A fatwa on the keeping of sex slaves, issued by Islamic State (IS), has detailed the grim truth for women captives living under the militant's regime in Iraq and Syria.
"It is not permissible for the owner of a female captive to have intercourse with her until she has had her menstrual cycle and becomes clean".
- Islamic State fatwa
The document, obtained by the United States government, was written by Daesh's scholars apparently to regulate what are referred to as "violations" by fighters. However, the fatwa remains a disturbing manual detailing how and when fighters should have sex with prisoners and the rules for their ownership.
Throughout the ruling, a codified justification for rape, forced sex is referred to as "intercourse" or euphemistically as "sexual relations". The victims of the practice are referred to as female captives.
The document explains that fighters should not have sex with women while they are pregnant or attempt to cause abortions. It also stipulates a whole raft of rules on how family members should avoid having sex with the same women and how fighters should avoid having sex with women from the same family.
"The owner of two sisters is not allowed to have intercourse with both of them; rather he may only have intercourse with just one," one part of the document gives as an example.
Yazidi refugee women stand behind a banner as they wait for the arrival of United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesReuters
Many of the rules contradict each other and the document often rambles. Showing the writers' preoccupation with the menstrual cycle, the fatwa declares as its first rule: "It is not permissible for the owner of a female captive to have intercourse with her until she has had her menstrual cycle and becomes clean".
In case the issue needed clarification, a later ruling declares: "It is not permissible to have intercourse with a female captive during her menstrual cycle".
The IS fatwa also outlines the rules of ownership of the captured women. It states: "If two or more individuals are involved in purchasing a female captive, none of them are permitted to have intercourse with her because she is part of a joint ownership".
The fatwa, which was recovered by US Special Forces and reproduced by Reuters, was obtained from a raid on the home of Abu Sayyaf, IS's chief financial officer in Syria. Abu Sayyaf and his wife were believed to be at the heart of the trade of sex slaves in Iraq and Syria. A Yazidi woman was discovered during the raid.
Material discovered on hard drives at their home has proven invaluable to the coalition fighting IS and detailing the inner workings of the Jihadi group. Further information uncovered has shown that the group has departments for the handling of war spoils and even directions for organ harvesting.
Egypt’s highest Islamic authority, al-Azhar, has strongly denounced the Takfiri Daesh terrorists’ newly-released rules for sex slavery, stressing that they have nothing to do with Islam.
"This organization is a criminal and terrorist organization, and one of the goals of terrorism is the spread of its ideologies and the spread of its propaganda that will attract people's attention," Mohamed Mehna, a member of al-Azhar's Grand Sheikh's Technical office, said on Wednesday.
"Researchers who study terrorist organizations know this very well; that the media division is considered one of the most important tools for a terrorist organization to achieve its goals through instilling fear in people," he added.
The remarks come as Daesh leaders have recently issued an extremely detailed ruling on when "owners" of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them. They have also issued a series of rules about the treatment of captured females.
Mehna added that Daesh and other terrorist organizations resort to such tactics to draw attention to their extremist ideologies.
"This is not Islam. Because Islam, with its long history, and the spread of Islam around the world, from South to North and from East to West, and the true history that has witnessed its sublime values, needs no debate," he said.
Egyptian Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, at the headquarters of al-Azhar in Cairo on October 11, 2015 . (AFP photo)
Back in November, the head of the al-Azhar center of Islamic learning, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, said it would be unjust to link atrocities committed by Daesh to Islam.
Separately, Shia clerics have, on numerous occasions, condemned Daesh ideologies as irrelevant to Islamic teachings.
In September 2014, over 120 Muslim scholars from around the world issued an open letter to Daesh ringleader Ibrahim al-Samarrai, also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, rejecting the group's religious arguments to justify many of its actions.
The Daesh terrorist group has been committing heinous crimes, including the sexual abuse of women and young girls, in areas under their control in Iraq and Syria.
Bookmark it
Digg it
Slashdot it
See who links to it
