Female jihadis release guide to life under the Islamic State

A new guide to living published by female jihadis spells out what is expected of women and girls who live under the Islamic State.

The "Women of the Islamic State: Manifesto and Case Study," most likely released by the media wing of the all-female ISIS militia the al-Khanssaa Brigade, states that women need to stay home, "hidden and veiled," and can only leave the house to study religion or if they need to wage war because no men are available, The Guardian reports. "This does not mean, in any way, that we support illiteracy, backwardness, or ignorance," the treatise reads. "Rather, we just support the distinction between working — that which involves a woman leaving the house — and studying, as it was ordained she should do."

It also says that it's "considered legitimate" for girls to be married at the age of 9 (and "most pure girls will be married by 16 or 17, while they are still young and active"), boutiques and salons are the work of the devil, and no good comes from having women in the workforce. "The model preferred by infidels in the West failed the minute the women were 'liberated' from their cell in the house," the guide said. The manifesto was originally written in Arabic and was translated into English by a counter-extremism think tank in London.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up