Article content continued

ISIL is notorious for the atrocities it committed as it overran much of Syria and neighbouring Iraq. But to its supporters, it is engaged in an ambitious project: building a new nation ruled by what radicals see as “God’s law,” made up of Muslims from around the world whose old nationalities have been erased and who have been united in the “caliphate.”

To do that, the group has set up a generous welfare system to help settle and create lives for the thousands of jihadis — men and women — who have flocked to ISIL territory from the Arab world, Europe, Central Asia and the U.S.

“It is not just fighting,” said al-Homsi, who uses a nom de guerre. “There are institutions. There are civilians (that ISIL) is in charge of, and wide territories. It must help the immigrants marry. These are the components of a state and it must look after its subjects.” Al-Homsi spoke in a series of interviews with the Associated Press (AP) by Skype, giving a rare look into the personal life of an ISIL jihadi.

The new ISIL elite is visible in Raqqa, the biggest city in Syria under the extremists’ rule.

Luxury houses and apartments, which once belonged to officials from the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, have been taken over by the new ISIL ruling class, according to a member of an anti-ISIL media collective in the city who goes by the name of Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi.