At least three Malaysian women have gone to the Middle East to lend support to the fighters of the Islamic State (IS) in what is described as “sex jihad”, reports Malaysian news.
The women are presumably answering the call by the IS in June, which had put up posters calling on the people of the Iraqi city of Mosul to bring them their unmarried girls to participate in the “sex jihad” where they are to provide sexual comfort “for their warrior brothers.”
The posters warned that “anyone who will not appear will feel the full force of the sharia [Islamic law] upon him.”
IS is a terrorist group fighting to establish a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and has been waging a bloody war to do so.
The practice of “sex jihad”, or “jihad al-nikah”, was first invoked in a fatwa by Saudi Wahhabi cleric, Muhammad al-Arifi.
He has, however, denied issuing such an edict.
Besides the three Malaysian women, it is reported that “hundreds of teenagers and women from Tunisia, the UK and other parts of the world” have also travelled to the conflict areas to participate in the “sex jihad.”
Some Australian women are also believed to have gone to Iraq and Syria to serve as “comfort women” to the militants.
“At least 600 Britons, including several women, are estimated to be in the war zones in Iraq and Syria,” reports the International Business Times (IBT). “Some estimates quote a much higher figure.”
“This figure also includes British Muslim women who are not fighting on the front line, but are still involved by performing sexual jihad. Australian intelligence officials have revealed that more than 100 Australian Muslims are in Syria fighting alongside Isis,” the IBT quotes an intelligence official as having said.
“These women are believed to have offered themselves in sexual comfort roles to ISIS fighters who are attempting to establish Islamic rule in the Middle East,” Malaysian news portal, The Malaysian Insider, quoted an intelligence official as saying.
“This concept may seem controversial but it has arisen as certain Muslim women here are showing sympathy for the ISIS struggle”.
Malaysian authorities are investigating if the news reports are true.
In a press statement on Wednesday, Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, said the police “are trying to verify the information as it involves the good name of our country.”
In a report on Wednesday, the United Nations said the Islamic State has committed crimes against humanity with its attacks on civilians, which include regular public executions and beheadings.
“Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays in al Raqqa and ISIS-controlled areas of Aleppo governorate (province),” the report said.
German news site, Deutsche Welle, reports:
“Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays in al Raqqa and ISIS-controlled areas of Aleppo governorate (province),” the report said. Children have been present at the executions and bodies are placed on display for several days in order to serve as a warning to local residents.
The report said the violence has bled over the borders of Syria as Islamist fighters are also sweeping through neighboring Iraq in their bid to establish a caliphate. Their campaign of violence has also drawn more experienced and ideologically motivated foreign fighters to their ranks, the report said.
IS is also recruiting and training children as young as 10, with teenagers used in combat and suicide-bombing missions, the report said.
“ISIS poses a clear and present danger to civilians, and particularly minorities, under its control in Syria and in the region,” Paulo Pinheiro, chair of the panel, said in a statement.
Read this report by The Clarion Project: “ISIS Issues Orders in Mosul: Give Over Girls for ‘Sex Jihad’”.