On June 29, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami, the official spokesman for the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS), announced the establishment of the “Islamic caliphate” in the lands the organization controls in Syria and Iraq. On July 4, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made his first public appearance at the Great Mosque in the city of Mosul, and led Friday prayers under the name of Caliph Ibrahim, emir of the faithful in the Islamic state.
In his sermon Friday, Baghdadi called on all Muslims in the far-reaching points of the world to join the recently formed IS, to support it in extending its authority over all Muslim territory. Previously, his group had announced a map for an Islamic caliphate, to include large areas from India to southern Europe, and expressed its plan to seize this region within five years.
