This is all part of the Islamic State’s work for the long term, to establish itself as a stable and viable state. And as you can see from the photo, there is no shortage of attractive and eligible bride candidates. “For an IS fighter, a paid honeymoon in caliphate’s heart,” by Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, May 26, 2015 (thanks to Anne Crockett):
BEIRUT (AP) — The honeymoon was a brief moment for love, away from the front lines of Syria’s war. In the capital of the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate,” Syrian fighter Abu Bilal al-Homsi was united with his Tunisian bride for the first time after months chatting online. They married, then passed the days dining on grilled meats in Raqqa’s restaurants, strolling along the Euphrates River and eating ice cream.
It was all made possible by the marriage bonus he received from the Islamic State group: $1,500 for him and his wife to get started on a new home, a family — and a honeymoon.
“It has everything one would want for a wedding,” al-Homsi said of Raqqa — a riverside provincial capital that in the 18 months since IS took control has seen militants beheading opponents and stoning alleged adulteresses in public. Gunmen at checkpoints scrutinize passers-by for signs of anything they see as a violation of Shariah, or Islamic law, as slight as a hint of hair gel. In the homes of some of the IS commanders in the city are women and girls from the Yazidi religious sect, abducted in Iraq and now kept as sex slaves.
The Islamic State group is notorious for the atrocities it committed as it overran much of Syria and neighboring 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 IS territory from the Arab world, Europe, Central Asia and the United States.
Watch for the Leftist media to start churning out puff pieces about how the Islamic State is “maturing” and “moderating” — as soon as they think they can get away with them.
“It is not just fighting,” said al-Homsi, who uses a nom de guerre. “There are institutions.There are civilians (that IS) 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 by Skype, giving a rare look into the personal life of an IS jihadi.
Why is helping immigrants marry one of the components of a state? Because the state in question is all about the growth and expansion of Islam, nothing else. It is a jihad state. So getting its immigrants married and having children who will become new jihad warriors is a top priority.
The new IS 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 Assad, have been taken over by the new IS ruling class, according to a member of an anti-IS media collective in the city who goes by the name of Abu Ibrahim al-Raqqawi.
Raqqa, at the center of IS-controlled territory, is cushioned from the fighting around its edges. Its supermarkets are well stocked and it boasts several internet cafes.
“The city is stable, has all the services and all that is needed. It is not like rural areas the group controls,” al-Raqqawi said. “Raqqa is now the new New York” of the caliphate. Like others in his media collective, he uses a nickname for his security and doesn’t specify his whereabouts.
Helping fighters marry is a key priority. Aside from the normal stipend, foreign fighters receive $500 when they marry to help them start a family. The 28-year-old al-Homsi got a particularly large bonus because his new wife is a doctor and speaks four languages.
The AP has spoken with al-Homsi repeatedly over the past three years, since he started as an activist covering the fighting in his home city of Homs in central Syria. An IT specialist before the civil war in 2011, al-Homsi always espoused ultraconservative views in media interviews, sympathizing with the idea of a caliphate.
He said he had supported IS as early as 2013. But it was in mid-2014, after a two-year punishing siege of Homs, that he turned into a fighter. When the siege ended in a May 2014 truce, al-Homsi emerged as an official IS member.
It was from his social media activity that he met his wife, who admired his online media briefings….
Jihad me at “Hello.”
Mirren10 says
”Luxury houses and apartments, which once belonged to officials from the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, have been taken over by the new IS ruling class .., ”
Plus ca change, and all that …
miriamrove says
I thought the bonus was the 72 virgins, no? M
Godwin says
When those fellows die, they become angry ghosts. And I have never heard of any ghost that demanded sex, simply because ghosts are not capable of having sex.
duh_swami says
If that’s true, why would anyone want to be a ghost? Ghosts have a boring life if there are no humans to annoy, and on top of that, no sex? Jinn have it better than that…
John C. Barile says
This isn’t quite the pro-family, pro-marriage, incentives package of public policy I yearn to see (I’m so nostalgic about tradition and all). More of a throwback to good old-fashioned superstate production of cannon-fodder.
Cecilia Ellis says
Wow! That was a great non-Islamic, Islamic Victoria’s Secret picture that accompanied the article! Someone, however, needs to tell the one in the middle to smile more . . . she must be the bridesmaid for the other four who just married the same guy. Wonder where they will go on their honeymoon . . . Palmyra?
