Triumph of Conservatism or Export of Sexual Revolution?: Western Women in Jihad

Simon Bonnet
Master in International security. Spring 2014-2015
Western women in jihad,
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triumph of conservatism or export of sexual revolution?
According to a recent study from the Cease Fire Center For The Human Rights, a NGO supported by
the European Union, more than 14000 women have been killed in Iraq since 2003. While far from being
the sole perpetrator of violence against women, the organization of the Islamic state (the former Al
Qaeda in Iraq) has been particularly active in oppressing them, first in Iraq were it started operating in
2004, then in Syria in the context of the uprising against the regime of Bashar Al Assad. Uncountable
acts of violence: sexual assaults, abductions, rapes, trafficking in women and girls, have been
perpetrated by this organization as a tactic of terror in coherence with its strategy of waging a total
war against society (Peritz and Maller, 2015). ISIS attempts to create a new, pure, Sunni society across
Syria and Iraq in « the Bilad a-cham ». It is realized through a strategy of ethnic cleansing targeting Shia
and non-Islamic communities, as well as many Sunni opponents. Women have paid a very heavy toll
with the recent highly advertised reintroduction of slavery for Yazidi women, thus symbolizing the
brutality of ISIS’ regime against women.
An unprecedented flow a foreign fighters, including from Western countries, are converging into Syria
(and to a lesser extent Iraq) to join ISIS and other jihadist formations since 2012. The proclamation of
the caliphate by the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in July 2014 has even further accentuated the
trend. Most surprisingly, many women have joined the movement. They may account for 10% of the
total flow of Western migrants (Hoyle and al, 2015). In some countries like France, the percentage is
much higher. It is very tempting to categorize as totally irrational such departures from Western
countries where gender equality, if not totally achieved, is openly promoted, to join a group
responsible for atrocities against women. Such a categorization would imply that this phenomenon is
only relevant for the field of psychology. While not denying the necessity of the psychological
approach, especially in the radicalization process, understanding why thousands of individuals from
our societies, including women are so fascinated by ISIS to the point of migrating into warzones call for
a more transversal approach. It may start by questioning deeply rooted representations in our societies
that tend to essentialize women as pacific, non-violent creatures, openly or secretly receptive to
Western-like gender equality. At least up to a certain extent, female jihadists have to be considered as
voluntary political actors, with a specific agenda. In spite of the impression provided by today’s massive
media coverage, women’s, including Westerners, participation in jihadist movements is not something
completely new. With the notion of Jihad having been continuously revisited since the 1980s towards
an extensive understanding of its mandatory nature for Muslims, many women have claimed their will
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to take their part, and many of them have been playing an active role on the ground, from Afghanistan
to Chechnya and Palestine. This implication of women on the ground has led many prominent jihadist
ideologues to clarify their perception of women’s place in their ideal Islamic society and of their role
in helping to achieve this society, by giving their opinion on key questions such as the modality of
travelling to jihad zones, the participation to the fight, the realization of suicide attacks. Beyond the
general narrative of the "true" liberation that Islam offers to women (in opposition to the "depraved"
Western version) advocated by most Islamists, the jihadist discourse on women participation in Jihad
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must be analyzed and its contradictions pointed out if one wants to elaborate a pertinent counter-
narrative.
Jihadist discourse is one thing, its endorsement by women, including from Western societies is
another, especially at such a large and unprecedented scale. The extent to which there is a
convergence between jihadist scholars’ perception of the role of women, and these same women’s
own incentives for migrating to Syria or Iraq in order to take part in the jihadist project is a determinant
question if one wants to understand the potential impact of this phenomenon on groups like ISIS. One
may wonder if Western educated women (and beyond them, Syrian, Iraqi and other immigrant
women) will comply with the very limited, traditional role assigned to them in the emerging
"caliphate"...
