AMSTERDAM — Khadija (not her real name) enjoyed a quiet life in the Netherlands, the country she grew up in. She had a place to stay and the opportunity to study.​ However, over the last couple of years, she found it more difficult as a devout Muslim and felt increasing hostility. ​

She came across images of black al-Qaeda flags in Syria on the Internet, and she found out that several Dutch Muslims had joined the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). They were talking about Sharia, creating an Islamic state and fighting against the Syrian regime, aspects that appealed to her.

In the fall of 2013, her best friend told her that she was planning to join her husband, a jihadist fighter, in Syria. Khadija, who had always wanted to focus on her religion more, became convinced that she should come along. By the end of 2013, the two friends took a flight to Turkey. Contacts there smuggled them across the border into Syria and they were taken to a place near Aleppo. There, they were welcomed by other European women whose husbands were ISIS fighters.

“I always wanted to live under Sharia. In Europe, this will never happen. Besides, my Muslim brothers and sisters over there need help," Khadija, 24, told Al-Monitor over the phone.