Last month a group known as the Al-Khansaa Brigade, an exclusively female faction created by ISIS, released a handy dandy guide for how to be a proper Muslim woman. Recently translated to English for the first time by the Quilliam Foundation, a British anti-terrorism think tank, it’serves as a ringing endorsement that ISIS truly is a deranged group of individuals.
Yet it’s important to recognize what ISIS is providing: unfiltered access to the ideologies and opinions of a demographic rarely ever heard from.?The purported authors are women of ISIS, therefore the content is a direct line of communication between ISIS and their potential recruits. Sun Tzu once said,
“if you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.”
Anti-terror agencies can combat ISIS more efficiently by using this unique insight to target the group at its core.
First we will look at what exactly ISIS believes to be the fault of Western influence. They say the West is to blame for civilization becoming obsessed with modernity and knowledge, which we pursue through scientific means. The authors claim this violates the proper role and singular purpose of all Muslims, which is to worship God and never question His creations:
“People are dazzled by the adornments of life in this world, which are the fruit of the enemy of God and what God has allowed them to do in terms of material knowledge. It has caused Muslims to forget their way, because of the fastness and modernity of life, and they forget who they are…the ideal Islamic community should refrain from becoming caught up in exploring science, the depths of matter, [and] trying to uncover the secrets of nature.”
After providing a religious context to justify their gripes with Westerners, they shift the discussion to Muslim women specifically. Citing the Quran they state that above anything else they outline in the manifesto, the most important is God’s intentions when He created women:
“Woman was created to populate the Earth just as man was. But, as God wanted it to be, she was made from Adam and for Adam. Beyond this, her creator ruled that there was no responsibility greater for her than that of being a wife to her husband.”
This is where the authors begin to define how a Muslim woman can properly fulfill her role as wife and mother. Four main concepts are identified: sedentariness, work, knowledge and aesthetics. For each one they offer the Westernized (i.e. unholy) version to compare against the Muslim (i.e. proper) version. In place of a complete listing of the four concepts, simply consider this critique of Western ideology:
“Many of our girls have been lost to secular society. They study things unrelated to religion and that have no worldly use. Their studies last many years, stopping them from marrying until they reach completion of these strange studies. While they do so, social and civil problems arise that have later consequences when they eventually marry, or marriage is postponed altogether. This is not what God willed.”
According to ISIS a woman who stays sedentary by not venturing outside for any purpose, including to work or become educated, is empowered because she provides stability to her home. Additionally, the authors give a step-by-step guide for raising a Muslim girl to be a proper Muslim woman. They propose an alternative education plan that consists of maintaining a home and caring for children, as opposed to arithmetic, science, or any other “Western” teachings. Yet the most striking section is when they establish the proper age to begin this process, including when a girl should be married:
“It is considered legitimate for a girl to be married at the age of nine. Most pure girls will be married by sixteen or seventeen, while they are still young and active.”
Um, excuse me? Nine years old? The men of ISIS do horrific things, but apparently the women of ISIS wanted to join the party as well. This version of the document is in English so it’s fairly easy reading and only about half of it is worth looking at, roughly 10 pages. I would encourage everybody to read the first half. It’s quite interesting to hear first-hand what they think of us as a people and society, especially when they compare ours to theirs.
