ISIS seems to be selling concubines in Iraq and Syria. According to widespread reports from the areas under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), ISIS is selling women captured from areas they conducted surprise raids on, or areas that fell under their control in Iraq and Syria. Yazidi (Ezidi) women, Christian women, Arab and non-Arab women: the market is now open for slave-girls in Iraq and Syria. Prices range from $500 for Yazidi (Ezidi) girls, to $1000 for other brands, including Christian, Assyrian, or Majusi. These and other smaller minorities are the available brands for sale by ISIS; unless they are also selling Sunni girls while claiming to establish the Sunni Khilafah for the benefit and for the protection of Sunni people. Or, at least this is what the media is saying about ISIS, that they have opened a shop for concubines, including reports by major Arab media outlets, such as Al-Arabiya (http://www.alarabiya.net/), which conducted interviews with Yazidi (Ezidi) women who escaped from being sold as slaves.
Like other teachers, I frequently receive inquiries about current affairs, such as the ruling of having concubines in Islam. Some men are wishing and hoping; others are buying. Before the selling by ISIS became known, some Muslim men asked if they could buy Syrian girls, meaning refugees; Muslims, Sunni girls who were not captured in any war, they want them as slave girls. How can we be expected to answer such heartless questions? How can we not be furious at the suggestion of some ‘Muslim men’ who want to buy ‘free’ Muslim girls as slaves, when they can simply marry them if they are sincere?
Signs of Khawarij Presence
Find a map of the Arab world and then count the number of Arab countries currently ravaged by war. You will find Khawarij sects leading active, bloody, armed conflicts against Muslims and Muslim governments in the name of jihad and resurrecting the Khilafah, so Khawarij claim. These are the signs that indicate the presence of jihadis: Death, destruction, fear, insecurity; bombings and suicide attacks on civilians, marketplaces, schools, government and residential building, and places of worship; failing government institutions, chaos, lawlessness; and of course, kidnapping young girls, some for sale as slaves, such as by Boko Haram. Never mind that the aim and purpose of jihad, according to the scholars of Islam, is the protection of five rights: the lives, honor, properties, lands and religion of Muslims. This was the original aim of jihad. Things have changed. Now, wherever jihadi movements start their so-called jihad, Muslims are no longer safe whether it be their lives, honor, properties, lands or religion, or their young girls. How can anyone ask about the legality of buying concubines from ISIS in the midst of these horrible, encompassing disasters facing many Arab and Muslim countries?
The sale of Yazidi (Ezidi) women, of course, captured the imagination of the West, just as the plight of Iraqi Christians and other non-Islamic sects. However, these are not the only people suffering in Iraq. Just like Al-Qa’idah, ISIS has, primarily, directed their injustice and terror towards all Muslims, especially civilian men, women and children. Indeed, the Khawarij do not discriminate between Muslims or non-Muslims; all suffer under the Khawarij. However, the West does discriminate. Even though the invasion of Iraq, under false pretexts, caused close to a million Muslim Iraqis to face a violent death, Western coverage of violence directed at non-Muslims and non-Arabs is more enthusiastic, systematically passionate, and comprehensive than the coverage of Muslims suffering the same or worse fate than that suffered by Iraqi religious and ethnic minorities.
It is as if there is a percentage. Every 100, even 1000 Muslim deaths receive the coverage given to 1 or 10 non-Muslims. In Gaza, the average was 1000-1; the West cared more about and covered the news of the killing of three young Jewish settlers in the West Bank, more than the coverage they gave to the close to 3000 Gazans, mostly civilians, including more than 500 children, who died violently at the hands of the Jews using Western weapons. The Gazans received less coverage, as if their lives are worth less. With regards to Iraq, the West’s coverage was even worse than in Gaza. Armed Shi`a gangs belonging to Muqtada As-Sadr, former prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki, murderous Iranian Shi`a military organizations, and other Shi`a leaders and armed gangs, massacred tens of thousands of Muslims, Sunnis, mostly civilian men, women and children; many were beheaded or burned alive. They also committed ethnic cleansing, captured tens of thousands of Sunni men and women and put them in jail under torture, shelled residential Sunni areas using planes, tanks, and guns in the pretext of fighting terrorist groups. They have committed, and still commit, many other atrocities against Muslims, Sunnis, whether the Sunnis are Arab or non-Arab, though most are Arab. Kurdish armed gangs are also cleansing entire areas in Iraq and Syria from their Arab residents
All this does not seem to move the West as deeply as they were moved by the plight of Christians and Yazidis in Iraq. They did not report horrible Shi`a atrocities nearly as much as they reported what happened to Christians and Yazidis by the hand of ISIS. For eight years, the West supported former Iraqi prime-minister, Nuri Al-Maliki, and his sectarian, murderer ministers and armed gangs, while knowing well what they did and still do. The death of a million Muslims, the majority of them civilian Sunnis mainly killed by Shi`a gangs and western armies, and yet many more killed by the Khawarij, cannot possibly be as horrific to the West as what the Khawarij ISIS are doing to minorities. In Allah’s scale, unjust killing of even one person is a major sin, {And do not kill anyone whose killing Allâh has forbidden, except for a just cause} (17:33). Imam As-Sa`di said that Quranic ayah 17:33 “pertains to all souls {Allâh has forbidden} killing, young and old, male and female, Muslim, and also kafir (non-Muslims) enjoying an `ahd” (Tafsir As-Sa`di, Pg., 531). An `ahd is a promise of peaceful residence among Muslims given to non-Muslim residents of the Islamic state.
Who are the Yazidis?
Yazidis, or Ezidis, are not Arab or Christians. Since there are conflicting reports about the origin and practices of the Yazidis, it may be more practical here to describe them according to their current creed. Their religion currently comprises a strange collection of ideas taken from the many religions that have existed in Iraq since ancient times, such as pagan, Christian, Jewish, Zaradishti, and Majusi creeds, and even some Islamic creeds. They reject being called, ‘devil worshippers.’ To them, the devil is not evil; he is just a good angel. Therefore, they indeed worship the devil, regardless if they consider him good or not. The Yazidis number around a half a million in Iraq, which has a population of 28 million. However, as stated, since Yazidis are not Arab or Muslims, they received far more news coverage than the hundreds of thousands of Sunnis who died in Iraq since the Western (Christian) invasion.
Contrast the Original Islamic Khilafah with the ISIS Khilafah
Contrast the Original Islamic Khilafah with the ISIS Khilafah
It is universally established among Muslims, including all Islamic sects, except the Shi’a and a few other deviant sects such as the Khawarij, that the era of the Al-Khulafaa Ar-Rashidun (the Rightly Guided Caliphs) is the best Islamic era. After the Prophet’s death, four of his major Companions became his Caliphs, Successors, one after the other. They are Abu Bakr As-Siddique, `Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, ‘Uthman Ibn Affan, and, Ali Ibn Abi Talib. Muslims also consider these four Companions to be the best members of the ummah (followers) of Muhammad, peace be on him. Their guidance, practices, legacy, and the way in which they established Islam on earth, is indeed the good example for all Muslims.
During the Khilafah reign of Abu Bakr and `Umar, the Persian Empire, one of the world’s two super powers at that time, was conquered, and most of the empire’s population freely chose to become Muslim. How were religious minorities in Iraq and Iran treated under the reign of the Four Rightly Guided Caliphs, including Christians, the forefathers of the Yazidis, Majusi fire-worshipers, and many others? These minorities existed in Iraq and Iran since before Islam came.
In contrast to the reign of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, we will mention three proofs here that the ISIS Khilafah is by no means a rightly guided Khilafah, but a Khawarij outlaw regime.
First Proof: ISIS attacked Yazidis, Christians, and other minorities in Iraq in the areas these minorities lived, without a state of war existing between these minorities and Muslims. The ISIS Khawarij simply drove these minorities out of their areas, rounded up many of their men to be killed, and captured many more men and women as hostages for ransom or to be sold as slaves. If this is true Islamic behavior, then how is it that after Islam came, these minorities were thriving and keeping to their culture, religion and traditions, especially during the reigns of Abu Bakr, `Umar, ‘Uthman and Ali? These minorities indeed continued to live in Iraq and Iran from the time of the early Islamic era, until the twenty-first century. Proof: When ISIS started attacking them, they were still living in the same areas they had lived in since ancient times. Is this not evidence enough that ISIS is contradicting Islam itself, the legacy of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and the entire Muslim ummah?
