Islamic State fatwa reveals dos and don'ts for owners of female slaves

The Islamic State scholars have issued a fatwa on who can have sex with the women enslaved by the militant outfit, throwing light on how Daesh is trying to reinterpret Islamic teachings to justify human rights violations, a report said.

The fatwa No. 64, dated 29 January, 2015, issued to curb violations in the treatment of female slaves, was found among several documents seized during a US raid targeting Isis officials in Syria in May, reported Reuters.

The new revelation comes just a day after reports disclosed the Islamic State's special department of "war spoils" to manage slavery.

The fatwa, which codifies the sexual relations between the fighters and their woman captives, begins with a question:

"Some of the brothers have committed violations in the matter of the treatment of the female slaves. These violations are not permitted by Sharia law because these rules have not been dealt with in ages. Are there any warnings pertaining to this matter?"

It is followed by certain dos and don'ts for owners of females captives. One of the injunctions instructs owners to be kind to their female slaves and not humiliate them. As per the ruling, the owners are also not allowed to forcefully make the captives do works they are unable to perform or to sell them to individuals who he knows will treat her badly.

The fatwa does not permit father and son having sex with the same female slave and bans the owner of a mother and daughter to have sex with both of them. For joint owners, their female slaves are "off-limits" to both of them "because she is part of a joint ownership".

Earlier, several Islamic scholars across the world have noted that the "reintroduction of slavery is forbidden in Islam," criticising the Islamic State's way of justifying sexual slavery with the help of religious arguments.