REVISITING RETROSPECTION
In a world where equality, liberty and freedom of choice for women are values of humanity, it is hard to believe that female immigration to the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) exists. This complicated phenomenon requires surgical analysis. A realistic dissection of the problem requires narrowing in from the broader picture. History repeats itself. Mistakes do too. But some mistakes are so catastrophic that repeating them results into disasters like ISIS.
United States-led proxy war in Afghanistan against the former Soviet Union (1979–1989) left trained jihadis to form terrorist outfits like Al Qaida and the Taliban. Before the world could get rid of these menaces of violent extremism, the United States launched a war on Iraq (2003–2011) in search of weapons of mass destruction. It was Camp Bucca, the American prison facility in Iraq at the border with Kuwait, that became the birthplace of ISIS. At least nine top ISIS members were detained in this facility including the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the so-called caliph of ISIS. The NATO-led intervention in Libya (2011) leading to the death of Muammar Gaddafi the same year at the hands of the National Transition Council (NTC) left a power vacuum that is being exploited by ISIS as it continues to extend its influence in Libya.
The Syrian episode is perhaps the most critical of all. The Syrian Civil War has Russia and Iran supporting Bashar Al Assad’s regime, believing that the removal of the Syrian government will create another power gap and potential opportunity for ISIS to escalate its stronghold. On the other hand, the United States, NATO and the Saudi-led military coalition are determined to oust the Syrian government in the fight against ISIS.
Meanwhile the European Union (EU) is trying to consolidate an institutionalized response towards the migrant crisis, most of whom originate from Syria. Holding Britain in the EU and giving Turkey the responsibility to take back refugees from Greece have been some of the simultaneous developments at hand. The one-out, one-in deal struck with Turkey will result in undocumented refugees landing in Greece to be sent back to Turkey. They will be screened and properly documented in Turkey and will be received back by the EU as genuine asylum seekers with the burden of refugees systematically shared between EU member states.
Let us recap. Military interventions have been launched on vulnerable and/or radical territories without a post-operation plan or what the developed world better understands as “interventions launched without any elements of sustainability”. Iraq, Syria as well as Libya continue to have areas of Islamic State (IS)-claimed territory. On one hand, the United States and Russia need to reach a governance and settlement solution for Syria. On the other hand, the Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim blocks need to put their acts together not only for sustainable peace in Syria and Libya but also in vulnerable places like Yemen.
In all of this, like in any other war, the most affected people are women and children. This war that the world is challenged with is unique and unprecedented in many ways. Not only are many forces at loggerheads with one another, but religious as well as social ideologies are clashing with one another, questioning the differences and similarities between the different parts of the world. The exploitation of values and hate speech are really the core instruments used by organizations like ISIS for growing their network within lands and communities that they rule as well as to inspire foreign fighters to join their league or announce allegiances. It was ironically sad to hear an American presidential candidate use “hate speech” to gain momentum. This similarity of disparity identifies the fracture-line between different parts of the world.
The number of foreign fighters fighting for ISIS has doubled in a year.Footnote 1 This number reportedly stands between 27,000 and 31,000 fighters from 86 countries. The same study also indicates that about 20 to 30% of these fighters returning to their home countries can create greater domestic security threats for these nations. A December 7, 2015 Time Magazine report claims that there are about 600 Western female recruits and an even greater number of female recruits from non-Western countries. For instance, there are reports that around 700 female recruits have joined ISIS from Tunisia alone.
There have been multiple efforts launched to determine the underlying reasons inspiring and sustaining the influx of females joining ISIS but most research bodies, investigative publications and world forums believe there is still little evidence available to be used for turning the tide against ISIS. This article is making an attempt to analyze insights available to chart different roles that ISIS assigns to its female populace. A profound comprehension of the systematic integration of females into the socio-economic fabric of ISIS is inevitable. Such analytics can open a sizeable window of opportunity to unlock and reverse the mix of push-and-pull phenomena used by ISIS to lure local and foreign females into its vicious network.