Methodology
Women participation in violent movements, Islamist or not, has received little attention until the
2000's. Since then, a growing number of academic works has been published on both the islamist
theoretical framework regarding women role in Jihad and case studies of women involvement on the
ground. This proved highly useful to put the phenomenon into historical perspective and to assess
what is new with ISIS. The analysis of jihadist groups’ publications such as Inspire for Al Qaeda in the
Arabic Peninsula (AQAP), Dabiq, Dar Al Islam (the French version of Dabiq) and the manifesto of the Al
Khansaa female brigade for ISIS was also interesting to apprehend the importance given to woman
affairs in these groups official communication, and how it has evolved. Finally, unofficial sources
provided by women themselves, through blogs and social network pages represent a huge amount of
material offering an access to their motivations, strategies and roles. If a few academic works have
started analyzing social media material through quantitative approaches, the time available for this
essay makes such an approach unrealistic. It is then, to a large extent, a qualitative work. A small gallery
of pictures is proposed in annex. It is largely composed of social account profile pictures that illustrate
the symbolic and the aspirations of ISIS female supporters.
At least two biases must be taken into account. Firstly, online materials such as social network pages
can never be completely certified as authentic. It is very difficult to ascertain that a woman claiming to
be in Syria is really there, and whether what she asserts is really her experience or if it was extracted
from other sources. Even in cases when her presence on the ground is very likely, it is not sure to what

extent the content is dictated by ISIS officials for propaganda purposes or if it is the genuine view of
the author. This is particularly the case for example with Umm Layth (Alias Aqsa Mahmood) blog: "diary
of a Muhajirah". Nevertheless, propaganda analysis in itself remains highly interesting and indicative
of ISIS discourse on women. The second bias is more geographical. This essay focuses on Western
women because only they communicate to such a systematic extent on the Internet. Yet they
represent a tiny minority of women involved in ISIS. Further work will have to focus on local women,
but also on migrants from the Arab world (the biggest contingent of ISIS foreign fighters are Saudis and
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Tunisians1) who also represent a very important target for ISIS recruitment. It is highly probable that
the dynamics behind these women’s involvement considerably differ from that of their Western
counterparts.
I The discourse on women in Jihad
Women hold a central position in the jihadist project for several reasons: first as the symbol of Muslim
oppression by their enemies, be they Western countries, Arab regimes or communities regarded as
non-Islamic like the Shia, second as an essential part of the project: as mothers, wives and widow, and
sometimes as participants in the struggle itself.
Women as victims
Jihadist groups’ attempts to mobilize support are based, to a large extent, on the idea of a global war
being waged against Islam (Kepel, 2014; Van San, 2015, Lacroix, 2015). Muslims are depicted as being
slaughtered all over the world, in Palestine, in the Centrafrican Republic, in Myanmar...and obviously
in Syria and Iraq. In Western countries, their oppression is considered more insidious, being carried
out by preventing Muslims to freely practice the pure Islam (including Sharia enforcement) and by
discriminating against them. Muslim women are key figures of this global oppression. Very few calls
for Muslim mobilization toward Jihad do not include references to "Sisters" or "mothers" being
harassed, humiliated, and assaulted. The Muslim women is undoubtedly the most recurrent figure in
the jihadist discourse on victimization. Recent legislations in Western countries such as France, which
banned the wearing of the Hijab in public spaces, are virulently contested as an insult to the honour of
Muslim women (Van San, 2015; Zakaria, 2015). More generally, in accordance with a more
"mainstream" Islamist narrative, the jihadist discourse rejects gender equality and Western sexual
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According to a Soufan group survey in June 2014, only 2500 of the 12000 foreign fighters in Syria were of
Western origin. By comparison, the Tunisian authorities estimated at 3000 the number of its citizen fighting in
Syria and the Saudi authorities at 2500. In both cases, many observers denounced largely underestimated figures.
