This article explores parallels between the case studies of the Maccabean uprising in the 2 century B.C. and Jihadist battles in contemporary Iraq conducted by the predecessors of the so-called Islamic State. In both cases, religio-political actors strive for power through the use of violent acts which they legitimate on the basis of religious duty. In a first step, theoretical considerations of strategies used by certain religio-political actors to delineate themselves from their social environment, consolidate their beliefs and strengthen their own identity, will be discussed. Being regarded as "nonconformist", they try to fight against those in power whom they consider as culturally offensive and politically as well as religiously illegitimate. In the second part of this article we argue that, although one might find the case studies at hand historically too far apart from each other, they are nevertheless comparable in terms of the movements' positions in their socio-political environment, their legitimization as preservers of particular traditions, and their use of violence in order to enforce their claims. Hence, we argue that the movements' descriptions of their battles against the powerful and all the more their confrontations with the 'enemy within' both legitimize their action and motivate their followers. Thus, all people that are regarded by the Maccabees or ISIS as undermining the community of "orthodox" believers and as threatening their "covenant with God" are presented as such to provoke action of a particular kind. Being so strict and even conducting acts of violence against their coreligionists has to be legitimized through the selective use of traditions (mainly the "holy scriptures") as well as through evident changes of traditions if that serves the very purpose. We regard this transformation as a process of cultural dynamics, recognizable in religious practice and the production of media. Zusammenfassung: Dieser Aufsatz beleuchtet Parallelen zwischen den Aufstandsbewegungen der Makkaber des 2. Jh. v. Chr. und der Vorgnger des sog. ,Islamischen Staates (IS) im zeitgenssischen Irak. In beiden Fllen ringen religis-politische Akteure um Macht und weichen dabei nicht vor dem Einsatz von Gewalt zurck, die mit religisen Werten legitimiert wird. Im Sinne einer theoretischen Schrfung des Begriffs religiser Nonkonformismus werden im ersten Teil Strategien diskutiert, die von religis-politischen Akteuren gegenber etablierten Inhabern politischer und religiser Macht benutzt werden. Diese dienen zur Abgrenzung vom sozialen Umfeld sowie zur Konsolidierung der eigenen Bewegung, bestimmter Normen, Werte und Ideen, und sind Artikulation eines wechselseitigen Ablehnungsverhltnisses auf Basis kultureller, religiser und politischer Prmissen, das sich auch in gewaltvollen Auseinandersetzungen Bahn bricht.