Islamic State fatwa details rules for having sex with female slaves, girls

The Islamic State terrorist group has attempted to codify the sexual relations between its fighters and women they capture, by issuing a special ruling on when it’s OK to rape a female slave.

The document, issued by ISIS’ Committee of Research and Fatwa, reveals a frantic bid to curb “violations” in a treatment of captured females – as the systematic rape of women appears to have spiralled out of control in ISIS-controlled areas.

“Some of the brothers have committed violations in the matter of the treatment of the female slaves”, says a prompt at the beginning of the ruling. “These violations are not permitted by Sharia law”.

“Are there any warnings pertaining to this matter?” the authors of the document wondered.

In addition to allowing enslavement of women, the group then sets 15 codes to explain in detail the dos and donts. If a father had intercourse with his female captive then gave her away or sold her to his son he is no longer permitted to have intercourse with her. If the female captive becomes pregnant by her owner he can not sell her and she is released after his death. Reuters has reviewed the document, which has not been previously published, but couldn’t independently confirm its authenticity.

Hundreds of Yezidi women and young girls were captured by ISIS militants previous year when they attacked the town of Shingal and they have been missing ever since. Thousands of Yazidi Kurdish women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery and forced to marry IS militants, according to human rights organisations and activists.

Nonetheless, sex with female slaves must be properly regulated according to a series of specific injunctions, and the owners of sex slaves should show them “compassion” and seek not to “humiliate” them, the ruling states.

Girls as young as 12 have reportedly been raped by members of the Islamic State, known for rewarding its soldiers and recruit youths with sex slaves. If the owner owns two sisters, he is only allowed to have sex with one of the sisters.

Far from trying to hide the practice, Islamic State has boasted about it and established a department of “war spoils” to manage slavery.

The owner of a female captive should not sell her to an individual whom he knows will treat her badly or do unto her what Allah has forbidden. There are even rules on the ownership of a female captive, just to be sure no one gets in an argument over sole possession.

Professor Abdel Fattah Alawari, dean of Islamic Theology at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, told Reuters that the Islamic State “was deliberately misreading centuries-old verses and sayings that were originally created to end, rather than encourage, slavery”.