating the terrifying power of performance in the machinery of terror.Ultimately, ISIS’s media-driven violence blurred the boundaries between theology, aesthetics, and political propaganda, demonstrating the terrifying power of performance in the machinery of terror.Ultimately, ISIS’s media-driven violence blurred the boundaries between theology, aesthetics, and political propaganda, demonstrating the terrifying power of performance in the machinery of terror.Ultimately, ISIS’s media-driven violence blurred the boundaries between theology, aesthetics, and political propaganda, demonstrating the terrifying power of performance in the machinery of terror.Ultimately, ISIS’s media-driven violence blurred the boundaries between theology, aesthetics, and political propaganda, demonstrating the terrifying power of performance in the machinery of terror.
Mohammad Rezayi Rad
For the full text, refer to the book “Entertainment in Publi” Project.
