'Was the "Islamic State" a State?': Claiming, Contesting, and Creating Jihadist Statehood

The so-called ‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’ (ISIS) gained global attention not only due to its display of gruesome violence and spectacular military successes, but also its audacious claim to jihadist statehood. This claim was accompanied by expanding territorial control and the establishment of governing institutions, from ministries and a judiciary to schools and hospitals. The declaration of the ‘State’ and then the ‘Caliphate’ became a rallying point for jihadists around the world. It was also eagerly picked up by the media, scholars, and political observers in discussions about whether ISIS was actually a state or merely a non-state group portraying itself as such. The question remains highly controversial. This chapter does not seek to answer the question itself, as if it could be settled by empirical measurements, but argues that not only claiming but also contesting ISIS statehood were imperative for affirming it. We focus on three dimensions of statehood – territory, administration, and political community – to show how external observers’ assessments of ISIS claims to statehood fortified its very constitution; even when it was explicitly but nervously contested. This testifies to the performative role of claims and contestations of ISIS (dissident) statehood.