Daesh released approximately 70 new regulations in 2015, an array of “fatwas” [religious edicts] that range from sublimely silly to riotously ridiculous. The new rules aim to guide jihadis in righteous living, including bizarre considerations such as when it’s acceptable for women to bleach their eyebrows and guidance on when billiard-playing men can swear. While fatwas have been historically associated with Shia society, Saudi sheikhs have also issued their fair share of religious decrees. These 13 fatwas are fortunately not legally binding beyond the scope of Daesh’s self-proclaimed caliphate. The ...

As international headlines documenting the horrors of Daesh (ISIS) amass, so do alternative theories about the group’s shady origins. Almost a year after Daesh’s initial onslaught in northern Iraq shocked the world, most analysts have boiled down the group’s terrifying evolution to al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Before being killed outside Baghdad by US drone strike in 2006, the Jordanian jihadist formed the branch al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later evolved into Daesh after being rejected from the parent group over ideological differences. This is the timeline major news organizations rely ...