There is no denying that although the dynamic of female engagement in the ISIS network is an exclusive domain, it is still part of the overall ISIS ideology. This ideology has worked for ISIS fundamentally due to a backlash from the catastrophes committed by military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. The second most significant reason is that the Salafi–jihadi narrative preached by Saudi Arabia through heavily funded religious curricular programs in Sunni-majority Muslim countries has exploited core religious narratives (including interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah). These critically include narrative justifying killings in the name of religion as well as having sex with a slave. With out-of-context and molded quotations and references, such narrative has been used to create hardline divisions between Muslims and non-Muslims as well as within the sects of Islam. Another thing that these religious doctors have fabricated is the use of religious prophecies about the rise of an Islamic caliphate from historic places in Syria/Iraq. Prevailing injustice, inequality and deprivation in most underdeveloped countries of North Africa, Middle East and Asia have been used by ISIS in the wake of the famous Arab Spring as a springboard to inspire recruits. Last, but not least, ISIS has used social media and direct communications across continents to inspire young men and women in Western countries who are often disillusioned due to identity crisis, social alienation, domestic oppression, stigma/discrimination, support for United States- and NATO-led airstrikes, drone attacks and other military interventions in Muslim countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria.
UNVEILING CLOAKS
A desk review of secondary research analysis carried out for drafting this policy paper identifies the following roles and positions of females in the nefarious ISIS networks. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, The New York Times research in Dohuk, studies undertaken by the Soufan Group, studies led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), medical observations of Dr Naghman Nawzat at a United Nations-backed clinic in Northern Iraq, as well as reviews of The Guardian and Atlantic in different accounts between June 2015 and 2016 have been consulted for charting the following 13 distinctive female roles in the ISIS network. A brief insight into each one of these roles is also presented to better understand the functions and the potential motives.
Mothers, Wives and Daughters
As ISIS grew from the ideology of Zarqawi to the leadership of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the mothers, wives and daughters of the ISIS fighters embraced the radical uprising naturally. These were inherently weak women with little freedom and social status that did not change much after the declaration of Caliphate by ISIS. The social as well as economic status of these stereotypical women is directly dependent on the men they are associated with. In the event of the death of the son and husband, the women have to marry again immediately following the stipulated period of mourning. Most of these stereotypical women have virtually no life. Television, radio or any other entertainment as well as fundamental freedoms to move, speak, choose or make decisions are absolutely denied to these women. As per the strict code of conduct for the ISIS territories, women have to keep their doors and windows closed and cover their bodies from head to toe with a very brief slit for eyes to see. Any violation from the code of conduct is a punishable offense.
Morality Police
The elevated women chosen from the wives, mothers and daughters of ISIS commanders and notable fighters are designated as the network’s morality police. These police are responsible for ensuring that the strict code of conduct imposed by ISIS is followed in every community and household. There are reported incidents where women have been taken by morality police and punished with lashes for wearing make-up and veils that could identify the form/shape of their body. Members of the morality police enjoy some degree of freedom of movement. They also experience a sense of disillusioned fulfillment by exercising authority over other women of the society and even administer punishments.
Sisterhood Preachers
Inspired by the ideology of a unified Muslim world under one caliph, the sisterhood dynamic runs parallel to Muslim brotherhood narrative. There are two streams of females that actively participate in this ISIS system which is institutionalized to maintain the Salafi–jihadi values in the ISIS communities. The first set of females is resident mothers, wives and daughters who perform a function that can be considered parallel to that of the morality police. The other stream of females is the foreigners who have joined ISIS from different parts of the world (including Muslim and non-Muslim as well as Western and non-Western countries). Compared with the females performing the morality force duty, these women have a relatively reduced level of authority. However, they have some degree of liberty to move for the purpose of preaching the ISIS version of Salafi Islam to women and children within ISIS communities.
Teachers, Doctors and Paramedics
The Saudi-inspired Salafi literature that is known to have motivated the founders of ISIS, like Zarqawi, is regularly taught in formal as well as informal structures to children of the so-called IS. The conventional role of a teacher is assigned to resident females as well as females joining ISIS from other Islamic countries. However, the conventional role of prayer leader and religious decree is kept away from females. Therefore, the domain of issuing a fatwa (religious verdict) and to lead prayers remains a function of male religious leaders and pseudo-intellectuals who are presented as revered ulema (religious scholars of authority).
