In Islam, Sunnis and Shiites share most of the religious texts and understanding of the apocalyptic prophecy. They, however, disagree in designating good and evil to the conflicting parties in Iraq and assigning these roles to the main figures in this conflict.
There are three major parties in the Sunni and Shiite versions of the end times events prophecy: the true Muslims, the misguided Muslims and the infidels (nonbelievers). Thus, Shiites and Sunnis place themselves in the first category; their Muslim enemies are placed in the second; and Western enemies in the third.
Prior to his death, Anwar al-Awlaki, a prominent Salafist figure who was killed in south Yemen in 2011 by US drones, explained the Salafist vision of the end times in a lecture as follows: The call for jihad emerges from Khorasan, which is the area of Afghanistan and its surroundings by today’s map.
Then, a conflict between Muslims and the West takes place on the Iraqi territory, paving the way for the final battle and the tenure of the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will rule before the Day of Judgment. Then, those who raised the black flags will fight both the misguided Muslims and infidels, and the battle ends with the declaration of a new Islamic caliphate.
The emergence of Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi came as part of this narrative, which is well known to Muslims. It was exploited to assist in the declaration of the Islamic caliphate. Since its inception, the Islamic State (IS) has opted for a black-colored banner and the caliph himself was seen in black to prove that he is one of the narratives that the apocalypse prophecy speaks of. Based on that, Muslims must welcome him and join his ranks.
That he hails from the Quraish tribe and is therefore a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad came in accordance with the Sunni vision of jurisprudence that the caliph should be from Quraish and that the Mahdi, who will appear at the end times, is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
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