ISIS ideologues constantly cite the Quran in shaping the group's vision. Hundreds of the group's statements, audio and video messages, carry copious references to the words of the Prophet. No matter that the majority of Muslims -- even many jihadists - see ISIS' interpretations of the Quran and the hadith as manipulations or distortions.
Above all, ISIS seeks the fulfillment of prophecy, and even accepts it will come close to extinction in the process. Its followers celebrate these words of the Prophet: "A victorious band of warriors from my followers shall continue to fight for the truth, despite being deserted and abandoned, they will be at the gates of Jerusalem and its surroundings, and they will be at the gates of Damascus and its surroundings."
One of ISIS' leading ideologues, a young Bahraini by the name of Turki al-Binali, accepted this as a necessary precondition.
So ISIS' first goal is to consolidate control over its holdings in Iraq and Syria, to demonstrate it can run a state with large towns and cities -- not just occupy desert or mountain holdouts. But at the same time it is probing elsewhere in the region for more real estate.
ISIS has been, if nothing else, transparent about this strategy. Every edition of the online magazine Dabiq has carried the banner "Remaining and Expanding."
But ISIS' ambitions run much further -- it has established a presence in Yemen, Afghanistan and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Graeme Wood identifies three concentric rings: "the Interior Ring in the Levant, the Near Abroad in the wider Middle East and North Africa, and the Far Abroad in Europe, Asia, and the United States."
In the meantime, and to hasten this process, ISIS wants to stir religious hatred in Europe and the United States -- so that Muslims no longer feel they belong in the West, and either carry out attacks in their homelands or leave to join the caliphate.
The terror attacks in France in November were first and foremost immediate revenge for French airstrikes against ISIS. But there was also more than a hint in the ISIS statement claiming responsibility that it intends to dramatically widen its campaign. It said of the French: "The smell of death will never leave their noses as long as they lead the convoy of the Crusader campaign, and dare to curse our Prophet."
ISIS sees Shia influence spreading in a crescent from Iran through Baghdad to Syria and the Shia militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. And it sees the United States as complicit in supporting a Shia government in Iraq.