Don McKellar says
Each one of them a prize catch! Just make sure you don’t slip up and question anything about Islam. Get your throat slit in the middle of the night.
james says
ahh…such beauties…i can’t resist…..where do i sign…..lol
james says
ahh…such beauties….i can’t resist…where do i sign….lol
Stanton Cordray says
Is this true?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/why-burma-s-rohingya-muslims-are-among-the-world-s-most-persecuted-people-1.3086261
Lou says
In Burma, (Myanmar). Muslims account for 2.5% of the population, but are responsible for 78% of the Murder of Buddhists in the country. This has resulted in a great urge by conservative Monks to protest. Buddhists are very tolerant, but they will never allow their sovereignty to be threatened by Muslims who wish to exterminate them. If the Muslims don’t like it there they should leave.
Westman says
It’s a mess Stanton,
Who is responsible for what depends on where one starts the history of the Rohingya in Burma. If one starts after the British took control in 1826, much like Europe today, the Rohingya numbers increased by importing them as laborers. In 1942 the Brits were driven out by ther Japanese and then a genocide ocurred, muslims losing about 5,000 and the muslims killed around 20,000 Arakanese. Apparently there have been tensions ever since, the Myanmar government has consided the Rohingya to be immigrants and unwanted. “Coyotes” are smuggling them to Europe and killing, ransoming, and abandoning them. Many are in refugee camps, unwanted by any nation.
Do some reading and you’ll come to your own conclusions with information that the lazy CBC article neglects.
Angemon says
Hmmm, they sure fit the stereotype of uneducated, ignorant, poor people who can’t find a job and are discriminated against, right? RIGHT?!?!?!
Mark Breza says
How is your over exaggerated hated
any different from people in history
who made the same mistake as you ??
Go ahead demonize every Muslin
to your own detriment.
“Reeves’ important new book, INFAMY: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II, the story of the evacuation and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese aliens living on the West Coast during World War II. ”
“Where we are now in Iraq is similar to where we were in Vietnam after we left. You can not say that The Islamic State is more extreme or idealogical than the Khmer Rouge. We did not go back into Southeast Asia and we should not go back into the Middle East.
All this could have been predicted before you all jumped onto the train to Iraq. Obama had it right from the beginning. None of those Rebublicans and few of the Democrats(HRC) or journalist stood up and demanded sanity over emotion.you all not only have to admit your earlier mistake but also be humbled by it.”
Susan says
Will they get the same for all four marriages? Fare is fare all wives should benefit.
Angemon says
Mark Breza posted:
“How is your over exaggerated hated
any different from people in history
who made the same mistake as you ??
Go ahead demonize every Muslin
to your own detriment.”
And exactly who is doing that here? Also, Sabri S.? Is that you?
““Reeves’ important new book, INFAMY: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II, the story of the evacuation and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese aliens living on the West Coast during World War II. ”
“Where we are now in Iraq is similar to where we were in Vietnam after we left. You can not say that The Islamic State is more extreme or idealogical than the Khmer Rouge. We did not go back into Southeast Asia and we should not go back into the Middle East.
All this could have been predicted before you all jumped onto the train to Iraq. Obama had it right from the beginning. None of those Rebublicans and few of the Democrats(HRC) or journalist stood up and demanded sanity over emotion.you all not only have to admit your earlier mistake but also be humbled by it.””
I suspect you’re copy/pasting from an interview with the author of said book without regarding if what he’s saying is actually factual or relevant to the matter at hand. No matter. Feel free to explain, by your own words, why and where was Obama right.
Susan says
Hugh difference the NT and Jesus do not tell us to go and kill and conquer, the quran on the other does and has been doing it for 1500 years. Slaughtered 275,000,000 and counting all for allah/satan. Thank God, the real one, they were stopped by the Crusaders. How do you think your evil cult grew? “Convert or die” ” leave and die”. Well the Borg robots are at it again. Kill without conscience, kill without pity, rape and enslave without a soul. I am tired of writing the, list in endless. Islam is so evil it is beyond the comprehension of people with a soul.
Champ says
Mark Breza wrote:
Go ahead demonize every Muslin
to your own detriment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is this kind of fictitious writing which perpetuates the lie that islam is a “religion of peace” …since it most certainly is NOT. And precious common sense is all that’s required in making this determination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mus·lim
ˈməzləm,ˈmo͝ozləm/
noun
1. a follower of the religion of Islam.
Aww, imagine a world without islam …
Yes, our world would be immeasurably better-off if islam did not exist — and not a single “muslim” was hurt in this imaginary process. Indeed, it is wonderful thing to imagine.
duh_swami says
Terrorist, cold blooded murderer by day, and a warm fuzzy hubby at night. Even an evil wretch needs love…or at least sex.
It’s nice of the boss to pay for it, and with added benefits and awards…I never had an employer who would do that, even though I asked several times. All I got were blank stares…
vlparker says
Yes, they do have some hot women.
Angemon says
I bet they do – wrapped in fabric in the desert during Spring/summer, they can be nothing else than extremely hot.
steiner says
The KKK in black….and far worse.