Can you be more specific Abu. In what way are those that claim IS is not true Islam wrong?
With regards to the different traditions that evolved out of Islam, I don't think anyone is trying to claim that IS is a reflection of Sufi/Shia/ etc. traditions. They themselves don't claim that. Their claim is that they are bringing back the original Sunni Islam as described in the original Sunni sources. How is that not the case?
It's amazing how all sides of this debate make the mistake of accepting the traditional Islamic narrative. Well tbh I used to as well. But surely we here should know better.
There is no "true Islam" because Islam was not the carefully planned work of a divine being, but the rather badly planned creation of a human being. What Muhammad said and did over the 40 odd years of his "prophethood" changed & varied at different points of his lifetime and according to the circumstances he faced.
Islam is not a homogenous entity with a "true version" - in fact the Islam, i.e. the Qur'an, hadith, fiqh etc... are largely a creation of the generations that came after Muhammad.
I know from my own years of battling with literalists like the Salafis, that they are in fact very selective about the sources they accept and those they reject. The moderates are equally selective. The Sufis also. Speak to non-Salafi and non-Ikhwani Sunni shiekhs, such as our own Abdul Hakim Murad and they can cite libraries of "authentic sources" to show you that in no-way should prisoners be beheaded, in no way are suicide missions acceptable, that what IS are doing is Baghy and Fitnah etc... and they are to be considered outlaws according to Islamic Law. In fact you will find very few respected traditional Imams, Sheikhs and scholars who will defend IS. This group and these Jihadi types appeal to Muslims who's knowledge of Islam is limited to a very narrow sphere of classical scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and others that the Salafis love. While they reject many others.
The point is that yes IS has valid roots in Islam. So do other views and sects.
But there is no such thing as a "True Islam" - except of course in the mind of the believer, then it is their particular version, be it Sufi, Shia, modernist, traditional, ikhwani, salafi etc...
Topic: Is Islamic State Islamic?