Following reports that Malaysian militants have been travelling to the Middle East to join up with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), new intelligence alleges that Malaysian women sympathetic to the jihadist cause have been offering themselves up as “comfort women” for fighters in the Middle East, in an act of Jihad al-Nikah, or “sexual jihad”.
Local authorities have confirmed that three Malaysian women have travelled to the Middle East to participate in ISIS operations there.
Jihad al-Nikah is a controlversial concept subscribed to by fringe Islamists, in which Sunni women may choose to offer themselves as sexual comforters to soldiers fighting for the establishment of Islamic rule.
The concept originated from a Wahabbi fatwa issued last year, which called for Sunni women supporters of the jihadist cause to commit sexual jihad by boosting the morale of militants waging war against president Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria.
“These women are believed to have offered themselves in sexual comfort roles to Isis fighters who are attempting to establish Islamic rule in the Middle East.
“This concept may seem controversial but it has arisen as certain Muslim women here are showing sympathy for the Isis struggle,” an intelligence official told The Malaysian Insider‘s Lee Shi-Ian.
The intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said one Malaysian woman tevelled to the Middle East last December.
“The woman, in her 30s, went to Turkey before meeting up with middlemen who helped her to complete her journey to Syria via land routes.
“Another Malaysian woman in her 40s is believed to have linked up with Isis forces sometime in April this year,” the source said.
The source said Sunni Muslim women from Australia and the United Kingdom have also been joining the sexual jihad movement and had been travelling to Middle East to do so as well.
The intelligence official said that ISIS had issued a fatwa this past June calling for the conscription of unmarried women for Jihad al-Nikah initiatives.
“Shortly after the town of Mosul in Iraq was captured by Isis forces, people were ordered to send unmarried women to jihad for sex,” the intelligence official revealed.
“In its proclamation, Isis threatened to impose shariah law on all those who failed to comply with the edict or decree,” the official added.
While initial estimates by Putrajaya put the number of Malaysians currently involed in ISIS militant activity in the Middle East to be at around 30, the actual figure could be almost double that, said the official.
ISIS has cut a large swath through southern Syria and northern Iraq, gaining control of key cities and provinces as it conducts coordinated military operations against the regimes governing both countries, which the organisation says are undermining true Islamic principles.
Most recently, ISIS cemented its notoriety by releasing a video depciting the beheading of American photojournalist James Foley, who was captured by militant forces in Syria in 2012.
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