James Harkin’s The Execution of James Foley , Islamic State and the Real Story of the Kidnapping Campaign that Started a War.
In recent years the rise and at times almost unbelievable acts of brutality perpetuated by Islamic State and their deluded followers have dominated global News and shocked and sickened all right minded people the world over. The capture, torture and eventual beheading of Western hostages – often played out on social media in grotesque and gut retching details demonstrated that a new kind of terrorist stalks the corridors of modern times and their capacity for cruelty seems to know no boundaries .
In a few short years Islamic State have surpassed all previous terrorist groups for the sheer wickedness of their twisted ideology and their complete disregard for the sanctity of human life and sadly countless innocent people have died at the hands of these merchants of death.
The Islamic State’s ( and other terrorist groups ) policy of kidnapping has a long and profitable history in and around the middle East and other stomping grounds of IS and their terrorist franchise and yet the world and in particularly the West were largely ignorant of these actions until Western hostages started being publically displayed and beheaded by the mad men of IS.
Suddenly Islamic State were centre stage and the world watched in horror as one after the other the American and British hostages were paraded in front of a stunned worldwide audience and slaughtered in the most barbaric and senseless way possible.
James Harkin’s book Hunting Season takes us on a journey through the history and background of these kidnappings and is a must read for those interested in the rise and history of Islamic State and their shocking crimes.
The grief and hopelessness of the families of those in captivity destined to die in the wastelands of Islamic State’s backyard is heart breaking and the disgraceful lack of support from their respective governments should shame the politicians to the core.
Packed with background information about the kidnappings and conditions the hostages had to endure this book had me gripped from the first page and I read it in two days flat and was left with a bad taste in my mouth and full of sympathy for the families of those so brutally murdered.
————————————–
On 19 August 2014, a member of the jihadist rebel group known as ISIS uploaded a video to YouTube. Entitled ‘Message to America’, the clip depicted the final moments of the life of kidnapped American journalist James Foley – and the gruesome aftermath of his beheading at the hands of a masked executioner. Foley’s murder – and the other choreographed killings that would follow – captured the world’s attention, and Islamic State’s campaign of kidnapping exploded into regional war.
Based on three years of on-the-ground reporting from every side of the Syrian conflict, Hunting Season is James Harkin’s quest to uncover the truth about how and why Islamic State came to target Western hostages, who was behind it and why almost no one outside a small group of people knew anything about it until it was too late. He reveals how the campaign of kidnapping and the development of Islamic State were joined at the hip from the beginning. The book is an utterly absorbing account of the world’s newest and most powerful terror franchise and what it means for modern war.
Reviews
Beheading in Islam
Beheading was a standard method of execution in pre-modern Islamic law, as well as in pre-modern European law. Its use had been abandoned in most countries by the end of the 20th century. Currently, it is used only in Saudi Arabia. It also remains a legal method of execution in Iran, Qatar and Yemen, where it is no longer in use.
In recent times, non-state Jihadist organization such as ISIL and Tawhid and Jihad use or have used beheadings. Since 2002, they have circulated beheading videos as a form of terror and propaganda. Their actions have been condemned by other militant and terrorist groups, and well as by mainstream Islamic scholars and organizations.
Beheading in Islamic scripture
Two surahs which refer to “smiting the neck” of enemies are cited by the terrorists who argue that the Quran commands beheading:
When the Lord inspired the angels (saying) I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger.
Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, making fast of bonds; and afterward either grace or ransom ’til the war lay down its burdens.
Scholars disagree about whether these surah refer specifically to beheading, but they are in agreement that they refer to killing the enemy by striking at the neck. Terrorists who use them to justify beheadings take them out of context.
Surah 47:4 goes on to recommend generosity or ransom when waging war. Furthermore, it refers to a period when Muslims were persecuted and had to fight for their survival.
Justification for beheading has also been drawn from the Siras and Hadiths. In one account, Muhammad is said to have ordered the beheading of at least six hundred males from the Jewish Banu Qurayza tribe, while another states that he was merely present and watched the beheadings and mass burial. There is no agreement among scholars as to the historical accuracy of this and similar accounts from the life of Muhammad.
Beheading in Islamic law
Beheading was the normal method of executing the death penalty under classical Islamic law. It was also, together with hanging, one of the ordinary methods of execution in the Ottoman Empire.
Currently, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which uses decapitation within its Islamic legal system.
Beheading is reported to have been carried out by state authorities in Iran as recently as 2001, but as of 2014 is no longer in use. It is also a legal form of execution in Qatar and Yemen, but the punishment has been suspended in those countries.
Historical occurrences
Capital punishment of the Banu Qurayza for treaty violations, 400 killed in 627.
Forces of the Ottoman Empireinvaded and laid siege to the city of Otranto and its citadel in 1480. According to a traditional account, after capture, more than 800 of its inhabitants – who refused to convert to Islam – were beheaded. They are known as the “Martyrs of Otranto“. Historicity of this account has been questioned by modern scholars.
Muhammad Ahmad declared himself Mahdi in 1880 and led Jihad against the Ottoman Empire and their British allies. He and his followers beheaded opponents, Christian and Muslim alike including the British general Charles Gordon.
Beheadings have emerged as a terror tactic in Iraq since 2003. Civilians have borne the brunt of the beheadings, although U.S. and Iraqi military personnel have also been targeted. After kidnapping the victim, the kidnappers typically make some sort of demand of the government of the hostage’s nation and give a time limit for the demand to be carried out, often 72 hours. Beheading is often threatened if the government fails to heed the wishes of the hostage takers. Frequently the crude beheadings are videotaped and made available on the Internet. One of the most publicized murders of an American was that of Nick Berg.
Since 2004 insurgents in South Thailand began to sow fear in attacks where men and women of the local Buddhist minority were beheaded. On 18 July 2005 two militants entered a teashop in South Thailand, shot Lek Pongpla, a Buddhist cloth vendor, beheaded him and left the head outside of the shop.
Timothy R. Furnish, as Assistant Professor of Islamic History, contrasts the Saudi government executions, conforming to standards that minimize pain, with the non-state actors who have “chosen a slow, torturous sawing method to terrorize the Western audience.”
ISIL beheading incidents
In January 2015, a copy of an ISIL penal code surfaced describing the penalties it enforces in areas under its control, including beheadings. Beheading videos have been frequently posted by ISIL members to social media.
Several of the videoed beheadings were conducted by Mohammed Emwazi, whom the media had referred to as “Jihadi John” before his identification.
The beheadings received wide coverage around the world and attracted international condemnation. Political scientist Max Abrahms posited that ISIL may be using well-publicized beheadings as a means of differentiating itself from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), and identifying itself with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al-Qaeda member who beheaded Daniel Pearl.
The publicised beheadings represent a small proportion of a larger total of people killed following capture by ISIL.
Condemnation by Muslims
Mainstream Islamic scholars and organizations around the world, as well as militant and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Al-Qaeda have condemned the practice.
ISIS executioner ‘The Bulldozer of Fallujah’ cuts hand and foot off teen boy
————————————————
HE weighs more than 200kg. Big belly. Big arms. Big reputation
Over his shoulder he carries a weapon so large it’s normally mounted to a vehicle before it can be fired. On his face he wears a mask to conceal his identity — but he is unmistakable.
People know him as “The Bulldozer of Fallujah” and he’s the world’s most feared terror group’s biggest weapon. Until this week, the unnamed member of Islamic State tried to blend into the background. His exploits are now front and centre after his treatment of a 14-year-old boy named Omar.
The new member of the terror group’s feared “chopping committee” is no jolly fat man.
The mammoth Iraqi – who was first photographed toting a 52kg anti-aircraft gun meant for TANKS – has appeared slicing up children in a sick new series of videos.
He can be seen jumping – raising his humungous bulk off the ground – to get his full weight behind his deadly sabre.
