ISIL 's governance of al-Barakah occasionally suffered from some internal turmoil : At some point in or after 2016 , some local ISIL judges went on strike to protest the impunity with which ISIL security officials ( " amnis " ) were allowed to act in al-Barakah . By this point , civilians had also voiced opposition to the security agents ' behavior . Regardless , higher-ranking ISIL officials ignored the issue . In early 2014 , ISIL was preparing to set up a " dhimmi pact " to deal with Christians living in al-Barakah Province , and ordered them to pay the jizya ( a special tax for non-Muslims ) . At the time , the Jihadists were not yet officially forcing them to convert to Islam . Nevertheless , ISIL militants under al-Barakah 's jurisdiction were known to abduct , ransom , persecute , and execute local Christians , sometimes disparagingly referred to as " crusaders " by ISIL followers . This ran contrary to the group 's own portrayal of its policies , as al-Barakah 's authorities claimed that they acted mercifully toward Christians while also proselytizing them . Most notably , al-Barakah 's media center released a report in March 2015 according to which several Christians from Tell Tamer had voluntarily converted and " received the caliphate 's blessing " . A local journalist argued , however , that the converts had probably been threatened with torture or death . Accordingly , ISIL 's version of the story was propaganda " to attract the sympathy of Muslims worldwide "
abduct , ransom , persecute , and execute
Persecution of Christians by ISIL
Al-Barakah (ISIL administrative district)