There is an army on the march. It belongs to ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham. It has declared itself the new Caliphate, harking back to the early days of Islam, when the khalifa, meaning ‘successor’ of the Prophet Muhammad, governed the Ummah, the sovereign nation of the faithful. It is a serious crisis that has alarmed all countries for it threatens the stability of the Middle East, and indeed the whole world.

Illustration/ Devdutt Pattanaik