The self-styled Islamic State has added another ‘achievement’ to its tally as it seeks to meet the criteria that define a modern functioning state.

The extremist group reportedly intends to mint its own coins as per the diktat of ‘caliph’ al-Baghdadi. IS already has a central leader, a flag and a de facto capital — Raqqah in Syria — while it controls several provinces in that country as well as in Iraq.

Add to this the hordes of well-armed cadres that constitute its militant army.

All these facts underscore the threat IS poses to the Middle East as it seeks to remake the region in its own image. Perhaps all that remains for IS to be considered a ‘genuine’ country is issuing its own passports and postage stamps. Yet, seriously speaking, the fact is that the group is probably the most well-financed of all contemporary militant outfits, even if the new coins are little more than a gimmick.

Read: IS to ‘mint own coins’

So while the US-led military campaign against the group — which has had mixed results — continues, the international community also needs to come up with practical ways to cut off the Islamic State’s finances.

It needs to be identified who is buying oil from fields under IS control and who is facilitating the group’s financial transactions. Because while it may be trumpeting its own legal tender, the militant group still very much does business in dollars, euros and Iraqi dinars.

As far as aspirations of becoming a functioning state go, in the age of empire it was possible for marauding hordes to occupy a country and then claim legitimacy over it.

But in the modern era, it is the will of the people that grants governments legitimacy and determines the redrawing of national borders.

Considering the reports from those living under IS rule — as the UN has recently highlighted — the ‘caliphate’ has unleashed a reign of terror in the territories it controls. Hence any dreams of legitimacy will remain unfulfilled if people continue to be terrorised in the name of faith.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2014