Islamic State's helpful guidelines for purchasing a sex slave
Who says these Islamic State fanatics are blue noses when it comes to sex?
Actually, they're quite open about raping little girls – as long as they aren't Sunni Muslim little girls.
A video posted to YouTube on November 1 purportedly shows a room full of ISIS militants eagerly awaiting a "slaves market," and boasting about the number of young women they intend to purchase.
The scene is jovial and slightly chaotic. It would appear, however, that ISIS requires its rank and file to follow a strict code of conduct in the matter of stealing young women and trading them like cattle for sexual gratification.
Early this month, a document surfaced on jihadist web forums and social media, attributed to ISIS' own "Religious Edicts Council," aimed at clearing up any lingering doubts its followers might have about the rules governing slavery.
The pamphlet, which is presented in question and answer form, lists 21 clarifications on everything from which women are okay to abduct and force into slavery (essentially any "unbelieving" women or girls, which likely translates to any non-Sunni Muslims), to the absurdly detailed, "May a man kiss the female slave of another, with the owner's permission?"
The answer to that one: "A man may not kiss the female slave of another, for kissing [involves] pleasure, and pleasure is prohibited unless [the man] owns [the slave] exclusively."
Overall the guidelines make it clear that, in the mind of ISIS leaders, "It is permissible to buy, sell, or give as a gift female captives and slaves, for they are merely property, which can be disposed of."
The most shocking information the pamphlet offers is the notion that it is "permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn't reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse; however if she is not fit for intercourse, then it is enough to enjoy her without intercourse."
There is no clarification offered in the document as to what might make a young girl "fit" to be raped.
It is not uncommon in primitive societies, regardless of religion, for girls as young as 12 or 13 to be married off to someone 30 or 40 years older. The tradition is meant to maximize the years that a girl in a tribe can conceive children. This is important when 50% of children die before reaching the age of 3.
But this is very different from the traditional practice of arranging marriages. This is pure slavery for sex. And it should trouble the world that the Islamic State is not the only Muslim entity that encourages this practice. Islamic governments around the world look the other way while women are bought and sold for sex.
We should go far beyond simply condemning this barbarity and start slapping sanctions on government that allow it to occur under their noses.