Still, al-Dulaimi said she “didn’t notice” any involvement in the Syrian resistance while they were together.

“He was a normal family man,” she said. “How he could become emir of the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world is a mystery.”

While al-Baghdadi “loved the children” and was “their idol,” al-Dulaimi said she was deeply unhappy in the “shallow” marriage.

“I didn’t love him,” she explained. “He was an enigmatic person. You couldn’t have a discussion or hold a normal conversation with him … He just asked about things and told me to fetch things. He gave orders, nothing more.”

So she decided to leave after just a few months — “you could say that I fled from him” — while pregnant with a daughter, Hagar.