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liberation as biased and perverted. In their view, the consequences have been growing violence toward
women, and them being treated as sexual objects in addition to a loss of reference detrimental to
society and family harmony. One of the most recent and elaborated ISIS statement on the question of
women, the "manifesto on women by the Al Khansaa brigade" published in January 2015, does not
even feel it necessary to insist on that point:
Here, we are not going to present a list of the negatives that are caused in communities from the
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“women’s emancipation” narrative. These are apparent, unhidden from the distant observer, let alone
the close observer.
In warzones like the Centrafrican republic or Syria, women are regarded as mere victims of the barbaric
behavior of Islam’s enemies because they are too weak to defend themselves. This idea that women
can only be the victims of conflict is not the monopoly of the jihadist discourse. It is actually a classical
and deeply rooted gender stereotype essentializing women as vulnerable, sweet and pacific creatures
(Herman, 2010). It is interesting how such representations also structure counter-discourses in the
Iraq-Syria case. The rumor on the "Jihad al Nikkah" (sexual Jihad, literally “Jihad of marriage”) that
spread like wildfire in Tunisia in 2013 is one significant example. In August 2013, a 17 years old Tunisian
girl coming back from Syria declared having been used to provide sexual comfort to Jabhat al Nusra
(JAN) fighters. According to her testimony, she was "temporarily married" to about one hundred
successive fighters against her will. The story quickly spread in the media, and among Maghreb
countries, politicians upheld this as the evidence of women candidates to jihad being systematically
sexually abused by Islamist groups. Many reports emerged, estimating in the hundreds and even the
thousands the number of victims. Finally, rigorous journalistic investigations showed a different
picture: all the testimonies were in fact copies of the first one, which proved unreliable. According to
some sources, the Tunisian authorities themselves could have created the whole story, with the
ambition of discrediting mainstream Islamist formations like Enhadda (Daniel, 2013). In the same vein,
several hoax have been debunked since the beginning of the conflict that systematically presented ISIS
as imposing barbaric treatment to women. Among the many example available, a photo of an ISIS
fighter allegedly marrying a very young, crying girl that became viral on the social networks in 2014
and finally proved being completely inaccurate:
Figure 1 The Fake wedding

Even more surprising, an alleged ISIS fatwa imposing women excision emerged on the Internet in 2014
and was treated as authentic in an official declaration from the UN representative for Humanitarian
question in Iraq, Jacqueline Badcock on July 24. Immediately after, the fatwa hit the headlines of most
mainstream media. Yet, it quickly appeared to be a hoax. These two examples prove how prone
opponents to these groups are, at the most official levels, to succumb to their own representations.
The perverse effect is double: it raises illegitimate doubts on seriously verified crimes against women
perpetrated by these groups, and it gives space to the plot theory based rhetoric that characterizes
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their communication: that a coalition of opposed forces (an explosive mixture of Jews, Americans and
Iranian Shia) are waging a media war to discredit the Caliphate. Finally it is very telling of the Western
double discourse on women participation in the Syrian conflict. While condemning in the strongest
terms women involvement, even passive, into jihadist groups, other female figures like the PKK female
soldiers have been treated with the highest enthusiasm and probably with exaggeration as heroin of
democracy and the struggle for human decency. Among them, a young women named Rehana was
reported by The New York Daily News and many other media as having killed a hundred ISIS soldier
(Zakaria, 2015), whereas her participation even to a single combat remained unclear until now.