Images have emerged of The Bulldozer surrounded by headless corpses after a flurry of beheadings.
Omar was in Syria fighting with the Free Syrian Army when things went terribly wrong.He was running ammunition and food to fighters made up of defected Syrian Armed Forces officers and everyday civilians.
Islamic State moved in on Deir Ezzor province, according to Channel 4, and Omar was captured. He was transferred to the Iraqi city of Mosul and offered a chance at freedom. The cost? Joining the death cult. When Omar refused, they decided to teach him a lesson
On Omar’s phone are pictures of The Bulldozer. There are also pictures of his own cut-off hand and foot.
In an interview with Channel 4, the teen, whose name has been changed, told a story that haunts him and has left him so devastated he has “given up on life”.
“I was strung up and tortured for a month and a half,” the teen said. “They were saying ‘Why don’t you pledge allegiance to Islamic State? Why don’t you fight against the non-Muslims with us?’ But they are slaughtering Muslims.”
He said IS made a show out of torturing him. The show would turn bloody and change his life forever when The Bulldozer moved in.
“They gathered the people, they tied down my hand and my leg, they put my hand on a wooden block and cut it off with a butcher’s knife,” Omar told Channel 4.
“Then they cut off my foot and put them both in front of me for me to see.”
Months later, hobbling around his home with bandages covering the ends of his limbs, Omar says he has lost all hope.
“I have given up on life.”
The 20st BEAST is known as “The Bulldozer of Fallujah” – and he is fast gaining as fearsome a reputation as Jihadi John.
Like the infamous Brit, The Bulldozer beheads his quivering victims on camera in cold blood.
And like the barbaric “Beatle” – real name Mohammed Emwazi – The Bulldozer hides his identity behind a mask.
But whereas Emwazi used a knife to decapitate Isis’s hostages – the new Mr Big uses an almighty sword
The former Iraqi soldier’s real name is Abu Azrael. Dressed in black and armed with a machine gun, an axe and a sword, he presents an imposing figure. He even has his own Facebook page with more than 340,000 likes.
On the page, Azrael, also known as “Iraq’s Rambo”, is pictured smiling with other soldiers, lifting weights in a gym and shouldering a rocket launcher.
He is believed to have killed a number of Islamic State fighters in dozens of locations but also had experience fighting against US forces during the Iraq War.
It’s unlikely The Bulldozer and The Father of the Archangel of Death will ever meet, but it hasn’t stopped the internet from wishing they would.
—————————-
ISIS ” DWARF” SOLDIER
DWARF SOLDIER: Move over Bulldozer, Jihadi ‘Little’ John is the next big ISIS terror
YOU’VE met the biggest extremist in Syria, now meet the smallest – the mini-militant dubbed Jihadi “Little” John.
Pics of the diddy diehard and his arsenal of terror, including AK47s and rocket launchers, have been doing the rounds on social media.
The wee warmonger has also been branded “Abu Ahmad Al-Chihuahua” by Beirut-based journalist Leith Abou Fadel, editor-in-chef of Al–Masdar news.
He speculated that Jihadi “Little” John was fighting with the al-Nusra front, al-Qaida’s pals in Syria – and warned “he bites”.
“I tried to find out more about him but the information was limited,” Abou Fadel said.
“All we know is that he is a member of the Syrian al-Qaida group Jabhat Al-Nusra.”
But some say he fights under an ISIS flag.
The three-foot fanatic is being lionised in the propaganda war against Russian hardman Vladimir Putin, who has been smashing Islamist targets in the country with a series of airstrikes.
Now the extremist could make short work of his Russian enemies
Despite Social media and certain Newspapers making light of this story it must always be remember that ISIS and other Islamic Extremist are no laughing matter and are a stain on humanity and need to be eradicated at all costs. The world has seen enough of their twisted ideology and would be a much richer place without them.
—————————————————————
The Bulldozer of Fallujah Captured
Update 1st June 2016
Karma is collecting its debts
If reports are true and this vile , evil human has been captured then this another in a long line of high profile setbacks for Islamic State and their deluded followers. The crimes of this monster are beyond evil and he is drenched in the blood of the innocent and NEEDS to pay for his crimes against humanity and membership of the merchants of death and destruction which is the Islamic State.
———————
ISIS Giant Executioner (Bulldozer) Captured by Syrian Army
———————
This dramatic footage appears to show the 20-stone ISIS executioner dubbed The Bulldozer being captured by the Syrian army.
The obese extremist, a member of the terror group’s so-called Chopping Committee, is seen lying half-naked in the back of a truck with his hands tied behind his back.
Crowds gather round to take pictures of the hulking jihadi, who appears to be grimacing, before he is driven off by Syrian Armed Forces in the footage posted online by Syrian sources.
The Home Office has launched an independent review into the application of sharia law in England and Wales.
Professor Mona Siddiqui
Professor Mona Siddiqui of Edinburgh University, a specialist in Islamic and inter-religious studies, will lead a panel of experts that includes family law barrister Sam Momtaz, of 1 Garden Court, retired high court judge Sir Mark Hedley and family lawyer Anne Marie Hutchinson QC, partner at Dawson Cornwell, whose expertise includes jurisdictional disputes on divorce, child abduction, forced marriage disputes, children’s law and honour-based violence.
Home Secretary Theresa May noted that, while many people benefit from the guidance of sharia councils, there was evidence that some councils may be legitimising forced marriage, discriminating against women in divorce settlements and acting in other unacceptable ways.
The review will explore whether, and to what extent, sharia law is incompatible with the law in England and Wales, and the ways in which it may be being misused or exploited. It is due to complete its review in 2017.
Hostages Subjected To Execution Rehearsals In many ISIS execution videos, the victims speak calmly and directly to the camera to describe why they’re there. It seems weird that a person would be so…
What’s the hold-up ?
I’ve been waiting since last year to hear the happy News that she’s carried this promise out!
Sally Jones, who left the UK to join the extremist group of ISIS, has threatened to blow herself up after her husband was killed in a drone strike in Syria’s Raqqa.
Jones, 47, is a former punk rocker, originally from Kent. She has converted to Islam and has been radicalized recently through direct contact with terrorist groups online.
Quoting a Muslim extremist woman who killed herself along with scores of Russian soldiers in a truck bombing in 2000, Jones has expressed herself on the social media that she could be about to become a “black widow” suicide bomber.
The term “Black Widows” refers to a group of Chechen Muslim women whose husbands were killed by the Russian forces in Chechnya.
She moved to Syria with her 10-year-old son in 2013 and joined ISIS after being brainwashed.
“I know what I’m doing. Paradise has a price and I hope this will…
The plight of the Yazidi people of Northern Iraq and Syria has drifted in and out of the public consciousness over the past few years , as these followers of the ancient religion Yazidism – have been pursued and brutalised by the mad men of Islamic State and their deluded followers.
Their men folk have been killed and women systematically raped and force to act as ” Sex Slaves” to fighters of IS and they have been forced into exile from their ancestral lands in Northern Iraq . Over the past few weeks and months mass graves have been uncovered and the true horror of the persecution of the Yazidis people is yet to be told.
Khansaa Brigade The Al-Khansaa Brigade, also spelled Al-Khanssaa Brigade, is an all-women police or religious enforcement unit of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), operating…
The plight of the Yazidi people of Northern Iraq and Syria has drifted in and out of the public consciousness over the past few years , as these followers of the ancient religion Yazidism – have been pursued and brutalised by the mad men of Islamic State and their deluded followers.
Their men folk have been killed and women systematically raped and force to act as ” Sex Slaves” to fighters of IS and they have been forced into exile from their ancestral lands in Northern Iraq . Over the past few weeks and months mass graves have been uncovered and the true horror of the persecution of the Yazidis people is yet to be told.
