The Rape of Afghanistan

As the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban is surging back into power once again.  Already the Taliban has captured 17 of the nations 34 provincial capitals.  Now it has been reported that Kandahar, Afghanistan's second biggest city, has fallen to the Taliban.  Many now fear that Afghanistan is going to suffer the same fate that Iraq suffered in 2014, with Jihadist forces roaming unchecked across the nation while ushering in a reign of terror within all of the lands that they seize.  For many Afghan women, they terror is already here.  At every province taken by the Taliban, repression of women immediately followed. Women are now banned from school, work, and even leaving their homes unless they have a permit, but this isn't the worst of it.  Many women are a fate far worse than this.  

Reports are now coming out that everywhere the Taliban goes, they're demanding that local Imam's provide them with a list of all unmarried women, so they can be taken as "spoils of war" by the Taliban militants (Link to Video).  Throughout the zones that they are conquering the Taliban is seeking out women ages 12-45 take and force into a life of sex slavery.  They're even going door-to-door in order to seek out women and examining their wardrobes to determine their age so they know which women will be most prized by the militants.  Omar Sadr, a professor at the American University of Afghanistan, stated that The Taliban justifies their actions by their strict interpretation of Islam, which views women as "kaniz" or "commodities."  This interpretation states that after battle, women are considered "spoils of war" and are divided up among the victorious soldiers.  Professor Sadr also stated that under this system, the militants are not even required to marry the women, they are simply "sex slaves."

The tragic reality is that we have seen this pattern repeat itself time and time again.  Jihadist militants have continually abducted women across the world as "spoils of war."  Whether it's Coptic Christian women in Egypt, Nigerian women by Boko Haram, Syrian and Iraqi women by ISIS, even militants in Chechnya were urged by Jihadists across the Middle East to abduct Russian women as sex slaves.  Why is this?  The tragic truth is that this is a long-standing practice done by Jihadists all the way back to the time of Muhammad in 7th century Arabia.  There are numerous verses in the Qur'an in which "sex slavery" is justified.  

• Surah 23:6:-"Successful indeed are those believers who guard their private parts except from their wives or those whom their right hand possess."
• Surah 70:30-"Worshippers guard their private parts except from their wives and from those whom their right hands posses; such indeed, are not to blame.  
• Surah 4:24-"Forbidden for you are women already married, except such as your right hand possess.  Allah has enjoined this on you.

These Qur'anic verses seem to clearly justify that women, even married women, can be taken as "spoils of war," but is there a way we can be certain of this?  The answer to that can be found in the Islamic Hadith, which provides the context in which the Qur'anic verses were revealed.  

• Sahih Muslim 8.3432-"At the Battle of Hunain, Allah's Messenger sent an arm to Autas and fought with the enemy.  Having overtaken them and taken them captives, companions of Allah refrained from having intercourse with captive women because of their polytheist husbands.  Then Allah Most High send down the Qur'anic verse: Surah 4:24"
• Sunan Abu Daud 11.2150-"The Apostle of Allah sent a military expedition to Autas on the occasion of the battle of Hunain. They met their enemy and fought with them. They defeated them and took them captives. Some of the Companions of Apostle of Allah were reluctant to have relations with the female captives because of their pagan husbands. So, Allah the exalted sent down the Qur’anic verse “And all married women (are forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hand posses.” 
• Sahih Bukhari 5.59.459-"We went out with Allah's Apostle for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."  
• Essentially, this verse stated that Muhammad's men feared having intercourse with the captive women because they feared getting them pregnant.  Muhammad stated it was "Allah's Will" to determine whether or not the women get pregnant.
• Sahih Muslim 8.3371 expanded on this context by stating that Muhammad's companions didn't want to get the captive women pregnant because they planned to sell them later.  

Featured Left: 17-year-old Armenian Sex Slave in 1915
Featured Right: Freed Yazidi Sex Slaves in 2015

The tragic truth is that this odious practice that we are seeing in Afghanistan is in fact a part of Orthodox Islamic doctrine.  It is in the Qur'an and justified in all the Hadiths.  We have also seen this practices followed in Islamic conflicts, both past and present.  Whether it was in 7th century Arabia, the Empire of Tamerlane, the Armenian Genocide of the 20th century, or the numerous modern atrocities that we're witnessing today.  So far, it appears that the Taliban is not including married women among their list of women considered to be "spoils of war" but it's very possible that soon may change.  Other terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and ISIS paid no heed as to whether or not the women were married, and I don't see the Taliban as being any better.  

As it stands, the situation is only getting worse.  Some are now saying that if the capital city of Kabul could fall within months, effectively giving Afghanistan back into the hands of the Taliban.  We may now have to face the grim reality that those who follow the ideology of the Taliban in this region are not a "small minority of extremists."  The reality is that these extremists fought against the United States, the world's most powerful nation for 20 years, and yet it has only taken a matter of months after U.S. troop withdraw to take over huge portions of the nation and threaten to take back full control unless the status quo changes very soon.  

Sources:

Qureshi, Nabeel.  Seeking Allah: Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity.  Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2014.

Pleasance, Chris.  "The Rape of Afghanistan: Advancing Taliban go Door-to-Door and Forcibly take Girls as Young as 12 to be Sex Slave 'Wives" for their Fighters as they Sweep Across the Country Following NATO Withdrawal."  Daily Mail.  Aug. 13, 2021.  Accessed from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9883367/Taliban-going-door-door-forcibly-marrying-girls-young-TWELVE.html.

Ward, Clarissa & Brad Lendon.  "The Taliban Now Controls Half of Afghanistan's Provincial Capitals."  CNN.  Aug. 13, 2021.  Accessed from https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/asia/afghanistan-kandahar-falls-taliban-intl-hnk/index.html.