Good and evil are value judgments, so everyone will have a different opinion about what deserves the labels. But we can at least say that ISIS (aka the Islamic State) is out of step with mainstream morality in most Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Still, that begs the question: why is ISIS so bad relative to mainstream culture? The answer lies in ISIS’s needs and desires.

• ISIS wants to revive parts of Islamic scripture written in the early Middle Ages. Perhaps those parts reflected mainstream morality then but they’re out of step with today’s mainstream.
• ISIS wants to terrify the local population to subdue it. As you’ll see in my book, ISIS could govern and fight differently but it doesn’t think the alternatives are effective.
• ISIS needs to raise money, which is hard to do legally when everyone wants to destroy you.
• ISIS needs to excite young men to fight for its cause. Sex and violence is one way to do it.

Most of what ISIS does arises from one or more of those needs and desires. They combine to motivate some of ISIS’s worst atrocities, like slavery, destroying and looting antiquities, and beheadings.

For more on what motivates ISIS, read The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

My dear brother, precious to my heart.

We ask God to reward you well on our behalf.

My dear brother, I have approached the zero hour, as they say, for the decisive battle, as they call it. God willing, it will prove decisive for the Muslims through the aid of God and His assistance.

My dear brother, I have resolved to participate in this battle, but I am participating as a journalist or photographer.

But my inner being is a fighter in the path of God against the infidels and the apostates.

My brother, I swear I have a strong feeling that God will grant me martyrdom.

On account of this, I want to say goodbye today in the hope of meeting in the abode of eternity in Paradise.

My dear brother, I hope you will forgive me if I have harmed you in any way.

Pray that I am granted steadfastness, victory, and martyrdom.

Your brother in God,

(Abu Hurayra)

Muhibb ends his quotation of the letter by praying for victory in Mosul, so presumably that’s where Abu Hurayra plans to die.  As for being a photographer or journalist, I think Abu Hurayra means his primary task is media operations (e.g. shooting snuff films).

Document (Arabic): 5-10-08-ekhlaas-letter-from-iraqi-jihadi