In a complete reversal of the role, jihadist discourse valorizes the movement as the only one truly
defending women. It is for instance illustrated by the recurrent demands for the release of detained
women, when the groups enter in negotiation processes. The trend is general but several highly
symbolic figures have emerged in the recent years. Perhaps the most famous is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a
Pakistani neuroscientist jailed for 86 years in Texas after being convicted of attempt murder of US
federal agents (Zakaria, 2015). Her name was the only one mentioned by ISIS in an alleged exchange
proposal made to the US against James Foley in August 2014. In January 2015 ISIS also asked for the
release of Sajida Mubarak Al Rishawi, an Iraqi woman arrested in Jordan in 2005 after a failed attempt
to commit a suicide attack (Von Knop, 2007), in exchange with a Jordanian military pilot captured by
the organization. After the pilot’s barbaric assassination, the Jordanians executed Rishawi. In
November 2014, JAN threatened to execute a Lebanese policemen held hostage at the Syrian Border
if a woman, Joumana Hmayyed was not liberated (she was arrested in February in the town of Ersal,
in a vehicle filled with explosives). The hostage was finally executed and JAN reiterated its threats (the
group still holds about 20 other hostages belonging to the Lebanese security forces), this time by asking
for the release of two other women including Saja Al Dulaïmi who might be an ex-wife of the ISIS leader
himself. Dulaïmi had already been freed (with 150 other women and children) during negotiations with
JAN for the liberation in March 2014 of 13 orthodox nuns kidnapped in Syria. She was arrested again
in November 2014 while smuggling an important sum of money across the Lebanese-Syrian border.
According to the UK press, she has become a superstar among pro-jihadist, especially in female circles.
In the same vein, JAN has also offered the liberation of each Lebanese soldier held hostage, in exchange
for a significant number of women jailed in Syria. One last example is Hayla Al Qasir, alias Umm al
Rabab, a Saudi woman involved in raising funds for jihadist movements and in the training of women.
After her arrest by the Saudi authorities in 2010, Al Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula (AQAP) launched a
huge mobilization campaign to secure her release, including direct threats to the security services
involved in her capture (Lahoud, 2014).

These various examples show how important getting the liberation of these women is in the
legitimization process (sometimes highly competitive) of jihadist movements. It solidifies their claims
of acting as the true defender of Muslim women honour that is, according to them, necessarily
jeopardized when they are jailed. This has led to the emergence within supportive circles of heroic
figures of imprisoned women, a particularly efficient symbol for catalyzing mobilization (Lahoud,
2014).
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The ambiguities of the discourse on women role in Jihad
The second aspect of the jihadist discourse on women is the place dedicated to them in the advent of
the jihadist project itself
In most cases, women must remain at home
There is a consensus among jihadist scholars on first and foremost valorizing women as mothers and
wives (Von Knop 2007; Haq, 2007; Hoyle and al, 2015). Before anything else, women are given the role
of raising children in the respect of proper Islam and to provide support, both material and spiritual,
to their husbands’ mujahedeen. As stated by Ayman al Zawahiri quoted by Nelly Lahoud:
the Mujaheedat are doing an heroic job watching over their home and their children
Women are largely regarded as the real pillar of the Ummah in the private sphere whose everyday
commitment toward children will help more than anything else in advancing the cause of Jihad.
Because ISIS’ strategy (much more than Al Qaeda) is based on the effective control and ruling of large
territories, this aspect of women’s role has been reinforced: they embody the group’s capacity to
effectively sustain this society. Attracting Muslim women from all over the world, providing them with
a home and whatever is necessary for their living, including security, is determinant in that sense. It is
strikingly important for ISIS to give the impression that life within its newly established state is
"normal" and women presence represents a decisive argument for that. According to some sources,
the logic is pushed to the extreme, with the group physically forbidding women under 45 years old to
leave the Syrian town of Raqqa. In the same vein, it seems that fewer women return from Syria and
Iraq than their male counterparts, possibly because of the strong reluctance from the jihadist groups
to let them go, and the difficulty to escape with young children since many of them rapidly give birth
to children (Bouzar and Thomson, 2014).
