If he is as pious as portrayed, surely he is a superior Muslim and deserves obedience from those of us who are less pious? Not quite: the same source he claims to emulate, the Prophet Mohamed, warned us against the likes of Baghdadi, and such figures cropped up in early Islamic history too. Those who killed the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Husain in Iraq in the eighth century, also dressed like the Prophet and talked of piety but failed to demonstrate the love of God or the Prophet’s teachings. The Prophet’s warning was of those who show all the outward signs of piety – even saying the voluntary night prayers – but for whom the Quran ‘does not permeate deeper than their throats’. The implication is that if the Quran does not touch their hearts, they do not love God and therefore have no faith. Their religion is anger and ritualistic actions. And a ‘Caliph’ who does not love God is not deserving of obedience from Muslims anywhere.