On the other hand, the ISIS fighters face continuous internal (from rebel groups as well as Iraqi and Syrian forces) as well as external (airstrikes, drone attacks and ground operations from United States and NATO forces) armed resistance which often results in critical injuries to ISIS fighters. To ensure that the fighters are well looked after, ISIS has a pool of doctors and paramedics – some of which happen to be females. There is a strict code enforced on the doctor as well as patient belonging to the opposite gender; therefore the number of female doctors and paramedics treating war-wounded ISIS fighters is relatively small in number. It has also been reported that these doctors and paramedics strictly operate under a brutal and barbaric set of ethics and code that is defined by ISIS to ensure that their sex-slavery practices continue to flourish uninterrupted.
Jihadi Brides
The most romantic of all pull instruments so far used by the ISIS propaganda machines is the notion of jihadi brides that, despite global criticism and condemnation, continues to attract females from Muslim as well as non-Muslim countries. This ideology is carried out by ISIS women as well as men through social media engagement as well as direct persuasion and mentoring. For the latter, ISIS machinery has worked through in-person communications, email correspondence, cellular contact and Skype meetings. A number of recorded interviews have been made of secluded and socially alienated teenagers, as well as oppressed, humiliated and tormented women from a variety of religious, social and ethnic backgrounds, falling prey to these nefarious ideologies.
The particular thrust of the religious narratives of ISIS inspires young women to travel to IS and devote themselves to the holy fighters in the name of God, citing this act to be equal to jihad carried out by men. There is the known risk of losing a husband who is an ISIS fighter. ISIS practices a particular customization of the Islamic jurisprudence where it cuts short the period of mourning or cleansing (known as iddah) for the young widows and practices an enforced remarriage concept.
The phenomenon is fabricated in such a manner that the allegiance of the husband, wives as well as the children born to such parents is strongly associated with the ISIS social system as opposed to any other. The distorted family allegiances depicted in the Hollywood fiction movie The Divergent Series: Insurgent are somewhat actually institutionalized by ISIS in the most vicious ways possible.
The increase in jihadi brides is therefore directly contributing to the increase in child soldiers. Through this systematic social corruption, ISIS has crafted a mechanism for raising a new generation of conscious-less, parent-less army of child soldiers who will do anything for their commanders without considering any religious, ethnic, social or human moral value.
Sex Slaves
The Yazidi communities of Iraq and Syria as well as other minority groups living in and around ISIS territories have become the worst victims of ISIS brutality. Since ISIS has adopted a distorted Islamic decree that permits a holy fighter to have sex with the captive female slave, the ISIS fighters use the provision as a lifestyle entertainment. The medical examinations carried out at a United Nations clinic on such girls in Northern Iraq revealed that only 5% of the abused captive girls actually got pregnant because 95 % of them were forced to used pills and injections as contraceptive measures. This has been practiced by ISIS because their distorted religious decree that permits sex slavery has been joined to the consideration that, if a slave girl becomes pregnant, she cannot be sold further like a commodity. This particular aspect of ISIS ideology is attributed to a verse of the Quran, the interpretation of which is different among many sects and branches of Islam. However, this degree of exploitation of female captives taken in as slaves is unprecedented in the entire Muslim history – even in the early days of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) when slavery was practiced in the Arab world at large. It is most critical to note that ISIS has been using these Quranic references to promote its vicious trade of sex slavery in their propaganda publications, both printed and electronic. There have been condemnations from the larger Muslim world and religious scholars of repute but all of them have been generic in nature. What is most needed to eliminate the exploitation of young females sold as sex slaves is a consolidated religious decree from a pool of Islamic scholars that provides a concrete, corrected interpretation of the distorted religious scripture so that the counter-narrative cannot be contested by the ISIS propaganda machines.