Another essential female figure in the jihadist narrative, in the logical continuity of women as
mujahedeen’s mothers or wives, is the figure of the widow. The "mother of Shaheed" is the object of
a sometimes much institutionalized cult within the Jihad sphere. This is especially the case in Pakistan
where meetings are organized by the Laskar I Tayyabia movement which gives a significant importance
to the testimony of these women (Haq, 2007). The emphasis is mostly placed on the mother’s (or
wife’s) tremendous pride of her son’s or husband’s total engagement on the path of Allah. The jihadist
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narrative is full of exemplar figures of these widows, like Umm Suraaquah who lost a son during the
first Afghan war. When informed by Abdullah Azzam, she surprised him by immediately commanding
her second son to join the fight. Jihadist group’s interest in promoting such “heroic” figures is double.
Firstly it strengthens the legitimacy of the sacrifice for the cause by including the closest relatives in a
process therefore no longer limited to the Shaheed himself, thus symbolizing the strong commitment
of the whole society. Secondly, the well-publicized treatment reserved to the widow and her children
who receive material and financial assistance reassures the potential candidates as to the consequence
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of their death for the condition of their relatives.
Exceptions may yet arise
ISIS vision of the perfect Islamic society is in the continuity of its predecessors within the Jihad family.
Lands of Jihad in Northern Africa, Middle East, or Central Asia are also lands where societies are
traditionally highly patriarchal and jihadist ideologues never showed interest in contesting such an
established pattern. The project is not progressive, it is intrinsically conservative and even backward-
looking (Cook, 2005; Lahoud, 2014). The valorization of women’s role in the familial sphere is therefore
an indirect way to deprive them of an access to the public sphere, always regarded with suspicion by
leaders. However, a relative consensus exists among scholars on allowing women to perform logistical
and communicational functions in support of the Jihad, such as treating the wounded, raising funds,
and advertising for the cause. Anwar al Awlaqi for example opened the possibility for "Internet
Mujaheedat" (Lahoud, 2014). But most of them acknowledge that such an involvement should remain
the exception rather than the rule, and that the normal place of women is at home, as clearly stated
in the Al khansaa manifesto.
[...] there are other causes for which it is permissible for certain women to leave their home in order to
serve society that we will recount below, God permitting (besides things that she customarily needs to
do like traveling, on visits or hospitalized and so on). This is only in exceptional circumstances, not
continually, as is the case with men.
Rare women morale figures like Ayman Al Zawahiri’s wife, Umayma Al Zawahiri, do not statue
differently, the latter emphasizing women’s importance in supporting male fighters with "prayers and
money" (Lahoud, 2014)
A sensitive issue concerns the possibility for women to join alone the land of Jihad (meaning without
a Mahram, a male relative responsible for guarantying her security...and her honour). Here appears
an important dilemma for these radical ideologues: can women still be effectively controlled if they
are granted freedom of movement? The question is not limited to the jihadist sphere as shown by the
boiling debate within Saudi society on allowing or not women to drive. Abdallah Azzam himself opened
the possibility for "the wife to go [to Afghanistan] without the permission of her husband" regarding
the exceptional circumstances that Jihad embodies. This reading is actually in accordance with the
classical doctrine that allows Muslims to take up Jihad without waiting for the permission of usual
authorities, should they be the familial ones (Lahoud, 2014). Yet, ISIS emphasis on the importance for
women to perform the Hijra with a Mahram, while at the same time insisting on the individual
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obligation for every Muslim to perform this same Hijra at all cost, demonstrates both the absence of
consensus on this aspect and the contradiction in the discourse. Having said that, many Western
women have been travelling alone to Syria since 2012 and it does not seem that they were penalized
in any way for that (Hoyle and al, 2015). Beyond the discourse, pragmatism and adaptability remain
the rule within jihadist movements.