Jews, Christians and other religious minorities lived in Iraq, Syria, and Iran for centuries before Islam came. After Islam came these minorities were not exterminated, driven out of their areas, attacked without justification, nor were their women sold to slavery. They remained alive, well, and free, until the present time. Since various minorities still live in Iraq, Syria, and Iran today, then this exposes Al-Qa’idah, ISIS and other Khawarij groups as being those who distort the image of Islam and contradict its law with regards to treatment of peaceful non-Muslims.
Second Proof: The Prophet of Allah, peace be on him, issued this severe warning, “Whoever kills a Mu`ahad, shall not smell the scent of Paradise” (Bukhari). Among other meanings, a Mu`ahad is a non-Muslim who peacefully lives in areas under Muslim control. If this is the punishment for killing just one Mu’ahad, then, what about killing entire groups of Mu`ahads living in peace among Muslims since the early Islamic era?
Again, under the ISIS Khilafah, Christian, Yazidi, and other minority populations were attacked, driven out of their homes, their places of worship bombed and or destroyed, and some of their women were sold into slavery, as is widely reported.
Third Proof: Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be on him, said, “Allah says, ‘I will be against three persons on the Day of Resurrection: One who makes a covenant in My Name, but then proves treacherous; One who sells a free person (as a slave) and eats the price; And one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by them, but does not pay them their wages.” (Bukhari)
The recent attacks on Christians, Yazidis and other minorities by ISIS in Iraq and Syria are not justified, especially since these minorities did not declare war on Islam or Muslims, and did not engage in warfare against Islam and Muslims. Selling their free women to slavery qualifies as one of the three actions because of which Allah will be against those who commit such acts.
In addition, attacking peaceful non-Muslim communities qualifies as an act of treachery where a covenant of peaceful coexistence non-Muslims have with Muslims is breached by the Khawarij. Traditionally, the mentioned religious groups mostly stayed away from the numerous conflicts that ravaged Iraq, in specific, throughout its history, realizing their status as minorities and the fact that Iraq has frequently suffered from violent conflicts, chaos, and insecurity. Consequently, religious minorities in Iraq wisely preferred to stay neutral. Why attack them, unjustly, and cause Westerners to again intervene in Iraq in the pretext of saving religious and ethnic minorities?
Furthermore, the Khawarij, whether Qa’idah, ISIS, Boko Haram, or Nusrah, are themselves outlaws, rebels against Islamic law, as Imam Ibn Taimiyyah stated regarding the Khawarij. Their current wars are not legitimate jihad wars, especially since they mostly war against other Muslims. The Khawarij are armed gangs and bandits whose very existence, practices and ideas constitute a form of rebellion against Islamic law, the Quran, and the Prophet’s Sunnah. They also attack minorities who are at peace with Muslims. They kill, pillage and destroy. They kidnap free men and women, Muslim and non-Muslim, and sell some of them as slaves. Imam Ibn Taimiyyah stated centuries ago that the Khawarij jihad never benefited Islam, and it still doesn’t today. How can anyone in the middle of these terrible conflicts think about buying women from ISIS? Have they no sense? These women, Muslim or non-Muslim, were not captured in a legitimate war or by a legitimate representative of a true Islamic state. They were captured by murderous gangs whose main harm is targeted against other Muslims and against Muslim areas, villages, towns, residential buildings, schools and scholars, factories, masjids, leaders, hospitals, marketplaces; they only occasionally attack non-Muslims. Their aim is to turn every Muslim country into a war zone where Muslims never get ahead, but instead keep destroying their own lands, devastating their own properties, spending their reserves on fighting each other, and never be able to establish a stable government of any type or compete with the rest of the world. How can any society thrive or compete when it is busy in never ending cycles of violence, war, and destruction? The Khawarij keep Muslims ignorant, divided, backward, and thus, prone to non-Muslim domination and even occupation.
The Khawarij Do Not Represent Islam or Muslims
What jihadi groups do accomplish in Muslim societies seems to ensure continued domination by the West over Muslims. The ISIS, Al-Qa’idah, Ash-Shabab, Boko-Haram, An-Nusrah, and so forth among the numerous Khawarij groups of present time, indeed help Christians and Jews suppress Islam and Muslims, in Muslim lands, while using and wasting Muslim treasures. Is it not so obvious that wherever Khawarij go, Western (Christian) military powers follow them? Do the Khawarij not realize the harm they do to Islam and Muslims, while helping to fulfil the designs of the enemies of Islam and Muslims by keeping Muslims divided and disputing to no end? Do not the Khawarij realize the result of their actions and the terrible tragedies they bring to every Muslim area they enter? Truly, and just as Imam Ibn
The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Iftaa:
Fatwa no. 4150
“Q 6: What is the real meaning of Al-`Ubudiyyah (servitude)? Is it to enslave people even against the laws of Islam?
