The Islamic State's new war - au féminin

Now that IS – the Islamic State – has successfully encroached itself on Iraq and Syria, having risen above all other terror factions and militias to reinvent itself as an institution, Islamic radicals have felt secure enough within their own borders to turn their attention toward the establishment of a new social, religious and political paradigm; one which they intent to be built in their image.

As radicals have pillaged and murdered through the greater Levant, asserting their presence in every village and city under their control, they have systematically worked to tear down the walls of society. Living by the rule, “to build anew, one needs sometimes to destroy”, the Islamic State is undoubtedly looking to carve a new world order.

With IS, formally known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), busy erecting its new terror empire, the world has stood witness to the birth of a dogma so fierce and intolerant that old enemies are said to be willing to stand together to fight this Leviathan. Despite its reticence, the United States is considering an alliance with Syrian President Al-Assad in order to deal with the cancerous evil which IS has degenerated into.

But if IS hordes have proven implacable in their barbarism, it is their treatment of women which has proven most chocking and despicable in nature.

The war on women

While Islamic radicals have been vocal in their dismissal of women, often relegating them to mere objects, at best useful baby incubators; IS’ incredible brutality and unparalleled contempt towards the fairer sex, has confounded the most traditional of Muslims.

As noted by Haleh Esfandiari, Director, Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: “Women have been treated with special savagery, based on the narrowest possible interpretation of Islam and Islamic law. Women are regarded both as trophies and as targets for persecution.”

Standing in complete opposition of the Quran, IS goons have turned women into sexual objects, forcing them to perform despicable acts under threat of torture or death. Under-age girls have been sold as slaves to IS jihadists, condemned to serve and fulfill the whims of soulless animals, stripped of their dignity and honour.

As reported by Esfandieri: “Women of all ages have been raped; Christian women have been forced to convert. In the city of Mosul, women were ordered to cover completely and to appear only in the company of male relatives. Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s followers even toyed with the idea of female genital mutilation (FGM), and for a while there were rumours (later denied) that Al-Baghdadi had issued a fatwa requiring FGM for Mosul’s women.”

Commenting on IS atrocities toward women, Cairo University psychology professor and family relationship consultant, Dr Waliuddine Mukhtar told the Levant earlier this August: “Women under ISIL rule have seen their civil and religious rights marginalised to an unprecedented degree and are treated merely as objects of pleasure and procreation… The effects of these incidences are destructive to a woman’s psyche and consequently will adversely impact the psyches of the children and the family in general.”

Under the black flag of the Islamic State the sun has set on women, leaving room only for darkness and utter despair.

But if IS has been tireless in its war against women, keen to humiliate them, deny them, brutalise them, strip them of their very humanity and soul, IS has also worked to turn women into new weapons of war, playing the psychology of jihad to assert its control.

Women of war

As women in Iraq and Syria have seen their world disappear under Al-Baghdadi’s sickening interpretation of Islam, the dark caliph has worked to recruit female jihadists, keen on appealing to impressionable young western Muslims to fuel his terror machine and better indoctrinate those under his command. Not content on enslaving women as it would animals; IS now seeks to use female militants to run its repression campaign. Socially this is quite dangerous as it will mean that women could be working for their own enslavement, through coercion and a misplaced sense of religious duty.

Back in July the Islamic State set up two offices in charge of recruiting young female volunteers to serve either as wives for its soldiers or “security agents” in its all-female battalions.

Rather than use men to police women and ensure that they comply with IS’ draconian rules, Islamists have quite simply decided to turn women into weapons of war by radicalising them to the point where they become mindless puppets in the hands of their masters, willing slaves under their owners’ yoke. IS brings an entire new dimension to the Stockholm syndrome.

Detailing IS recruitment methods Safia Al-Souhail, an Iraqi politician and former Member of Iraqi Parliament, explained: “They [IS militants] have created the Al-Khansaa Brigade composed mainly of girls between the ages of 18 and 25.”

She added: “There are also male members of families within IS who force their sisters and daughters to marry IS fighters to gain the trust of high-ranking members of the organisation in order to get promoted… There are women in the region and the diaspora who are in charge of recruiting women to join this terrorist group.”

Users and abusers of women, IS has grown into a tentacular monster, whose heads, like the Hydra, continue to spring as fast as they are being cut off.

Amid such unspeakable horrors, it is the world’s silence before this modern time evil which many have found most difficult to comprehend, let alone fathom. As the women of Arabia are enslaved not by men but beasts, who will stand to break their shackles? Who will speak their name and reclaim their honour?

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.