Religious Converts
The ISIS teachings are the harshest of all known teachings of Islam. Not only are non-Muslims considered infidels, but every Muslim whether Sunni or Shi’ite who refuses to accept the ISIS version of Islam is declared an infidel. The war does not end there. It rather begins there because the ISIS ideology teaches every ISIS fighter to be inhuman and to be GOD at the same time by first declaring everyone else an infidel by judging their faith only from the ISIS perspective and then by executing all infidels in the most brutal and inhumane way possible. There are many credible references in the holy Quran and Sunnah where faith in God, good deeds, standing by the truth, patience and tolerance have been cited categorically as the core characteristics of people (not just Muslims) who will be blessed by ALLAH in the hereafter. But, ironically, the Saudi-dominated religious teachings across the Muslim world have created pseudo-arguments and distorted interpretations for all such teachings to reinforce that everyone, except Muslims, is destined for hell-fire. The conflict does not end there. These twisted and self-serving interpretations have been made more divisive by establishing that people belonging to the other sects of Islam (other than Salafis) are also to be considered infidels and will go to hell. On these distorted grounds ISIS has been running propaganda to convert vulnerable Muslims from other factions of Islam as well as non-Muslims from around the world to convert to the ISIS version of Islam. Once they succeed in converting a person, they force the person, using psychological influence as a mentor and as a spiritual guide, to travel to the so-called IS, leaving behind their spouses, children and families if they do not also convert since they all also stand in the queue of infidels. The story may at first appear far-fetched but detailed studies by research and investigative media from around the world reveal that the ISIS rhetoric has been fairly successful – not just to pull Muslim men and women but also to attract non-Muslim men and women from around the world. Therefore, there is a critical need to fully understand the ISIS societal structure through this dissection exercise and launch a robust counter-narrative. It must not be perceived as a rejoinder from the West but as a homegrown response, deep rooted in core religious teachings of Islam, evolved unanimously from the larger Muslim majority countries of Sunni as well as Shi’ite factions.
Social Media: Propaganda Experts and Recruiters
ISIS is known for its financial resourcefulness as well as its use of social media propaganda. The propaganda machinery of ISIS has television, radio, publications as well as Internet-based psychological warfare wings. Through these media resources ISIS continues to spread its message using camouflaged as well as mainstreamed media tactics. A significant number of the foreigner females recruited by ISIS are used for media management in multiple international languages including French and other popular European languages. Females who are good with social media skills are particularly given targets to engage and persuade vulnerable teenagers from around the world, using feministic lure and communication charisma. There are unconfirmed reports about the use of female recruiters who have been deployed in other countries on the ground in the guise of immigrants and settlers to lure and persuade underserved, exploited, radical and vulnerable people, particularly impulsive adolescent youngsters.
Interpreters
Inside the ISIS territories some female recruits are used as on-ground interpreters. Depending on the need, level of trust, status of the husband of such females and the duties assigned to them, they are assigned to commanders to decode intercepted intelligence correspondence. For negotiation, trading, kidnapping and extortion-based business enterprises of ISIS the interpreters are used with key wheelers and dealers of ISIS. Most women interpreters are used in the illicit dark trade of sex slaves in slave markets as well as for trade across territorial borders and the ISIS groups/command structures within the larger IS territory. The ISIS media and propaganda wing also uses the female interpreters to gather insights on the counter-narratives launched against ISIS from different global organizations and states. Reponses to these messages are then prepared with the help of these interpreters to dismantle and discredit attempts of counter-narrative launched against ISIS rhetoric.
International Terrorists
The terrorist incident of San Bernardino involving Tashfeen Malik as well as the disputed role of Hasna Aitboulahcen and that of Hayat Boumeddiene in the Paris terror attacks indicate that ISIS has trained and continues to train international female terrorists. Actually, women have been described as being more radicalized than their husbands. This psychological warfare weapon is strategically used by ISIS for high-value targets internationally. These females are trained to present deceiving appearances and to integrate with target societies in such a discreet way that even immediate family members and friends are shocked when they execute their mission. Such levels of perseverance and devotion to the heinous mission of killing innocent human beings that also involves sacrificing one’s own children by a mother are truly unprecedented. To dismantle, disrupt and reverse such ideological bonding is perhaps the biggest challenge today. It raises the bar on every counter-terrorism expert and social scientist to successfully dissect and fracture such an ingrained system of brainwashing. As the EU braces for a continuous influx of migrants, the challenge and threat of ISIS-planted international female terrorists grows exponentially. For humanitarian organizations, peace-keeping forces as well as counter-terrorism teams, the situation presents a grave challenge to trace, track, halt and rehabilitate such hardened female terrorists.
