 Since the 2014 collapse of the Iraqi army in the North of Iraq against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the fatwa by the Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calling for jihad or "hashad shaabi" ("popular mobilization") against ISIL, militias have become even more prominent in Iraq.According to Eric David, professor of Middle East politics at Rutgers University, "They get some salary, they get a rifle, they get a uniform, they get the idea of belonging, protection from a group.