Military Review English Edition March-April 2016 | Page 34

Figure. The Islamic State’s Price List
for Yazidi and Christian Slaves
prophet are quoted that say that when slave girls give
birth to their masters the day of judgment is not far off.
In addition to using hadiths (words attributed to the
prophet Muhammad), other Muslim authorities are
also quoted to justify the enslaving of women.12
But what about the raping of women who are taken
into slavery? Umm Sumayyah al-Muhajirah (a female
member of IS) writes an article in which she argues that
using slave girls as sexual slaves is acceptable because of
four texts in the Quran and the example of the prophet
Muhammad. One of the Quranic text says, “The believers have prospered … and … those who guard their private parts. Except from their wives and what their right
hands possess” (23:1-6). The verse refers to men “guarding their private parts” except when they are with their
wives and with women captured in war. The inference
is, therefore, that men may have sexual relations with
women taken captive in war in the same way that they
may have sexual relations with their wives. Muhammad
is said to have had four slave girls. His companions
reputedly followed the same practice: al-Muhajirah says
that there was not one of his companions who failed
to practice saby (taking slaves in war). Indeed, she says,
Abi Ibn Ali Talib had nineteen slave girls. A hadith says,
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“Approaching any married woman is fornication, except
for a woman who has been enslaved.”13 Al-Muhajirah
concludes that the practice of saby, which includes what
we can only describe as rape, “is a great prophetic sunnah
containing many divine wisdoms and religious benefits.”14 One of its benefits, she says, is that slaves will be
able to accept Islam and enter paradise.

Justification for Burning Captives
Alive
In volume 7 of Dabiq, there is a full-page photo of a
Jordanian pilot being burned to death in a cage; a few
pages later there is a half-page picture of his charred
remains. Lt. Mu’adh al-Kasasibah was captured in
2014 after his plane crashed in Syria. Dabiq argues
that his burning was entirely justified: “In burning the
crusader pilot and burying him under a pile of debris,
the Islamic State carried out a just form of retaliation for his involvement in the crusader bombing
campaign which continues to result in the killing of
countless Muslims who, as a result of these airstrikes,
are burned alive under mountains of debris.”15 The
author of the article is aware of the hadith which states
that only God can punish with fire but argues that
March-April 2016  MILITARY REVIEW