Consequences of “Infiltration” in Religious State (A Glance at the Formation of the Islamic State in Medina)

Abstract

“Infiltration” terminologically means penetration and technically refers to creeping and silent penetration in the social and political elements of a state and a secret attempt to overthrow, control or change it. The phenomenon of infiltration is always considered as one of the threats against a religious state. The Islamic State, from the beginning of its formation in Medina until now, has been constantly confronted with such a political and cultural threat. In the verses of the Holy Qur’an, whether in the form of hypocrisy or otherwise, this danger and political-cultural threat has been mentioned. There are many motives behind infiltration, including: changing the foundations of power, impacting the government, power-seeking and espionage acting. Layers of infiltration also are diversity and multiplicity; A look at the early Islam era shows that different layers of belief, culture, politics and economics existed among the levels of infiltration of the enemies and opponents of the Islamic State. Depending on the layers of infiltration, its methods have been different: “Friendship plans”, “hypocrisy”, “espionage” and “horrific propaganda” are among the methods of infiltration. Infiltration, like any other threat, has unintended consequences. The present paper aims to examine and analyze the consequences of the enemies’ infiltration in the civil era of the Islamic State.