The Yazidi people (also Yezidi, Êzidî; i/jəˈziːdiːz/yə-ZEE-dees) are an ethno-religious groupindigenous to the northern Mesopotamia (see also Ezidkhan) whose strictly endogamous. And ancient religion Yazidism (or Sharfadin) is not linked to Zoroastrianism but linked to ancient Mesopotamian religions; however Yazidis form a distinct and independent religious community and have their own culture.Yazidis only intermarry with Yazidis. Yazidis who marry with non-Yazidis are expelled from her family and may not even more call themselves Yazidis.. They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of Iraq. Additional communities in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria have been in decline since the 1990s as a result of significant migration to Europe, especially to Germany.[34] In Armenia, the Yazidis are recognized as a distinct ethnic group and generally do not consider themselves to be Kurdish. The United Nations also recognized the Yazidis as a distinct ethnic group. And according to the Human Rights Watch in 2009, the Yazidis are currently undergoing a process of Kurdification
————————
THE Yezidis RELIGION IN English
————————
The Yazidis are monotheists, believing in God as creator of the world, which he has placed under the care of seven holy beings or angels, the chief of whom is Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The Peacock Angel, as world-ruler, causes both good and bad to befall individuals, and this ambivalent character is reflected in myths of his own temporary fall from God’s favour, before his remorseful tears extinguished the fires of his hellish prison and he was reconciled with God.
This belief builds on Sufi mystical reflections on Iblis, who refused to prostrate to Adam despite God’s express command to do so. Because of this connection to the Sufi Iblis tradition, some followers of other monotheistic religions of the region equate the Peacock Angel with their own unredeemed evil spirit Satan, which has incited centuries of persecution of the Yazidis as “devil worshippers.” Persecution of Yazidis has continued in their home communities within the borders of modern Iraq, under fundamentalist Sunni Muslim revolutionaries.
Although they speak mostly Kurdish, their ethnicity is obscure.Commentators identify the Yazidis as predominantly Kurds but according to some sources, they tend to regard themselves as distinct from Kurds.Many Yazidis say that Kurds are originally Yazidi who shifted culturally after they adopted Islam.
The United Nations recognizes the Yazidis as a distinct ethnic group. A report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), in 2009, declares that to incorporate disputed territories in northern Iraq-particularly the Nineveh province- into the Kurdish region, KRG and Kurdish authorities have embarked on a two-pronged strategy of inducement and repression. The HRW report also criticizes heavy-handed tactics. According to report: “The goal of these tactics is to push Shabak and Yazidi communities to identify as ethnic Kurds. The Kurdish authorities are working hard to impose Kurdish identity on two of the most vulnerable minorities in Iraq, the Yazidis and the Shabaks“. Their principal holy site is in Lalish, northeast of Mosul. The Yazidis’ own name for themselves is Êzidî or Êzîdî or, in some areas, Dasinî (the latter, strictly speaking, is a tribal name). Some scholars have derived the name Yazidi from Old Iranian yazata (divine being), and some Yazidis themselves believe that their name is derived from the word Yezdan or Êzid “God”, though the current consensus among Western academics support the widespread idea that it is a derivation from UmayyadCaliphYazid I (Yazid bin Muawiyah), who is revered as Sultan Ezi. The Yazidis’ cultural practices are observed in Kurdish, and all speak Kurdish language. Kurdish language is the language of almost all the orally transmitted religious traditions of the Yazidis.
The religion of the Yazidis, Yazidism, is a kind of Yazdânism and has many influences: Sufi influence and imagery can be seen in the religious vocabulary, especially in the terminology of the Yazidis’ esoteric literature, but much of the theology is non-Islamic. Their cosmogonies apparently have many points in common with those of ancient Persian religions. Early writers attempted to describe Yazidi origins, broadly speaking, in terms of Islam, or Persian, or sometimes even “pagan” religions; however, research published since the 1990s has shown such an approach to be simplistic.
Yazidi man in traditional clothes.
The origin of Yazidism is now usually seen by scholars as a complex process of syncretism, whereby the belief system and practices of a local faith had a profound influence on the religiosity of adherents of the ‘Adawiyya Sufi order living in the Yezidi mountains, and caused it to deviate from Islamic norms relatively soon after the death of its founder, Shaykh‘Adī ibn Musafir, who is said to be of Umayyad descent. He settled in the valley of Laliş (some 36 miles north-east of Mosul) in the early 12th century. Şêx Adî himself, a figure of undoubted orthodoxy, enjoyed widespread influence. He died in 1162, and his tomb at Laliş is a focal point of Yazidi pilgrimage.
According to the Yezidi calendar, April 2012 marked the beginning of their year 6,762 (thereby year 1 would have been in 4,750 BC in the Gregorian calendar).
During the 14th century, important Yezidi tribes whose sphere of influence stretched well into what is now Turkey (including, for a period, the rulers of the principality of Jazira) are cited in historical sources as Yazidi. According to Moḥammed Aš-Šahrastani,”The Yezidis are the followers of Yezîd bn Unaisa, who [said that he] kept friendship with the first Muhakkama before the Azariḳa” . “It is clear, then, that Aš-Šahrastani finds the religious origin of this interesting people in the person of Yezîd bn Unaisa. … We are to understand, therefore, that to the knowledge of the writer, bn Unaisa is the founder of the Yezidi sect, which took its name from him.” “Now, the first Muhakkamah is an appellative applied to the Muslim schismatics called Al-Ḫawarij. … According to this it might be inferred that the Yezidis were originally a Ḫarijite sub-sect.””Yezid moreover, is said to have been in sympathy with Al-Abaḍiyah, a sect founded by ‘Abd-Allah Ibn Ibaḍ.”
Genocide of Yazidis by ISIL refers to the genocide of the Yazidi people of Iraq, leading to their expulsion, flight and effectively exiling them from their ancestral lands in North Iraq, the abduction of Yazidi women and massacres of at least 5,000 Yazidi civilians,during what has been called a “forced conversion campaign” being carried out in Northern Iraq by the militant organization the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), starting in 2014.
ISIL’s persecution of the Yazidi gained international attention, and directly led to the American-led intervention in Iraq (2014–present) which started with United States airstrikes against ISIL. Additionally, the US, UK, and Australia made emergency airdrops to Yazidis who had fled to a mountain range (see Sinjar massacre, § Refugee crisis in the Sinjar Mountains), and provided weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga defending them. ISIL’s actions against the Yazidi population resulted in approximately 500,000 refugees and several thousand killed and kidnapped.
Under Islamic Law as observed by ISIL, Yazidis are officially given the choice to convert to Sunni Islam or die. They are not eligible for the jizya tax taken from “People of the Book” by ISIL that would allow them to continue observing their religion
in 1892, Sultan Abdulhamid II ordered a campaign of mass conscription or murder of Yazidis as part of his campaign to Islamize the Ottoman Empire, which also targeted Armenians and other Christians.
On 3 August 2014, ISIL militants attacked and took over Sinjar in northern Iraq, a Kurdish-controlled town that was predominantly inhabited by Yazidis, and the surrounding area.
Yazidis, and internet postings of ISIL have reported summary executions that day by ISIL militants, leading to 200,000 civilians fleeing Sinjar, of whom around 50,000 Yazidis escaping to the nearby Sinjar Mountains. They were trapped on Mount Sinjar, facing starvation and dehydration.
On 4 August 2014, Prince Tahseen Said, Emir of the Yazidi, issued a plea to world leaders calling for assistance on behalf of the Yazidi facing attack from ISIL.
On 3 August, ISIL killed the men from the al-Qahtaniya area, ten Yazidi families fleeing were attacked by ISIL; and ISIL shot 70 to 90 Yazidi men in Qiniyeh village.
