Female prisoners

Author:

Sir: The world did not believe when the news of enslavement of thousands of Yazidi women and girls in Daesh-controlled Iraqi areas started pouring in; but soon these horrible acts were confirmed. A number of Yazidi women who managed to escape from Daesh clutches told the world what is going on there —- female slaves are being traded and subjected to sexual cruelty. There was uproar when a fatwa (or better say a ‘rape handbook’) came on surface wherein Daesh has set rules for female slaves. Fatwa discusses quite in graphic detail the rules under which the owners of the slaves can have sex with them; apparently it is an attempt to regulate the treatment of enslaved female prisoners. The fatwa outlines 15 rules to modulate this centuries-old hateful practice in 21st century.

I see many people condemning the fatwa and declaring Daesh a disgrace to Islam. Any sane mind will go by this condemnation but then I find what Daesh is doing with female prisoners is exactly the same Syed Maududi of Jamat-e-Islami has elaborated in his Tafheem-Ul-Quran. I presume Syed Maududi’s views on slavery and treatment with female prisoners will not be different from scholars of same school of thought and stature such as Sayyid Qutb and Hasan Al-Banna of the Muslim Brotherhood

There is no point in condemning Daesh alone; we need to dig further from where these terrorist organisations are getting guidance. Unless you reach to the roots, action against Daesh would be a futile exercise as they will re-emerge elsewhere with a different name but with same agenda and more hardened resolve.

For Pakistanis who still have a soft corner for Daesh; such acts shall be an eyes opener. This is the type of theocratic state Jamat-e-Islami and other religious parties and their militant outfits want to have in this country.

MASOOD KHAN

Jubail

Saudi Arabia