ISIS is part of the acronym in Arabic for the Islamic State of Iraq and al - Qaeda . U.S. military , the CIA , some others use ISIL : Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant . Jihadist literature prefers ` ` the Islamic State '' or just ` ` the State ''
ISIS is translation of the acronym in Arabic for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham . U.S. officials , the U.N. , some media use ISIL : Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant . Jihadist group prefers `` the Islamic State '' or just `` the State ''