A: There are various kinds of `Ubudiyyah;
(1) General servitude of all creatures at all times; this kind of submission is restricted to Allah alone, as He (Exalted be He) says: {There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes unto the Most Gracious (Allâh) as a slave. Verily He knows each one of them, and has counted them a full counting. And every one of them will come to Him alone on the Day of Resurrection (without any helper, protector or defender).} (19:93-5) It is also related in the Hadith Qudsi (Revelation from Allah in the Prophet’s words) narrated by Muslim on the authority of Abu Dhar Al-Ghifary (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be on him) said, ‘Allah (Exalted be He) said, ‘O my servants! I have forbidden injustice to Myself and I have made it Haram (prohibited) to you, so do not be unjust to one another.’ Likewise, it is also mentioned in the well-known supplication of the Prophet (peace be on him), ‘O Allah! I am Your servant, son of Your servant, son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your Hand, Your Judgment over me is assured, and Your Decree over me is just. I ask You by every name You have taken for Yourself, taught to any of Your Creation, revealed in Your Book, or that You have taken unto Yourself in the realm of the Unseen, to make the Qur’an the life of my heart, the light of my breast (chest), the banisher of my sorrow, and the reliever of my despondency.’ (Majmu` Fatawa Ibn `Uthaimeen 767/10; Ibn `Uthaimeen authenticated this `hadeeth) This is a real universal predetermined servitude according to which Allah controls His Creations as He wills and they submit to Him willingly and unwillingly. None can overturn His Judgment, He is the Most Subtle, the Well-Acquainted (with all things), Who has no partners.
(2) Honorary servitude which Allah confers on His chosen creatures such as His Prophets, Angels, and pious people. For example, Allah says, {Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allâh) [above all that (evil) they associate with Him] Who took His slave (Muhammad, peace be on him) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid-Al-Harâm (at Makkah) to Al-Masjid-Al-Aqsâ (in Jerusalem), the neighborhood whereof We have blessed} (17:1). Allah also says regarding the angels, {…but honored slaves} (21:26). In regard to the pious people, Allah says, {And the (faithful) slaves of the Most Gracious (Allâh) are those who walk on the earth in humility and sedateness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness}, to the end of Surat Al-Furqan (25:63-77). This is a real honorary type of servitude that Allah bestows on His chosen pious servants.
(3) Man’s servitude to another. This type is limited and temporary. It may be lawful, if they are captured while fighting the Muslims and defending the disbelievers. Allah entitled the victorious Muslims to take captives. Later, they may sell the captives, and thus they become servants to anyone who buys them under certain rights and obligations. It may also be unlawful, in case of kidnapping free people, gaining power over them unjustly, or buying any of them. As the Prophet (peace be on him) said, ‘Allah, Exalted be He, says, ‘I will contend on the Day of Resurrection against three (types of) people: One who makes a covenant in My Name and then breaks it; one who sells a free man (or woman) as a slave and devours his price; and one who hires a worker and, having taken full work from him, does not pay him his wages.’ (Bukhari) May Allah grant us success; may peace and blessings be on our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.”
This is the end of Fatwa no. 4150, issued by these four major scholars: `Abdul-`Aziz Ibn `Abdullah Ibn Baz; `Abdullah Ibn Qa`ud; `Abdullah Ibn Ghudayyan; `Abdul-Razzaq `Afify, may Allah grant them the best rewards. Therefore, those who buy slave girls from ISIS will be committing a substantial sin and a major crime. These girls were kidnapped from their own, non-combatant areas and villages, from the midst of their families who were terrorized and or driven out of their homes by herds of Khawarij that have rebelled against Islamic law. Anyone who tries to have sexual intercourse with women sold into slavery by the ISIS should be tried for committing adultery, in the very least. Therefore, do not do it; it is not Islamic
Jalal Abualrub (www.IslamLife.com)
Oct. 16, 2015