Story highlights
ISIS is known for brutal takeovers and medieval justice, but it sees itself as a state
Official documents show just how far their rules affect daily life
Watch Fareed Zakaria’s special report, “Blindsided: How ISIS Shook the World,” Monday at 9 p.m ET/PT on CNN.
(CNN) —
It has all the key points you’d expect on a birth certificate – baby’s weight, length and date of birth confirmed with an official insignia. The difference here is the governing authority’s stamp: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
It’s one of many official documents relating to matters such as vaccination schedules, fishing methods and rent disputes in the areas now controlled by ISIS.
For ISIS sees itself as a government operating under a rule of law, even if the group is most often talked about for its barbaric punishment of anyone who resists or defies its medieval interpretation of that Islamic law.
The ISIS documents, some shared with CNN by researcher Aymenn Al-Tamimi, give a window into the bureaucracy of the self-declared caliphate.
Last summer, ISIS fighters swept through the Iraqi city of Mosul. Once they took power, leaders wanted to show they could bring stability allowing daily life to resume. So, they quickly reopened the University of Mosul, albeit under a radically altered curriculum.
Notices went out that classes would resume on 24 Dhu al-Hijjah 1435 in the Islamic calendar (or October 18, 2014, in the Western calendar), about four months after ISIS overran the city.
But some subjects would be banned – democracy and political thought, also hotel management and tourism and archaeology.
Families flee ISIS in Iraq
“The banning of archaeology is not a surprise,” says Al-Tamimi, who is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, in Israel. “We see that reflected in ISIS destruction of ancient artifacts. ISIS regards pre-Islamic artifacts as relics from the ‘period of ignorance’, jahiliyah. Their main concern with archaeology is that it would become a subject turning to idol worship, which is strictly forbidden in Islam.
“Hotel management and tourism may seem strange as first. But there are no hotels under ISIS. They have all been taken over and shut down, either rented out or become places to house families.”
Mosul University still has the same professors and teachers, Al-Tamimi says. “But now teachers are subjected to Sharia sessions, to learn what is and what is not acceptable to ISIS. So, they have preserved the prior system but within ISIS Sharia law conditions.”
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
This birth certificate from the Halab Health Department records information for babies born in the ISIS-created province or "wilayat."
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
Mothers are reminded how important children are to God and are then instructed to follow a vaccination timetable against polio, measles and other ailments.
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
This notice declares that the University of Mosul will open on October 18, 2014, but that the philosophy and archeology departments, among others, will remain closed. Staff are told to replace all mentions of the "Republic of Iraq" with "Islamic State."
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
A schedule for final exams at the Mosul College of Medicine shows areas to be tested included students' knowledge of obstetrics, parasites, X-rays and ethics.
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
This notice criticizes the greed of some fishermen and lays out new rules, including no fishing during spawning season and no use of electrical current to catch fish, as it harms other creatures, too.
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
This document poses a question on playing foosball. Readers are told that it's OK, provided that there is no gambling, no cursing or resentment and that the figurines have no heads.
Photos: Documents show how ISIS functions as a government
PHOTO:
Aymenn Al-Tamimi
This message quotes the Quran, and speaks in favor of charity and helping those in need. It then details how rents above 100,000 dinars (about $85) must be cut.
The ISIS Health Department runs hospitals for anyone feeling ill, not just wounded fighters. It has maternity wards, health clinics, even a mobile vaccination unit.
And while an ancient interpretation of religion remains at the heart of rules, there is more nuance than was seen in Afghanistan and areas still controlled by the Taliban.
“This is one thing that distinguishes ISIS from groups like the Taliban, which forbids vaccinations. Polio is a problem in Pakistan because the Taliban believes the vaccines are a forbidden substance. But ISIS is not that primitive,” says Al-Tamimi. “This is also reflected in education: The Taliban, forbids all girls’ education. But ISIS allows girls to go to school, albeit in a segregated environment.”
However, education for girls is limited to the age of 15.
Reporting from areas controlled by ISIS is near impossible but anecdotes of daily life and death do emerge. Al-Tamimi’s conclusions on ISIS’s governing principles and methods follow similar findings by the Quilliam Foundation, other researchers and social activists.
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It is an Islamic principle to care for the environment, so that’s one reason that using explosives to catch fish is banned. And a quote from the Quran saying property owners should lessen the burden on renters to earn spiritual rewards is used at the start of a document outlining a policy on rent control.
“A general theme for ISIS is that they try, initially when they seize control, to portray themselves as more just, more fair to the inhabitants than the previous ruler,” explains Al-Tamimi. “For example, in Syria, the first thing ISIS did was lower the price of bread. This is as much about winning over the population as it is about religious rulings.”
At times, such as taking up the case of renters, the regime can seem almost benevolent, Al-Tamimi says.
“If someone does complain, especially in Syria, ISIS does actually try to deal with it,” he says. “That’s why they’ve been seen by many in Syria as imposing order, especially in areas where multiple parties, rebel factions and the Syrian government were previously in control.”
ISIS control of its territory is absolute – bus schedules show routes from Raqqa to Mosul and Qaim with no acknowledgment of the Syria-Iraq border, just the new provinces created by the group for its territory.
Detained ISIS members speak from Iraqi jail
And inside that territory, even entertainment is regulated.
Foosball can be played, provided there is no gambling and the faces or heads are taken off the figurines to prevent idol worship. A fatwa on entertainment goes on to say that chess, billiards and other “contemporary games” do not benefit Muslims but may be played if they do not distract from religious obligations. It reaches that conclusion from the Quran and other religious teachings.
That’s also part of ISIS strategy, says Al-Tamimi.