On 4 August, ISIL fighters attacked Jabal Sinjar, killed 30 Yazidi men; 60 more Yazidi men were killed in the village of Hardan. On the same day, Yazidi community leaders stated that at least 200 Yazidis had been killed in Sinjar (see Sinjar massacre), and 60–70 near Ramadi Jabal. According to reports from surviving Yazidi, between 3 and 6 August, more than 50 Yazidi were killed near Dhola village, 100 in Khana Sor village, 250–300 in Hardan area, more than 200 on the road between Adnaniya and Jazeera, dozens near al-Shimal village, and on the road from Matu village to Jabal Sinjar.
On 10 August 2014, according to statements by the Iraqi government and others, ISIL militants buried alive an undefined number of Yazidi women and children in northern Iraq in an attack that killed 500 people, in what has been described as genocide.Those who escaped across the Tigris River into Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria on 10 August gave accounts of how they had seen individuals also attempting to flee who later died.
On 15 August, in the Yazidi village of Kojo, south of Sinjar, after the whole population had received the jihadist ultimatum to convert or be killed, over 80 men were killed. A witness recounted that the villagers were first converted under duress, but when the village elder refused to convert, all of the men were taken in trucks under the pretext of being led to Sinjar, and gunned down along the way. According to reports from survivors interviewed by OHCHR, on 15 August, the entire male population of the Yazidi village of Khocho, up to 400 men, were rounded up and shot by ISIL, and up to 1,000 women and children were abducted; on the same day, up to 200 Yazidi men were reportledy executed for refusing conversion in a Tal Afar prison.
Between 24 and 25 August, 14 elderly Yazidi men were executed by ISIL in the Sheikh Mand Shrine, and the Jidala village Yazidi shrine was blown up. On 1 September, the Yazidi villages of Kotan, Hareko and Kharag Shafrsky were set afire by ISIL, and on 9 September, Peshmerga fighters discovered a mass grave containing the bodies of 14 executed civilians, presumably Yazidis.
According to an OHRCR/UNAMI report on 26 September, by the end of August, 1,600–1,800 or more Yazidis who had been murdered, executed, or died from starvation. In early October, Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago, estimated between 3,000–5,000 Yazidi men had been killed by ISIS.
In October 2014, a UN report revealed that ISIL had massacred 5,000 Yazidi men in northern Iraq in August 2014.
In May 2015, the Yazidi Progress Party released a statement in which they said that 300 Yazidi captives were killed on 1 May by ISIL in the Tal Afar, Iraq.
Abduction of women; sexual slavery
On 3 August, ISIL abducted women and children from the al-Qahtaniya area, and 450–500 abducted Yazidi women and girls were taken to Tal Afar; hundreds more to Si Basha Khidri and then Ba’aj.
———————-
Yazidi Teen Who Escaped from ISIS Captivity Recounts Her Harrowing Experiences
———————-
On 4 August, ISIL fighters attacked Jabal Sinjar and abducted a number of women in the Yazidi village of Hardan, wives and daughters were abducted; other Yazidi women were abducted in other villages in the area. On 6 August, ISIL kidnapped 400 Yazidi women in Sinjar to sell them as sex slaves. According to reports from surviving Yazidi, between 3 and 6 August, 500 Yazidi women and children were abducted from Ba’aj and more than 200 from Tal Banat. According to a statement by the Iraqi government on 10 August 2014, hundreds of women were taken as slaves in northern Iraq. On 15 August, in the Yazidi village of Kojo, south of Sinjar, over 100 women were abducted, though according to some reports from survivors, up to 1,000 women and children of the Yazidi village of Khocho were abducted. According to an OHRCR/UNAMI report on 26 September, by the end of August up to 2,500 Yazidis, mostly women and children, had been abducted. In early October, Matthew Barber, a scholar of Yazidi history at the University of Chicago, compiled a list of names of 4,800 Yazidi women and children who had been captured (estimating the total number of abducted people to be possibly up to 7,000).
—————————————–
ISIS sex slave survivor: They beat me, raped me, treated me like an animal
—————————————–
The abducted Yazidi women were sold into slave markets with ISIL “using rape as a weapon of war” according to CNN, with the group having gynaecologists ready to examine the captives. Yazidi women were physically observed, including examinations to see if they were “virgins” or if they were pregnant. Women who were found to be pregnant were taken by the ISIL gynaecologists and forced abortions were performed on them.
Haleh Esfandiari from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars highlighted the abuse of local women by ISIL militants after they have captured an area. “They usually take the older women to a makeshift slave market and try to sell them. The younger girls … are raped or married off to fighters”, she said, adding, “It’s based on temporary marriages, and once these fighters have had sex with these young girls, they just pass them on to other fighters.”
Speaking of Yazidi women captured by ISIS, Nazand Begikhani said in October, “These women have been treated like cattle… They have been subjected to physical and sexual violence, including systematic rape and sex slavery. They’ve been exposed in markets in Mosul and in Raqqa, Syria, carrying price tags.” Yazidi girls in Iraq allegedly raped by ISIL fighters have committed suicide by jumping to their death from Mount Sinjar, as described in a witness statement.
A United Nations report issued on 2 October 2014, based on 500 interviews with witnesses, said that ISIL took 450–500 women and girls to Iraq’s Nineveh region in August where “150 unmarried girls and women, predominantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given to ISIL fighters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves”. Also in October 2014, a UN report revealed that ISIL had detained 5–7,000 Yazidi women as slaves or forced brides in northern Iraq in August 2014.
Defend International reached out to Yazidi refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan, providing humanitarian aid in December 2014
On 4 November 2014, Dr. Widad Akrawi of Defend International said that “the international community should define what’s happening to the Yezidis as a crime against humanity, crime against cultural heritage of the region and ethnic cleansing,” adding that Yazidi females are being “subjected to as systematic gender-based violence and the use of slavery and rape as a weapon of war.” A month earlier, President of Defend International dedicated her 2014 International Pfeffer Peace Award to the Yazidis, Christians and all residents of Kobane because, she said, facts on the ground demonstrate that these peaceful people are not safe in their enclaves, partly because of their ethnic origin and/or religion and they are therefore in urgent need for immediate attention from the global community.[51][52][53][54][55][56][57] She asked the international community to make sure that the victims are not forgotten; they should be rescued, protected, fully assisted and compensated fairly.In November 2014 The New York Times reported on the accounts given by five who escaped ISIL of their captivity and abuse. On 3 November 2014, the horrifying “price list” for Yazidi and Christian females issued by ISIL surfaced online, and Dr. Widad Akrawi and her team were the first to verify the authenticity of the document. On 4 November 2014, a translated version of the document was shared by Dr. Akrawi.
On 4 August 2015, the same document was confirmed as genuine by a UN official.
In its digital magazine Dabiq, ISIL explicitly claimed religious justification for enslaving Yazidi women.
According to The Wall Street Journal, ISIL appeals to apocalyptic beliefs and claims “justification by a Hadith that they interpret as portraying the revival of slavery as a precursor to the end of the world”. In late 2014, ISIL released a pamphlet on the treatment of female slaves. The New York Times said in August 2015 that “[t]he systematic rape of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority has become deeply enmeshed in the organization and the radical theology of the Islamic State in the year since the group announced it was reviving slavery as an institution.
The ISIL offensive in the Sinjar area of northern Iraq, 3–4 August, caused 30,000–50,000 Yazidis to flee into the Sinjar Mountains (Jabal Sinjar) fearing they would be killed by ISIL. They had been threatened with death if they refused conversion to Islam. A UN representative said that “a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar”.
On 3 and 4 August, 14 or more Yazidi children and some elderly or people with disabilities died of hunger, dehydratation, and heat on Sinjar Mountains. By 6 August, according to reports from survivors, 200 Yazidi children while fleeing to Jabal Sinjar had died from thirst, starvation, heat and dehydratation.
