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Raqqa Teacher 'Tricked' ISIS to Get Students Some Education

Sahar Ismail and a few students at the Jazara local school, Asharq Al-Awsat
Sahar Ismail and a few students at the Jazara local school, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Raqqa Teacher 'Tricked' ISIS to Get Students Some Education

Sahar Ismail and a few students at the Jazara local school, Asharq Al-Awsat
Sahar Ismail and a few students at the Jazara local school, Asharq Al-Awsat

Sahar Ismail, a mother-like tutor helping students left in disarray by war, stands tall before what is left of chalkboard at the Jazra neighborhood some 4km west of Syria’s former ISIS stronghold, Raqqa.

The school reopened a month ago after terror group ISIS having shut it down some three and a half years ago.

Sahar, 26, is a vibrant and ambitious young lady who graduated in 2011. She earned her license for education from the Damascus University. She was appointed to the Jazara local school during the summer of 2012. To her misfortune, ISIS reshaped the kickstart of her entire career.

“I was forced to join a rotation for the organization (ISIS) so that I may be allowed to teach female students within the confinement of their homes,” said Sahar.

The young tutor tells stories of how she had to trick her way into having ISIS members monitoring and surveying homes to allow her to give lessons under their reign.

“When the monitoring committee would show up, we would need to switch up the books and bring out ISIS’ self-styled curriculum—but the truth is, I was using the former public school program and pre-ISIS material,” she said.

“I had some 50 students, each of which I would warn sternly to maintain grave caution so what we were doing goes without being exposed,” she added.

Sahar stayed in Jazra neighborhood until early last June. After a wide-range operation being announced to free Raqqa, and the area her community resided in, they were all forced to flee the scene.

The offensive to drive ISIS out brought along with it a shower of rocket shelling and airstrikes.

Along with her family, Sahar escaped to a nearby farmland where they stayed for some 60 days.

After the announcement of Jazra’s liberation in mid-July, Sahar decided to return, despite the intensity of the military clashes in the city of Raqqa only a few kilometers away.

Today, after returning to teaching, Sahar expressed her happiness.

“It's a nice feeling to hold a piece of chalk and stand in front of the board again. My mission today is to educate generations and turn over a new page after war.”

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Arab World

Kurdistan Salary Crisis Clouds Eid Celebrations in Baghdad

Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
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Kurdistan Salary Crisis Clouds Eid Celebrations in Baghdad

Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)

The festivity of Eid al-Adha in Baghdad was overshadowed by growing political tensions, particularly over the unresolved salary crisis in the Kurdistan Region.

While Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani opted for a neutral gesture - issuing a general holiday greeting and performing Eid prayers without comment - other political leaders used the occasion to speak pointedly about the nation’s deepening challenges.

Al-Sudani attended Eid prayers at Al-Rasoul Mosque in the capital, choosing to remain silent on political matters. However, influential Shiite cleric and head of the Hikma Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali both delivered speeches that touched on the country’s fraught political and economic landscape.

Al-Hakim warned against the use of political money in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 11, 2025.

Calling the vote “historic,” he emphasized the need for electoral integrity and urged political blocs to adopt a national code of conduct barring the use of illicit funds. “There is talk of a market where candidates and voters are being bought. This is corruption and betrayal of the people,” he said.

He also addressed Iraq’s perennial electricity crisis, calling for a “strategic state of emergency” to resolve the issue once and for all. “Despite changing governments and large budgets, the same problems repeat themselves,” he noted.

Al-Hakim stressed the need for governments to define clear priorities, including agriculture, water, and clean energy, and said Iraqis “deserve a dignified life that begins with stable electricity and ends with technological advancement.”

Khazali, meanwhile, focused his remarks on the Kurdistan Region salary crisis, criticizing accusations from Kurdish media that he was responsible for the federal government’s suspension of public sector salaries in the region. “It’s simply not true,” he said. “Unfortunately, salaries remain unpaid to this day.”

He stressed that despite Iraq’s wealth, the country continues to suffer from poverty and unemployment, and argued that the roots of these issues lie in the legacy of the former Ba’ath regime.

Khazali also pointed out that Kurdistan experiences higher poverty rates than the rest of Iraq, and that many Iraqi refugees abroad are from the region.

Turning to the electricity crisis, he warned this summer could be the most difficult in years, as outages are expected to worsen. “All past governments focused on increasing output but ignored the need to instill a culture of energy conservation,” he said, warning that some groups may seek to exploit the crisis to sow internal unrest.