Lone Wolves
Despite an overarching direct network of operations, ISIS communications inspire more people than they actually engage. As a result, there are ideological followers in isolated places who are not directly in communication with the command structure of ISIS. Such men as well as women are committed to a self-proclaimed allegiance to the Caliph of the Islamic State. Females in this group are undoubtedly most difficult to find and track unless they execute a self-planned terrorism act revealing their identity. Lone wolves irrespective of gender can also be categorized as the most dangerous group of potential terrorists. There are reported cases of such teenagers who planned individual acts of terrorism and were arrested before they could execute such plans, thus providing some insight into their motivation and way to operate.
Sympathizers
Every lone wolf out there is an ISIS or Al Qaeda sympathizer but every such sympathizer might not turn into a lone wolf. The sympathizers are, however, a dangerous group of radicals who act as viral agents spreading ISIS ideology with word of mouth and through social media. Cyber surveillance is one effective way to monitor trends amongst sympathizers. There is a growing number of incidents where sympathizers fail to act as lone wolves or ISIS recruits but do inspire other more vulnerable and radical males and females to act. Perhaps these are the psychological battlefields where counter-narratives need to be launched for turning the tide.
Reluctant Romantics
The last in the chain of ISIS categories can be identified as reluctant romantics. Although there is no definitive study available to support the gender dimension amongst this group, the reluctant romantics are the borderline individuals who are swaying in a state of confusion and mayhem. These are usually people lacking confidence, indefinite and inarticulate, who drift easily due to weakness of faith. A variety of ulterior motives from adventurism, sexuality, authority, identity, power, recognition and financial gains drives the fantasies of these reluctant fundamentalists.
THE WAY FORWARD
From socially institutionalized mothers, wives and daughters down to the sympathizers and reluctant romantics, the chain of categories charted in this paper identifies a variety of underlying reasons to be addressed. These include oppression, alienation, inequality, injustice, revenge, identity crisis, religious illiteracy, distortions in the faith, misinterpretation of religious scriptures, detesting divisions within religious faiths and factions of Islam and, most of all, the ongoing hate speeches from competing religious ideologies, widening the gap between the social and economic segments across societies and communities and increasing intolerance. A bottom-line approach that can prove effective to improve this very grave situation across varying religious, ethnic, social, economic and emotional landscapes is building a stronger universal narrative-response. Such counter-offensive narrative should be built on a realistic and intricate understanding of the exploitations and distortions engineered by the Salafi–jihadi teachings over decades and decades and the mechanics used to ingrain them in societies that are religiously influenced. Indonesian examples of resilience against the ISIS narrative can actually serve as a model despite a strong Islamic footprint. As a conclusive argument, concerted efforts are required to rehabilitate female ISIS recruits who make a desperate attempt to return after being dismayed with the ISIS life. These females offer not just a realistic insight into the brutal exploitation and abuse of women and children by ISIS but can be pitched as eye-opening stories to counter mainstream ISIS propaganda. ISIS physical outreach across other Muslim and Western countries is negligible and has diminished considerably in recent times. Therefore, its success in attracting fighters, especially females, is primarily due to a focused radicalization communications campaign that strikes the hearts and minds of people in fragile, vulnerable and volatile circumstances. On the basis of a unique perspective he has, this author brings some tangible recommendations outlined below. It must be taken into account that most of the propositions presented here are inspired from CVE (critical vulnerabilities exposure) ideas tested on the ground in Pakistan where the Taliban and Al Qaeda have been fought with weapons as well as with ideological narratives to root out terrorism. A significant decline in the rate of terrorism incidents, a greatly reduced public support for radicals as well as a denial of space for violent extremists can be rated as a success for Pakistan. However, pockets of terrorists (mostly Al Qaeda and the Taliban and some radical groups who have declared allegiance with IS) as well as networks of religious seminaries and organizations like Lal Masjid/Jamia e Hifza, Al Huda Academy, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Hizbut Tahrir (HuT), Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and even political parties like Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) continue to pose a threat until the complete elimination of the radical elements who can influence parts of society. The recommendations are:
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▪ (1) Reverse-engineer and reconstruct the strategic communications and dissemination framework developed by IS. This will identify their overall theme, key messages and their targeting approach across geographies and for a variety of media vehicles. Once this is done, two things need to be done specifically.