Fifty thousand Yazidis, besieged by ISIL on Mount Sinjar, were able to escape after Kurdish PKK and Peshmerga attacks broke ISIL siege on the mountains. Majority of them were rescued by Kurdish PKK and YPG fighters. Multinational rescue operation involved dropping of supplies on the mountains and evacuation of some refugees by helicopters. During the rescue operation, on 12 August, an overloaded Iraqi Air Force helicopter crashed on Mount Sinjar, killing Iraqi Air Force Major General Majid Ahmed Saadi (the pilot) and injuring 20 people.
On 8 August, PKK was providing humanitarian aid and camps to more than 3,000 Yazidi refugees.
By 20 October, 2,000 Yazidis, mainly volunteer fighters, who had remained behind to protect the villages, but also civilians (700 families who had not yet escaped), were reported as still in the Sinjar area, and were forced by ISIL to abandon the last villages in their control, Dhoula and Bork, and retreat to the Sinjar Mountains.
Forced conversion to Islam
In an article by The Washington Post, it is stated that there is an estimated 7,000 Yazidis who had been forced to convert to “the Islamic State group’s harsh interpretation of Islam”.
Sunni collaboration
In several villages, local Sunnis were reported to have sided with ISIL, betraying Yazidis for slaughter once ISIL arrived, and even possibly colluding in advance with ISIL to lie to Yazidis, to lure them into staying put until the jihadis invaded; although there was also one report of Sunnis helping Yazidis to escape.
On 14 March 2016, the United States House of Representatives voted unanimously 393-0 that violent actions performed against Yazidis, Christians, Shia and other groups by ISIL were acts of genocide. Days later on 17 March 2016, United States Secretary of StateJohn Kerry declared that the violence initiated by ISIL against the Yazidis and others amounted to genocide.
Multiple individual human rights activists such as Nazand Begikhani and Dr. Widad Akrawi have also advocated for this view. The term itself first arose in 1944 as the creation of a Polish-Jewish lawyer named Raphael Lemkin, who himself defined the term as reflecting “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.”
Releases of Yazidi captives
In January 2015, about 200 Yazidis were released by ISIL. Kurdish military officials believed they were released because they were a burden. On 8 April 2015, 216 Yazidis, with the majority being children and elderly, were released by ISIL after being held captive for about 8 months. Their release occurred following an offensive by US-led air assaults and pressure from Iraqi ground forces who were pushing northward and in the process of retaking Tikrit. According to General Hiwa Abdullah, a peshmerga commander in Kirkuk, those released were in poor health with signs of abuse and neglect visible.
In March 2016, Iraqi security forces managed to free a group of Yazidi women held hostages by ISIL in a special operation behind ISILs lines in Mosul, in a statement issued by the Iraqi defence ministry.
In March 2016, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party managed to free 51 Yazidis held hostages by ISIL in a operation called ‘Operation Vengeance for Martyrs of Shilo’
On 8 August 2014, the US asserted that the systematic destruction of the Yazidi people by the Islamic State was genocide.
President Barack Obama had authorized the attacks to protect Yazidis but also Americans and Iraqi minorities. President Obama gave an assurance that no troops would be deployed for combat. Along with the airstrikes of 9 August, the US airdropped 3,800 gallons of water and 16,128 MREs. Following these actions, the United Kingdom and France stated that they also would begin airdrops.[115]
On 10 August 2014, at approximately 2:15 a.m. ET, the US carried out five additional airstrikes on armed vehicles and a mortar position, enabling 20,000–30,000 Yazidi Iraqis to flee into Syria and later be rescued by Kurdish forces. The Kurdish forces then provided shelter for the Yazidis in Dohuk.
On 13 August 2014, fewer than 20 United States Special Forces troops stationed in Irbil along with British Special Air Service troops visited the area near Mount Sinjar to gather intelligence and plan the evacuation of approximately 30,000 Yazidis still trapped on Mount Sinjar. One hundred and twenty-nine additional US military personnel were deployed to Irbil to assess and provide a report to President Obama. The United States Central Command also reported that a seventh airdrop was conducted and that to date, 114,000 meals and more than 35,000 gallons of water had been airdropped to the displaced Yazidis in the area.
In a statement on 14 August 2014, The Pentagon said that the 20 US personnel who had visited the previous day had concluded that a rescue operation was probably unnecessary since there was less danger from exposure or dehydration and the Yazidis were no longer believed to be at risk of attack from ISIL. Estimates also stated that 4,000 to 5,000 people remained on the mountain, with nearly half of which being Yazidi herders who lived there before the siege.
Kurdish officials and Yazidi refugees stated that thousands of young, elderly, and disabled individuals on the mountain were still vulnerable, with the governor of Kurdistan’s Dahuk province, Farhad Atruchi, saying that the assessment was “not correct” and that although people were suffering, “the international community is not moving”.
International bodies
United Nations – On 13 August 2014, the United Nations declared the Yazidi crisis a highest-level “Level 3 Emergency”, saying that the declaration “will facilitate mobilization of additional resources in goods, funds and assets to ensure a more effective response to the humanitarian needs of populations affected by forced displacements”. On 19 March 2015, a United Nations panel concluded that ISIL “may have committed” genocide against the Yazidis with an investigation head, Suki Nagra, stating that the attacks on the Yazidis “were not just spontaneous or happened out of the blue, they were clearly orchestrated”.
It’s all clear… ISIL invades your sphere… Yet no one imagines your fear… But don’t worry… Tausi Melek is here… Restoring Lives near…
“
”
Dr. Widad Akrawi of Defend International describing the plight of the Yazidis to raise awareness of their struggle to avoid another genocide in war-torn Iraq, September 2014.
Defend International – On 6 September 2014, Defend International launched a worldwide campaign entitled “Save The Yazidis: The World Has To Act Now” to raise awareness about the tragedy of the Yazidis in Sinjar; coordinate activities related to intensifying efforts aimed at rescuing Yazidi and Christian women and girls captured by ISIL; provide a platform for discussion and the exchange of information on matters and activities relevant to securing the fundamental rights of the Yazidis, no matter where they reside; and building a bridge between potential partners and communities whose work is relevant to the campaign, including individuals, groups, communities, and organizations active in the areas of women’s and girls’ rights, inter alia, as well as actors involved in ending modern-day slavery and violence against women and girls.
Turkish aid
Thousands of Yazidis have taken refuge in neighboring Turkey, where they are being sheltered in refugee camps in the city of Silopi.The Turkish Disaster Relief Agency (AFAD) has begun preparations to set up camps for receiving 6,000 refugees from Iraq.The number of Yazidi refugees in Turkey has reached 14 thousand by August 30.
Turkey has also airdropped humanitarian aid to Yazidi refugees within Iraq. However, Kurdish authorities didn’t confirm Turkey’s humanitarian aid.
The 2007 Yazidi communities bombings occurred at around 7:20 pm local time on August 14, 2007, when four co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Yazidi towns of Kahtaniya and Jazeera (Siba Sheikh Khidir), near Mosul. Iraqi Red Crescent‘s estimates say the bombs killed 796 and wounded 1,562 people, making this the Iraq War‘s most deadly car bomb attack during the period of major American combat operations. It was also the second deadliest act of terrorism in history, following only behind the September 11 attacks in the United States.
For several months leading up the attack, tensions had been building up in the area, particularly between Yazidis and Sunni Muslims (Muslims including Arabs and Kurds). Some Yazidis living in the area received threatening letters calling them “infidels”. Leaflets were also distributed denouncing Yazidis as “anti-Islamic” and warning them that an attack was imminent.
The attack might be connected to an incident wherein Du’a Khalil Aswad, a Yazidi teenage woman, was stoned to death. Aswad was believed to have wanted to convert in order to marry a Sunni.Two weeks later, after a video of the stoning appeared on the Internet, Sunni gunmen[145] stopped minibuses filled with Yazidis; 23 Yazidi men were forced from a bus and shot dead.
