The Islamic State has stated that its goal is to establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, but an interview with a former captive revealed that the group apparently does not care about religion.
French journalist Didier Francois told CNN's Christine Amanpour that discussions with his Islamic State captors were never religious in nature.
"There was never really discussion about texts or -- it was not a religious discussion. It was a political discussion," Francois stated in the interview. "It was more hammering what they were believing than teaching us about the Koran."
Francois also said that he and his fellow captives were not even given copies of the Koran to study.
"We didn't even have the Koran," the former ISIS captive revealed. "They didn't want even to give us a Koran."
Francois concluded that the Islamic State's beliefs have "nothing to do with the Koran."
In addition to the discussions, Francois also told the CNN anchor that ISIS subjected them to beatings periodically.
"Of course we were beaten up. But it was not every day. I mean, it's hard enough -- you don't have to overplay it," Francois revealed. "The beating is strong, but it's not every day. It happens sometimes."
He also revealed that the British jihadists, whom the rest of the Islamic State's fighters refer to as "The Beatles," were "harsher in their violence" towards the captives. They provided the captives with better food than the other Islamic fighters, Francois said, but they also beat them harder.
Francois, together with Edouard Elias, Didier, Nicolas Hénin and Pierre Torres, were released in April 2014 after 10 months of captivity at the hands of the Islamic State. He and his colleagues were one of the few hostages that the ISIS ever released.
There was speculation that France paid a ransom for their release, but Francois denied that during the CNN interview. He called the rumours "utterly ridiculous."
"We were lucky," he said.
