“He Said-Raping Me Is His Prayer to God…”- Rape and Slavery in the Isis Caliphate That Never Was

In October 2014, the Committee in charge of issuing Fatawa (Islamic decrees and edicts) regarding the day-to-day activities of members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) released a pamphlet on how members of its army can relate to and “lawfully” take advantage of female conquered subjects it referred to as Al-Sab and al-Riqaq. While the Daesh’s “Caliphate” is seen by majority of the Muslim world as an invalid prototype of those known to Islamic history, the groups’ constant invocation of the Sharī‘ah law as premise for its ‘war’ against women has reinforced existing negative notions about Islam in critical circles. In exploring this perspective, this paper pays close attention to, among others, the works of Ibn Taymiyyah whose interpretations of Islamic law is said to be the foundation for the ISIS violent treatment of women and minorities under its hegemony. It situates the above against contemporary approaches to Islamic Law on and for minorities that are evident in for example, Taha Jabir al-Alwani, Jasser Auda, Hashim Kamali among others. Is it true in Islamic law that rape could be a weapon of war and an act of worship? What conditions and parameters are established by Islam for the establishment of Islamic state? In other words, what is “Salafi”, “Wahabi” and indeed “Islamic” in a State which thrives in unwarranted bloodshed and destruction of innocent lives and properties?

Keywords: Rape, Caliphate, ISIS, Slavery, Islamic Law.