The Sinjar area which has a mixed population of Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs was scheduled to vote in a plebiscite on accession to the Kurdish region in December 2007. This caused hostility among the neighbouring Arab communities. A force of 600 Kurdish Peshmerga was subsequently deployed in the area, and ditches were dug around Yazidi villages to prevent further attacks.
Details
The blasts targeted a religious minority, the Yazidi. The co-ordinated bombings involved a fuel tanker and three cars. An Iraqi interior ministry spokesman said that two tons of explosives were used in the blasts, which crumbled buildings, trapping entire families beneath mud bricks and other wreckage as entire neighborhoods were flattened. Rescuers dug underneath the destroyed buildings by hand to search for remaining survivors.
“Hospitals here are running out of medicine. The pharmacies are empty. We need food, medicine and water otherwise there will be an even greater catastrophe,” said Abdul-Rahim al-Shimari, mayor of the Baaj district, which includes the devastated villages.
Responsibility
The attacks carry Al-Qaeda’s signature of multiple simultaneous attacks. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. “We’re looking at Al-Qaeda as the prime suspect,” said Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, a United States military spokesman. The group is reported to have distributed leaflets denouncing Yazidis as “anti-Islamic”. Others, including Iraq’s President, Jalal Talabani, blamed the bombings on “Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arab insurgents” seeking to undercut Premier Maliki’s conclave to end political deadlock among the country’s leaders.
On September 3, 2007, the U.S. military reportedly killed the mastermind of the bombings, Abu Mohammed al-Afri.
Although suicide is forbidden in Islam the madmen of Islamic State and their deluded followers choose to ignore this founding concept of Islam and they are masters at twisting and distorting the teachings of The Prophet Muhammad , to align with their own sick , twisted medieval interpretation of the Islamic Faith .
Most of the suicide bombers are lost souls , disillusioned with life and eager to embrace the utopia of an everlasting ” Paradise ” and are mere pawns to the puppet masters who control Islamic State and other extremist Islamic groups.
But at least they have their 72 blue eyed virgins waiting for them in paradise – Don’t they?
Not that I have any sympathy with them , if they choose to blow themselves to bits – that’s fine by me , but when they kill innocent people in the process That’s NOT at all right with me and their very existence sickenings me.
Captured Islamic State suicide bomber: ‘I’m so sorry’
———————————-
Verses in the Holy Quran Prohibiting Killing of Oneself or Others
Allah, praise to Him, strongly prohibited the killing of oneself (suicide), or anybody else, or children for fear of poverty, as stated in verses 6: 151, 17: 33, 2: 195, and 4: 29 because the killing of one innocent soul is for God equal to the crime of killing all people, as stated in 5: 32.
Shahid
Shahid and Shaheed (Arabic: شهيد šahīd, plural: شُهَدَاءšuhadāʾ ) originates from the Quranic Arabic word meaning “witness” and is also used to denote a “martyr“.It is used as a honorific for Muslims who have died fulfilling a religious commandment, especially those who die wielding jihad, or historically in the military expansion of Islam. The act of martyrdom is istishhad.
The word shahid in Arabic means “witness”. Its development closely parallels that of Greek martys (Greek: μάρτυς – “witness”, in theNew Testament also “martyr”), the origin of the term martyr. Shahid occurs frequently in the Quran in the generic sense “witness”, but only once in the sense “martyr; one who dies deliberately for his faith”; this latter sense acquires wider use in the hadiths.
In Arabic, a martyr is termed Shahid. Shahid appears in the Quran in a variety of contexts, including witnessing to righteousness, witnessing a financial transaction and being killed, even in an accident as long as it doesn’t happen with the intention to commit a sin, when they are believed to remain alive making them witnesses over worldly events without taking part in them anymore (Quran 3:140).
The word also appears with these various meanings in the hadith, the sayings of Muhammad.
The Greek origin of the word also means ‘witness.’
Islam views a martyr as a man or woman who dies while conducting jihad, whether on or off the battlefield (see greater jihad and lesser jihad). Opinions in the Muslim world vary widely on whether suicide bombers can count as martyrs. Very few Muslims believe that suicide bombing can be justified.
However, in a 2014 Pew Research Center survey conducted in 14 different regions (most of them in or around the Middle East) roughly 1 in 5 (20.71%) of all the Muslims surveyed answered “often” or “sometimes” to the question of if suicide bombings could be justified against civilians targets in order to defend Islam from its enemies.
Where’s my 72 virgins ?
Sensual Paradise
72 Blue eyed, white skinned virgins
________________________________________
Do Islamic Terrorists really get 72 Virgins?
________________________________________
In Islam, the concept of 72 virgins (houri) refers to an aspect of Jannah (Paradise). This concept is grounded in Qur’anic text which describe a sensual Paradise where believing men are rewarded by being wed to virgins with “full grown”, “swelling” or “pears-shaped” breasts. Conversly, women will be provided with only one man, and they “will be satisfied with him”
Contemporary mainstream Islamic scholars, for example; Gibril Haddad, have commented on the erotic nature of the Qur’anic Paradise, by saying some men may need ghusl (ablution required after sexual discharge) just for hearing certain verses.
Orthodox Muslim theologians such as al-Ghazali (died 1111 CE) and al-Ash’ari (died 935 CE) have all discussed the sensual pleasures found in Paradise, relating hadith that describe Paradise as a slave market where there will be “no buy and sale, but… If any man will wish to have sexual intercourse with a woman, he will do at once.”
It is quoted by Ibn Kathir, in his Qur’anic Commentary, the Tafsir ibn Kathir, and they are graphically described by Qur’anic commentator and polymath, al-Suyuti (died 1505), who, echoing a hasan hadith from Ibn Majah, wrote that the perpetual virgins will all “have appetizing vaginas”, and that the “penis of the Elected never softens. The erection is eternal“.
The sensual pleasures between believers and houri in Paradise are also confirmed by the two Sahih collections of hadith, namely Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, where we read that they will be virgins who are so beautiful, pure and transparent that “the marrow of the bones of their legs will be seen through the bones and the flesh”, and that “the believers will visit and enjoy them”.
Descriptions
There are several descriptions related to houri that are found in various Islamic references. Some include:
What will my Virgins Look Like?
Voluptuous/full-breasted
Chaste
With large, round breasts which are not inclined to hang
White skinned
Appetizing vaginas
Modest gaze
libidinous sex organs and he will have an ever-erect penis.’
I could go on but i’m sure you’ve got the message
Physical Attributes:
Wide and beautiful/lovely eyes
Like pearls
Hairless except the eye brows and the head
In addition to Quranic translations of 78:33 specifying the virgins will be voluptuous, Sahih International translates it as“full-breasted [companions] of equal age”. Tafsir al-Jalalayn says “and buxommaidens (kawā‘ib is the plural of kā‘ib) of equal age (atrāb is the plural of tirb)”. Several Islamic scholars explain that they will have “large, round breasts which are not inclined to hang”.
Beautiful
White skinned
60 cubits [27.5 meters] tall
7 cubits [3.2 meters] in width
Transparent to the marrow of their bones
Eternally young
Companions of equal age
Sexual Attributes:
Untouched / with hymen unbroken by sexual intercourse
Virgins
Voluptuous/full-breasted
With large, round breasts which are not inclined to hang
Appetizing vaginas
Personality Attributes:
Chaste
Restraining their glances
Modest gaze
Other Attributes:
Splendid
Pure
Non-menstruating / non-urinating/ non-defecating and childfree
Never dissatisfied
Will sing praise
Authenticity
Whilst there are numerous sources, including the Qur’an, which tell us believing males will be rewarded with virgins, many who are concerned about the authenticity of the 72 virgins concept are under the misconception that there is only one weak (da`if) reference to the exact number of houri given to them. These narrations are in fact found in many hadith collections with varying levels of authenticity, ranging from hasan (good) to sahih (authentic).
