THE SACRED LITERATURE AND THE CONTROL OF THE MASSES

THE CASE OF THE ISLAMIC STATE

Abstract

This study examines the use of sacred literature in controlling the masses, analyzing the case of the Islamic State according to Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutic approach, while assessing its social, economic, political, and religious implications. The mode of domination does not stem solely from the so-called “divine revelation,” but from the scriptural foundation presented by representatives of religious groups who employ a hermeneutic method—often allegorical or literalistic—to implement their worldviews. Thus, the force of domination over the masses, which may be identified as social groups, cities, and even countries, ultimately emanates from sacred literature; disobeying it is tantamount to disobeying divine ordinances. The methodology applied in this study is divided into historical-bibliographic research on Islam, the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria—a fundamentalist Islamic group that has carried out terrorist attacks in various regions of the world—the classical hermeneutic approach of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) and Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911), the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) and Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), and the contemporary framework of Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002) and Paul Ricoeur (1913–2005). According to Ricoeur’s framework, the domination of the masses takes into consideration four foundations that influence the hermeneutic approach used: cultural symbols; cultural conditions; the experiences of the readers; and polysemy, or the diverse meanings of texts and sermons linked to the sacred text, which are widely used as sources of power and control over the masses. Based on the study conducted, it is possible to conclude that the interpretative bases used by groups such as the Islamic State can be considered in terms of four foundations—cultural symbols, cultural conditions, the experiences of the readers, and polysemic language—thus providing a means of framing and controlling social groups through the sacred text, imposing limits on their ways of thinking and acting in accordance with the dictates imposed by religious leaders, who in turn become political leaders.