Firstly, IS points of strengths need to be charted where they have been successful in establishing a strong connection between the promises made by history’s most radical brand (ISIS) and the experience offered on the ground.
Secondly, the gaps need to be crystallized, differentiating the disconnect between the brand’s promise and the actual experience. The tragedy is the IS customers (the recruits), once trapped in the brand experience, are not allowed to break free from the vicious cycle. Therefore, the only endorsement available to a potential recruit is a positive brand resonance that is part real (generated from hardened terrorists) and part fabricated (managed by the propaganda machinery of IS).
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▪ (2) A consolidated and unified counter-offensive needs to be prepared as a psychological war strategy. This needs to have many intricate aspects from an overarching strategic communications roadmap to region-wise tactical plans. The pool of research needs to be expanded. The inside world of ISIS needs to be revealed to dismantle and discredit the ideological traps used by ISIS to lure both men and women.
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▪ (3) A credible and unified response from the larger Muslim world needs to be developed to challenge the distorted interpretations of the religious scriptures used by ISIS. The myth of apocalyptic prophecies needs to be broken with credible historic and religious scripture. It is, however, of critical significance that the ownership and source of this counter-offense come from the Muslim world as opposed to a United States-, NATO- or West-led campaign.
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▪ (4) The overarching strategy needs to have localized tactical plans beginning with the highest-risk countries and territories from where the greatest influx of female fighters joining ISIS is recorded.
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▪ (5) Special guerilla missions need to be deployed to withdraw disappointed female fighters trapped inside IS territories. The retrieved fighters as well as others who manage to escape the IS stronghold need to be handled by organizations with roots in the larger Muslim world. The research reports and shocking revelations about IS vicious cycles need to surface and be revealed. However, such stories need to be broken from platforms belonging to the larger Muslim world, i.e. Turkish, Saudi, Iranian, Pakistani, Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian and others.
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▪ (6) A concerted effort has to be made to identify the media channels from mainstream television and print, social media, and magazines targeted at females and children that may be used to project hateful ideologies and presentation of wrong facts. These channels then have to be used to present correct facts and interpretations.
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▪ (7) A robust media platform needs to be developed with training and support from the West, but with ownership resting within the Muslim world, to lead the entire counter-offensive campaign. Let the world see how media from Islamic countries can use their force to mainstream the real peaceful Islamic values while unmasking the hateful and brutal version of self-interpreted, self-projected and self-serving Islam that ISIS continues to propagate to fit its agenda.
Acknowledgements
My special thanks to Zahid Khan for assisting me in research work and putting up this paper together with me.
Aniq Zafar is one of Pakistan’s most experienced business and public relations advisors, maintaining networks throughout the country’s public and private sectors, civil society and diplomatic circles. As a former journalist, Aniq also has strong relationships in the vibrant and rapidly expanding domestic media environment. Aniq is a graduate in political science and European history and holds a master’s degree in history from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Before entering the consulting and public relations world, Aniq worked as a journalist, gaining a deep understanding of the political and policy-making dynamics in Pakistan. He also worked with communications programs focused on countering violent extremism, some of which were jointly managed by foreign governments and departments of the Pakistani government. Aniq’s understanding of and insights into the security climate of the country is a key asset in an environment in which security is a prime consideration. Aniq worked with global clients across sectors on developing communication strategies, crisis communication, understanding regulatory frameworks and political risk assessment.
