The horrific act of burning someone alive was long ago relegated to the musty corners of the Western mind…something people did to witches hundreds of years ago, and even then rarely.

Thanks to ISIS, this hideous method of execution has been placed front and center before our eyes, in glorious color.  The reactions to this have ranged from tepid to furious.  The milder end of this scale belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood enabler-in-chief, Barack Obama, while the irate territory belongs to King Abdullah of Jordan, the ruler of the doomed pilot’s home nation.

Reacting in something akin to fury, the king – on a visit to Washington, D.C. at the time the video was released – told everyone within earshot that he intended to exact terrible retribution on ISIS, going so far as to quote Clint Eastwood in the movie Unforgiven.

While the specific quote remains unknown, one can only assume that it has something to do with fierce revenge, as that theme animated the entire film.  The king promised an “earth-shaking” response, followed the next morning by the hanging of two ISIS-affiliated prisoners who had been held by Jordan for quite some time.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Islamic world ran to their Korans to find the reference that allows a prisoner to be burned alive.  Unlike the typical beheading, which was a favored method of Mohammed himself, therefore worthy of emulation, torching prisoners is unusual. 

Immolation is, in fact, unusual enough to raise an eyebrow or two among those Muslims who barely bat an eye when an adulterer is stoned or a child beheaded.  In this instance, it wasn’t Mohammed who set the precedent, but rather two of his successors who used immolation as the punishment for leaving Islam.

Presto!  Islam finds yet another justification in their “holy” writings to commit yet more heinous acts against humanity in the name of Allah.  ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is establishing an Islamic caliphate, and symbolism and imagery are essential tools in his kit.

The pilot was locked in a cage atop the very site his plane had bombed before his capture.  His death was staged and filmed from multiple angles with close-ups, selective focus, and other Hollywood-style production tricks.  The end result is indeed horrific, even to someone familiar with the wounds and destruction of war.

Immolation is reserved for Muslims who have left Islam, and al-Baghdadi’s decision to use this method of execution was no accident.  He is sending a message to the rest of the Muslim world – King Abdullah in particular – that fighting ISIS is the same as abandoning Islam.  Resisting the caliphate is apostasy, and it will be treated as such by those who devoutly follow the Prophet.

The United Arab Emirates have now halted their air operations against ISIS.  Despite the king’s bluster, it appears that the only earth-shaking action Jordan will take is to execute a prisoner or two of their own, then follow the UAE into submission to their more devout Islamic brethren of the Islamic State.

Everyone from Obama to King Abdullah has declared ISIS and their actions “un-Islamic,” yet their actions belie their words. 

Islam is a long road with many stops, with each step drawing the Muslim closer to Mohammed, the perfect man of Islam.    

There are many Muslims at the beginning of the road who know little of their own faith, practice even less, and are likely as horrified by ISIS as the rest of us.  Then, a few towns farther down the road, we find Muslims who are more involved in their faith.  They study the Koran and its associated texts.  They attend the mosque and hear the imam’s exhortations to jihad. 

Most of these Muslims never act on the Koranic calls for blood and violence.  However, they do little to stop others who do.  It is this group that provides the funding, material support, and most importantly the silent approval to those who choose to live at the end of Islam’s road – where we find ISIS, and others like them.

In the wake of this most recent atrocity, many observers hold out hope that the Arab world will act to rein in the thugs of ISIS.  Their hopes will be dashed.  The Muslim world is experiencing a revival of sorts, getting back to the roots of its faith and way of life – Mohammed’s way.  The Arab Spring replaced secular regimes with Islamic regimes, and this fact is not lost on the remaining Muslim rulers.  The rattle of sabers will become a fading echo as Muslim nations stand down.

The Arab Muslim world may pray toward Mecca, but right now, they are bowing before ISIS.

The author is the director of communications for the Global Faith Institute – www.globalfaithinstitute.org – and blogs at www.readmorejoe.com.