Did you ever hear about the sexual jihad? Well, turns out it’s a load of bollocks. Back in 2011, a Saudi sheikh apparently issued a fatwa (a religious decree) that Muslim women should offer their bodies to reward jihadists fighting Assad’s regime in Syria. Jihad al-nikah is the name given to this supposed phenomenon, where women prostituting themselves wouldn’t face the normal penalties that women get in certain Muslim countries, where apparently it’s legit to condemn a woman to being stoned to death just for, um, being raped.
In 2013, a Tunisian minister, Lofti ben Jeddou, claimed that thousands of women had been sent to Syria to have sex against their will with jihadists, to boost their morale, ‘Tunisian girls are swapped between 20, 30, and 100 rebels, and they come back bearing the fruit of sexual contacts in the name of sexual jihad and we are silent doing nothing and standing idle.’
The reason why his numbers are so fuzzy is because the whole thing hasn't been proven, and is likely propagandist nonsense. There is no single recorded case of this happening. And this week, another piece of evidence emerged that seems to show how conflated the issue has got. While reporting on Jihad al-nikah, the Iranian press cited that a woman called Aisha was one of the women being prostituted. In fact, she wasn’t being prostituted, she doesn’t exist, and the image the Iranian press were using in reference to her was in fact of a Saudi porn star, who has sex with other porn stars of her own volition.
Why would anyone make this up? Well, apparently it is a massive PR campaign to discredit those fighting against Assad's regime. The logic is, say they rape women, and their actions are seen as less valid. An unlawful uprising by an unruly rabble, if you like. As one radio broadcaster Zuhir Eljiis told the BBC, 'The interior minister has not come up with hard evidence. He gave no statistics. He's caused controversy, giving the impression this is a big issue. He is known for his political independence, but I think he might have been caught in a political game between rival parties.'
The allegations about Jihad al-nikah might have yet to be proven true, but they are having very tangible effects when it comes to some Tunisian women. A recent BBC report into the Jihad al-nikah phenomenon found that some women may have been arrested after being accused of going to Syria to pleasure jihadists.
A Tunisian woman claimed that her daughter, along with 19 other women, had been arrested after being accused of going to the Chaambi mountains – where militants are based – allegedly sleeping with all of these women. However, she says it’s all made up, ‘She has never been to the Chaambi mountains. These are false accusations. She was religious and went to mosque.’
The mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, continued, ‘This is a sensitive issue in our conservative city. She wore the full-body veil – we say it's a sign of chastity, not extremism.’
While the rumours of Jihad al-nikah continue to rattle around the Middle East, and they shouldn’t necessarily be written off – if this is actually going on, it’s a serious breach of so many people’s rights – human rights organisations have found nothing to prove that this is happening.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.