On the second floor of the Shababeek cafe, overlooking the clock tower square in the city of Idlib, the side reserved for men was empty except for two young men nursing cups of Turkish coffee. The family side, where women are allowed, was nearly full.

There was no music — just the hiss of an espresso machine and the clinking of cups — and unlike cafes elsewhere in Syria, the air was clear of hookah smoke. That is because of an agreement the owner had to sign with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist group that has ruled for years in much of Idlib province, northwestern Syria, and which now controls most of the country with other rebel factions.

“Hookahs and music were banned from the beginning,” said Yahia Naeme, the owner of the cafe, who said the ban had lost him business because many people used to come to his cafe specifically to smoke hookahs. “If we can’t offer it, they’ll get bored and go elsewhere,” he said.

Other cafes in Idlib have skirted the law by offering hookahs in speakeasy-type environments behind closed doors. But Naeme did not want to risk running afoul of the area’s rulers.

The bans on hookahs and music at cafes were part of a few religious laws initially imposed on Idlib by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham when it took power there in 2017, which also included attempts to impose a stricter dress code for women and a ban on the sale and purchase of alcohol.

The group has ruled Idlib with an authoritarian hand, imprisoning and torturing some critics, according to residents and human rights groups. But even those who chafe under its rule say that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has been pragmatic and shown flexibility.

The group has brought order to a devastated region, and reversed some laws after a backlash from residents. Early on, for instance, a morality police patrolled streets and government buildings, but that practice was later ended.

It also did not adopt the brutal methods of the Islamic State, which sometimes punished people with public executions, instead imposing mainly fines for people breaking laws. The group has also been desperate to shed its image as a group once affiliated with al Qaida. Despite that and attempts to gain international legitimacy, the group is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the US.