For example, in the Sunan Ibn Majah, one of the six major Hadith collections, it states in a hasan (good narration that every male admitted into Paradise will be given eternal erections and wed to 72 wives, all with libidinous sex organs.Similarly in another hadith with multiple narrators that has been graded hasan (good), it states that the martyr (shahid) will be married to seventy-two of al-hoor al-‘iyn.
In the Sunan al-Tirmidhi, another of the six major Hadith collections, it states that the smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode with seventy-two houri. Note that this is not a “weak Hadith that has no Sanad (chain of narrators)”, as some have claimed. It has been graded hasan sahih gharib, meaning this hadith is hasan since it has several chains of transmitters, it is sahih as the chains are all authentic and it is gharib in the words that Imam Tirmidhi narrated.
Also reported in Sunan al-Kubra and Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and declared sahih (authentic)by Ibn Abi Shayba, Ibn Hibban, and al-Hakim is the hadith that states the servant in Paradise will be married with seventy wives and that they’ll be given the sexual strength for a hundred.
Orthodox Muslim theologians have related further hadith that give us the exact number of 72, such as al-Ghazali who wrote, “[The Prophet said] the lowest rank of an inmate of Paradise will have eighty thousand servants and seventy two wives.”
Virgins or Raisins?
This false myth of “white raisins” originated from Christoph Luxenberg, a modern author writing under a pseudonym.His anti-Islamic claim, which has been accused of having a “Christian apologetic agenda”,is that the Qur’an was drawn from Christian Syro-Aramaic texts in the early 8th century, in order to evangelize the Arabs, and that the Aramaic word ‘hur’ (white raisin) had been mistranslated by later Arab commentators into the Arabic word ‘houri’ (virgin).
The Qur’an describes the physical characteristics of the houri in many places, and a reading of relevant verses show that Luxenberg’s theory regarding heavenly white raisins is in error.
Raisins, which are dried grapes, cannot have large eyes, big breasts, cannot restrain their glances, cannot be described as chaste, or have any of the characteristics listed above. The Qur’an further states that men will be wed to these houri. Men cannot be married to raisins or white grapes.
Additionally, for someone to accept this “72 raisins” theory, they would also have to accept that the Qur’an was not written by Allah or revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic during the 7th century, but was in fact written by Christian evangelists in Syro-Aramaic during the 8th century.
Notable scholars and apologists such as Shaykh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the world’s most quoted independent Islamic jurist, and Dr.Zakir Naik, known for his advocacy of “Qur’anic science“, have justified the use of suicide bombing in Islam. Opinion polls have further shown that an extremely large number of Muslims from around the world support the practice.
The Qur’an states that all Muslim males, not only martyrs, will be rewarded with virgins. However, the Qur’an does also mention that those who fight in the way of Allah (jihad) and get killed will be given a “great reward”, and there are also hasan (good) hadithwhich refer to 72 virgins as one of the “seven blessings from Allah” to the martyr.This has lead to the 72 virgins concept being widely used as a way to entice other Muslims into carrying out “martyrdom operations” for Islam.
This is witnessed in Palestine, where the actions of a mother who sends her son to die as a martyr is sometimes seen as “marrying him off”,and where the concept is used in Friday sermons and musicvideos, both airing on official television.It has even been used in the United Kingdom, where, in one event, Muslim teens were told to train with Kalashnikov rifles with the promise that the would receive 72 virgins in paradise if they died as religious martyrs.
Contrary to what the Qur’an, hadith, scholars and Muslims themselves say, a western author named Margaret Nydell in a book that “promotes understanding between modern-day Arabs and Westerners”, states that mainstream Muslims regard the belief of 72 virgins in the same way that mainstream Christians regard the belief that after death they will be issued with wings and a harp, and walk on clouds.
The Bible (and more specifically Jesus in the four Gospels) does not discuss the issue of wings and a harp being provided for Christians upon their arrival in Heaven. However, both the Qur’an and Muhammad in the hadith literature do discuss the issue of virgins being provided for Muslim men upon their arrival in Paradise. So the claim made by Margaret Nydell, equating the belief in receiving heavenly virgins to that of believing in receiving heavenly wings and harps, is inaccurate and misleading.
Conclusion
The Qur’anic Paradise is sensual in nature, promising Muslim men voluptuousvirginsbut does not specify their exact number. This cannot possibly be a mistranslation because raisins do not have large eyes or cannot be wed to men.
Qur’anic text
The hadith literature compliment the Qur’anic text by specifying the exact number of virgins as 72 and providing us with detailed descriptions of their characteristics. These narrations are not weak but vary in strength from good to authentic.
We are also given details on the physical attributes given to men to sustain 72 virgins, namely, ever-erect penises that never soften and the sexual strength to satisfy 100.
Although it does say they will receive a “great reward”,and there are also hasan hadith which refer to 72 virgins as one of the “seven blessings from Allah” to the martyr,the Qur’an does not specify these virgins are a reward for jihadists/martyrs, but rather for any Muslim male who gains admittance to Paradise.
Selected Quotations
————————–
Lo! We have created them a (new) creation, And made them virgins, Lovers, friends, For those on the right hand;
Abu Umama narrated: “The Messenger of God said, ‘Everyone that God admits into paradise will be married to 72 wives; two of them are houris and seventy of his inheritance of the [female] dwellers of hell. All of them will have libidinous sex organs and he will have anever-erect penis.‘
Sunan Ibn Majah, Zuhd (Book of Abstinence) 39
————————–
It was mentioned by Daraj Ibn Abi Hatim, that Abu al-Haytham ‘Adullah Ibn Wahb narrated from Abu Sa’id al-Khudhri, who heard the Prophet Muhammad PBUH saying, ‘The smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode where there are eighty thousand servants and seventy-two houri, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine and ruby, as wide as the distance from al-Jabiyyah to San’a
Al-Tirmidhi, Vol. 4, Ch. 21, No. 2687
————————–
Each time we sleep with a Houri we find her virgin. Besides, the penis of the Elected never softens. The erection is eternal; the sensation that you feel each time you make love is utterly delicious and out of this world and were you to experience it in this world you would faint. Each chosen one [i.e. Muslim] will marry seventy [sic] houris, besides the women he married on earth, and all will have appetizing vaginas.
Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an, p. 351
————————–
nas said, Allah be well-pleased with him: The Messenger of Allah said, upon him blessings and peace: “The servant in Paradise shall be married with seventy wives.” Someone said, “Messenger of Allah, can he bear it?” He said: “He will be given strength for a hundred.” From Zayd ibn Arqam, Allah be well-pleased with him, when an incredulous Jew or Christian asked the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, “Are you claiming that a man will eat and drink in Paradise??” He replied: “Yes, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, and each of them will be given the strength of a hundred men in his eating, drinking, coitus, and pleasure.”
Sifat al-Janna, al-`Uqayli in the Du`afa’, and Musnad of Abu Bakr al-Bazzar
————————–
This [Qur’an 78:33] means round breasts. They meant by this that the breasts of these girls will be fully rounded and not sagging, because they will be virgins, equal in age.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged, Volume 10 Surat At-Tagabun to the end of the Qur’an, 333-334
“The Qur’an doesn’t talk about 72 virgins, only the hadiths”
Even though the Qur’an does not mention the number of virgins, it does say in verse 56:36[27] that Muslim men will be awarded with virgins in Paradise. The Qur’an describes their physical attributes, for example they will have large eyes (56:22) and big breasts (78:33)[20] and so on. The actual number of houri is thus a minor issue and 72 is the number of those houris confirmed in multiple hadith. The hadiths are a crucial part of Islam and certain Muslims ignore them because sometimes they contain uncomfortable details about Islam. There are many hadiths and Qur’anic verses which talk about various issues of a sexual nature. According to Sahih Bukhari1:5:268 which belongs to the most authentic collection of hadiths, Muhammad himself was given the sexual strength of 30 men and so on.