“One of ISIS’s goals is to present this very religiously learned image, showcasing their knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence to justify to their following that they are the moral authority. It’s clear that ISIS and their religious clerics and scholars are extremely familiar with religious texts and use them to convince and persuade ISIS followers, which also makes them impervious to any religion-based counterargument.”
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Ketevan Kardava/Getty Images
Wounded passengers are treated following a suicide bombing at the Brussels Airport on March 22, 2016. The attacks on the airport and a subway killed 32 people and wounded more than 300. ISIS claims its "fighters" launched the attacks in the Belgian capital.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images
Syrians gather at the site of a double car bomb attack in the Al-Zahraa neighborhood of the Homs, Syria, on February 21, 2016. Multiple attacks in Homs and southern Damascus kill at least 122 and injure scores, according to the state-run SANA news agency. ISIS claimed responsibility.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images
Syrian pro-government forces gather at the site of a deadly triple bombing Sunday, January 31, in the Damascus suburb of Sayeda Zeynab. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement circulating online from supporters of the terrorist group.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Wael Qubady/AP
Yemenis check the scene of a car bomb attack Sunday, December 6, in Aden, Yemen. Aden Gov. Jaafar Saad and six bodyguards died in the attack, for which the terror group ISIS claimed responsibility.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AP
Investigators check the scene of a mosque attack Friday, November 27, in northern Bangladesh's Bogra district. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack that left at least one person dead and three more wounded.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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YOAN VALAT/EPA/LANDOV
Wounded people are helped outside the Bataclan concert hall in Paris following a series of coordinated attacks in the city on Friday, November 13. The militant group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least 130 people and wounded hundreds more.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Bilal Hussein/AP
Emergency personnel and civilians gather at the site of a twin suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday, November 12. The bombings killed at least 43 people and wounded more than 200 more. ISIS appeared to claim responsibility in a statement posted on social media.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Bram Janssen/AP
Smoke rises over the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on November 12. Kurdish Iraqi fighters, backed by a U.S.-led air campaign, retook the strategic town, which ISIS militants overran last year. ISIS wants to create an Islamic state across Sunni areas of Iraq and Syria.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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SANA/AP
Syrian government troops walk inside the Kweiras air base on Wednesday, November 11, after they broke a siege imposed by ISIS militants.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Maxim Grigoriev/Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations/AP
Members of the Egyptian military approach the wreckage of a Russian passenger plane Sunday, November 1, in Hassana, Egypt. The plane crashed the day before, killing all 224 people on board. ISIS claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but the group's claim wasn't immediately verified.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images
An explosion rocks Kobani, Syria, during a reported car bomb attack by ISIS militants on Tuesday, October 20.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images
Shiite fighters, fighting alongside Iraqi government forces, fire a rocket at ISIS militants as they advance toward the center of Baiji, Iraq, on Monday, October 19.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AP
Smoke rises above a damaged building in Ramadi, Iraq, following a coalition airstrike against ISIS positions on Saturday, August 15.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Iraqi men look at damage following a bomb explosion that targeted a vegetable market in Baghdad on Thursday, August 13. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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From ISIS
In this image taken from social media, an ISIS fighter holds the group's flag after the militant group overran the Syrian town of al-Qaryatayn on Thursday, August 6, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. ISIS uses modern tools such as social media to promote reactionary politics and religious fundamentalism. Fighters are destroying holy sites and valuable antiquities even as their leaders propagate a return to the early days of Islam.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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From ISIS
An ISIS fighter poses with spoils purportedly taken after capturing the Syrian town of al-Qaryatayn.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AP
Smoke rises as Iraqi security forces bomb ISIS positions in the eastern suburbs of Ramadi, Iraq, on August 6.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AP
Buildings reduced to piles of debris can be seen in the eastern suburbs of Ramadi on August 6.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Saudi Press Agency/AP
The governor of the Asir region in Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz, left, visits a man who was wounded in a suicide bombing attack on a mosque in Abha, Saudi Arabia, on August 6. ISIS claimed responsibility for the explosion, which killed at least 13 people and injured nine others.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Saudi Press Agency/AP
Saudi officials and investigators check the inside of the mosque on August 6.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images
Mourners in Gaziantep, Turkey, grieve over a coffin Tuesday, July 21, during a funeral ceremony for the victims of a suspected ISIS suicide bomb attack. That bombing killed at least 31 people in Suruc, a Turkish town that borders Syria. Turkish authorities blamed ISIS for the attack.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images
Protesters in Istanbul carry anti-ISIS banners and flags to show support for victims of the Suruc suicide blast during a demonstration on Monday, July 20.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Ashour Abosalm/AP
People in Ashmoun, Egypt, carry the coffin for 1st Lt. Mohammed Ashraf, who was killed when the ISIS militant group attacked Egyptian military checkpoints on Wednesday, July 1. At least 17 soldiers were reportedly killed, and 30 were injured.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Halil Fidan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Syrians wait near the Turkish border during clashes between ISIS and Kurdish armed groups in Kobani, Syria, on Thursday, June 25. The photo was taken in Sanliurfa, Turkey. ISIS militants disguised as Kurdish security forces infiltrated Kobani on Thursday and killed "many civilians," said a spokesman for the Kurds in Kobani.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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Sami Jawad/Xinhua/SIPA
Residents examine a damaged mosque after an Iraqi Air Force bombing in the ISIS-seized city of Falluja, Iraq, on Sunday, May 31. At least six were killed and nine others wounded during the bombing.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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EPA/STR/LANDOV
People search through debris after an explosion at a Shiite mosque in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, May 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to tweets from ISIS supporters, which included a formal statement from ISIS detailing the operation.
Photos: The ISIS terror threat
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AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images
Iraqi soldiers fire their weapons toward ISIS group positions in the Garma district, west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, on Sunday, April 26. Pro-government forces said they had recently made advances on areas held by Islamist jihadists.