Although estimates vary, the number of ISIS gunmen who eventually took control of Mosul was certainly not more than 4,000. So they need more recruits, both to control the territories they have and to join the fight on other fronts within Iraq.
This appetite to join ISIS has become a source of concern for Mosul’s families. Locals in the city are only too well aware that many of those now controlling their city are young people who only volunteered to join ISIS several days ago and that many of them are new to the weapons they carry.
Locals also know that ISIS needs more fighters in places like Tikrit, Anbar, Diyala and towards Kirkuk.
Despite that obvious need for more fighters, ISIS does have certain rules for membership. Firstly, the volunteer must be willing to obey their ISIS leader even if his orders may result in their death. Those who do not obey orders or those who retreat will be considered apostates, for which the penalty is death.
Additionally any volunteer that wants to join must be recommended personally by another member of ISIS, who must have belonged to the organisation for not less than two years. The volunteer must have good conduct and must be committed to the teachings of Islamic law, as defined by the Sunni branch of the religion. And if the volunteer was formerly a member of the state security forces, he can only join a year after declaring repentance. ISIS offer any member of local security forces or police a pardon in return for declaring repentance at one of several mosques set up for the purpose.
Once a volunteer is accepted, they are given religious lessons in accordance with the strict Salafist doctrine, trained in the use of weapons and they also undergo physical training.
But there are other obstacles that young Mosul men who want to join ISIS may also have to overcome. In the case of Mosul woman, Saad’s son, it was his own mother who stood in the way. Saad, who wished only to be known by her first name for security reasons, said that although a neighbour tried to calm her by telling her that at least 50 other young men from their neighbourhood had gone to join ISIS and that many others were on the way to do the same, she could not give up on her son.
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