“The 72 virgins hadith has been classified as Da’if (weak) or Maudu (fabricated)”
This is not true. The hadith from Sunan al-Tirmidhi has been graded hasan sahih gharib (a “fair, sound, single-chained hadith”).[9] Additionally there is not only one “72 virgins” hadith. We have quoted narrations here that have been graded both hasan (good) and sahih (authentic), and there are many others.
“Obviously this hadith has been made up, is unreliable and/or is a lie”
See answers to #1 and 2 above.
“The Qur’an doesn’t talk about the number of virgins being seventy two”
See answer to #1 above.
“It is talking about (white) raisins, not virgins”
This is a myth originating from Christoph Luxenberg, a recent author with a pseudonym who has no known qualifications or authority on Islamic issues, and has been shown to be in error for various reasons.
“Islam prohibits suicide”
Yes, hadith do exist that prohibit suicide (Suicide bombing however is a separate issue) but this has nothing to do with the fact that Islam promises women in Paradise as a reward for the “righteous” (i.e. Muslims).
“If the seventy two virgins thing was something big in Islam it would be talked about more frequently.”
Women in Islamic heaven as a reward are talked about frequently in the Qur’an as evidenced by the various places in the Qur’an where their characteristics are talked about. Also if the Qur’an talks about a certain issue only once, it cannot be taken lightly in any way as every word and sentence in the Qur’an is important and holy to Muslims.
“The houri are for both men and women”
The Qur’an explicitly talks about female virgins with large eyes as rewards for men. On the contrary there is not a single “women will get guys as a reward” verse. Some gender neutral verses do exist but they talk about general rewards only (such as “companionship” etc). Also, according to Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen, who was a leading cleric and a member of the Senior Clerics Association, “This number is only for men. A woman will have only one husband in Paradise, and she will be satisfied with him and will not need any more than that.”[4]
“The houri are only servants and not for sexual purposes”
If that was true, Qur’an 56:36[27] wouldn’t say they are virgins and it wouldn’t mention they have big breasts. In addition, while the Qur’an does not explicitly say they’re for sexual purposes, other Islamic sources mention that. One hadith says “The believer will be given such and such strength in Paradise for sexual intercourse”. Other sources state that “the penis of the Elected never softens” and that men in heaven will have the sexual strength of 100 men.[58][59]
Well whatever your view or religion I strongly believe in Karma and Karma always collects its debts and if theres any justice in fate then these Islamic Terrorists and thier deluded followers will burn in the enternall flames of hell and suffer till the end of times itself.
I have been following and sympathising with these guys for sometime now and their courage and selfless commitment to exposing the “real” ISIS and their brutal treatment of the Raqqa people – has both informed me and filled me with unlimited respect for these brave young men.
Sadly they have paid a heavy price for their brave actions , but without them Raqqa would not only be being slaughtered in silence – but in secret & behind closed doors. One day when justice catches up with IS & their deluded followers ( and that day will come) thanks to these guys we will have a record of their crimes and abuse of Raqqa and its people and the IS madmen will pay for their crimes against humanity in this life or the next.
Because Karma is watching and Karma always collects its debts
Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently (RSS or RBSS) is a citizen journalism effort exposing human rights abuses by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIL or DAESH) forces occupying the northern Syrian city of Raqqa. ISIL uses Raqqa as its de facto capital. RSS works to counter the suggestion that citizens of Raqqa have welcomed the presence of ISIL/DAESH.
It has become one of the few reliable sources of information from the city.
Activities
————————
ISIS Most Wanted – Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently
————————
The group has published first hand accounts, videos and photos of life and war crimes in Raqqa through its Facebook page and website, other social media, and via interviews and furnishing material to media organizations worldwide. As a result, RSS has been cited by international media outlets fairly extensively, and major news outlets have done feature stories on the group. Since no foreign or domestic journalists can operate in Raqqa, the efforts of RSS provide unique insights. The work is dangerous, with ISIL militants searching for, torturing and in at least one case killing, RSS members.
Members
According to an interview with Vice News, there were originally 17 members, who started out opposing the Syrian Government. When ISIL moved in to the city in April 2014 the group started the posting information about ISIL. One member who had fled Raqqa said
“After we launched the campaign and posted a lot of crucifixions and executions on the news and Facebook and Twitter, they made three Friday sermons about us, saying we are infidels and we’re against Allah and “we’ll catch them and we’ll execute them.” “We are 12 inside the city and four outside. Before the 12 inside the city were posting on Twitter and posting on Facebook, and talking to journalists, but it’s very dangerous. So we decided to use a “secret room,” and the people in the city post all the photos, the news, and everything, and the four that are out, we are posting it on the internet, Twitter, and Facebook, and talking to journalists. We hide behind fake names and we don’t trust anyone, so we don’t get captured.”
———————————-
Inside Raqqa: The Raqqa Resistance
———————————-
Al-Moutaz Bellah Ibrahim
Several members of RSS have been executed inside Raqqa. In May 2014 Al-Moutaz Bellah Ibrahim was kidnapped by ISIL and murdered. In July 2015, ISIL released a video showing two men being strung up on trees and shot. Though ISIL claimed the two murdered men had worked with RBSS, one of the founders of RBSS denied they were members. Another friend of the group was similarly executed.
Ibrahim Abdul Qadir & Fares Hamadi
Hamoud al-Mousa, the father of one of the group’s founders, was killed in ISIL custody. On October 30, 2015, RSS activist Ibrahim Abdul Qadir (age 20) and his friend Fares Hamadi were found stabbed and beheaded in Urfa, Turkey. It was the first acknowledged assassination outside of ISIL controlled territory.
Abdalaziz Alhamza acts as a spokesperson. At least 5 members of the group live outside Syria.
Ahmad Mohammed al – Mousa
On December 16, 2015 masked men murdered RSS member Ahmad Mohammed al-Mousa in the rebel held city of Idlib, Syria.
Naji Jerf, the group’s film director and editor-in-chief of the independent monthly Hentah, was killed in Gaziantep, Turkey with a silenced pistol in broad daylight outside a media building in late December 2015. ISIL claimed responsibility on Twitter.
The Scene of Naji Killing
——————–
Inside ISIS capital in Raqqa Syria – Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently
——————–
Significant stories
When ISIL banned home internet in Raqqah and forced internet users into cafes where they could be monitored RBSS started releasing unfiltered information about life under ISIL rule.
Soon after the release of a video showing the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot, Muath Al-Kasasbeh, RBSS released Google earth photos they cross referenced to landmarks pinpointing the location of the execution in the southern part of Raqqa near the river. They also reported that videos of the execution were played for the public on large screens throughout the city of Raqqa.
RBSS detailed that the effects of Russian airstrikes in and around Raqqa were targeting mainly civilian targets, and having little effect on ISIL.
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently: the courage of reporting on life in Syria ..
————————————
The group was awarded the International Press Freedom Award in 2015, from the Committee to Protect Journalists. The citation said in part “While RBSS was formed to document the atrocities of [ISIL], its members have also reported critically on the Assad government’s bombings, other rebel forces, and civilian casualties caused by U.S.-led airstrikes”.
Kyle Orton writing for The Independent, said “The risks are extreme. Their bravery quite extraordinary” and wrote “Where [ISIL] presented a functioning, just government, RBSS showed the scarcity and brutality. Not a few foreign fighters … have gone to wage “five-star jihad” … only to be disillusioned… that [ISIL] is reportedly having to kill them to stop them leaving. RBSS’s work, therefore, offers the chance of preventing people inclined toward [ISIL’s] ideology actually going to Syria
belfastchildis.com 