The delicate issue of taking up arms
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Regarding what is probably the most delicate question of women involvement in Jihad, namely their
participation in violent actions like fighting or suicide bombings, ambiguity is what best describes the
Jihad ideologues’ discourse. There again, no consensus exists besides the clear fact that even for
scholars opening the possibility for Mujaheeddat (female combatant), it should remained absolute
exceptions, made necessary only by extraordinary circumstances (Cook, 2005). These ideologues are
caught between their plea for a more inclusive Jihad, since it is no longer only a collective duty (fard al
kifaya ) but an individual duty (fard al Ayn) for every Muslims (Lacroix, 2015) on the one hand, and
their opposition to consider men and women on an equal basis on the other hand. This leads to
interesting contradictions: according to Abdullah Azzam there is no legal formal prohibition for women
to fight in Jihad but at the same time such a prospect may account for "a great evil". The main reason
is practical: it is almost impossible to assure a strict separation between men and women in combat
and gender mixing is regarded with the highest reprobation (Cook, 2005; Lahoud, 2014). Osama Bin
Laden himself was quite elusive: women’s role is enthusiastically promoted in the 1996 fatwa
"Declaration of War against the infidel against the Americans occupying the Land of the two Holy
Places" but women were mentioned only once, and only as victims of the enemies of Islam in his 1998
fatwa which became the theoretical reference for global Jihad "Jihad against Jews and Crusaders,
World Islamic Front" (Von knop, 2007). Becoming an Al Qaeda member has always been a difficult
process because of the elitist nature of the group (something in which ISIS differs significantly today).
To our knowledge, no woman was ever granted this status (Gonzalez-Perez, 2010). Other ideologues,
like Dr Fadl (alias Abd al Qadir ibn Abd al Aziz) plead for women to receive a basic military training but
only to be used in the limited framework of self-defense if their own houses are attacked. Apart from
these specific circumstances, Fadl reasserts the classical interpretation that the real Jihad for women
is to perform the Hajj (the pilgrimage), the argument traditionally opposed to women participation in
combat (Cook, 2005). According to the Al Khansaa manifesto, today’s ISIS doctrine on women fighting
is situated roughly at this level:
Women may go out to serve the community in a number of situations, the most important being:
1) Jihad (by appointment) if the enemy is attacking her country and the men are not enough to protect
it and the imams give a fatwa for it, as the blessed women of Iraq and Chechnya did, with great sadness
[...]
The tone is clear, only a desperate situation may legitimize women taking up arms, such last resort
option is synonym of "great sadness"...

Others ideologues and leaders, like Muhammar Khayr Haykal, Nawaf al Takruri or Abu Musab al
Zarqawi, went further. Haykal for example opened the way for women to be enrolled in the regular
army of an Islamic state (Cook, 2005). Al Zarqawi provocatively called for women to wage the war
against the enemy of Islam, since the men seem to lack the manhood for it (Lahoud, 2014). Al Takruri
focused more on the suicide bombing issue. He cites six fatwas allowing women to participate in such
operations, one from the famous Egyptian cleric Yusuf al Qaradawi, three from al Azhar university
scholars, one from the Dublin based Faysal al Mawlawi, and one from a Palestinian scholar, Nizar Abd
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al Qadir Riyyan. Interestingly these fatwas are associated with clerics originated from the most
progressive parts of the Muslims world, namely Palestine or Egypt (Cook, 2005; Von Knop, 2007;
Lahoud, 2014). More conservative areas like Jordan, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan are not represented.
At contrario, in theaters like Chechnya and more generally the Caucasus, where women were
particularly active in fighting and performing suicide attacks, only quite conservative theoretical works
on the subject were produced (Cook, 2005). Al Zarqawi’s position is demonstrative of a pragmatic use
of women fighters by male leaders to incite more male to enroll, by pride. There again the tactic is not
limited to jihadist movements and has been used in different contexts like the Sri Lanka civil war in
which the LTTE black tiger women were responsible for a third of the group’s suicide attacks (Van Knop,
2007). Like the Iraqi context shows, the lack of male candidates for operating suicide attacks can lead
groups to rely on women. Al Qaeda in Iraq carried out 15 women-led suicide attacks between 2005
and 2007, 30 in 2008 alone at the civil war’s peak (Site, 2009; Sassine, 2015). Today, the flow of
candidates willing to become Shaheed under ISIS’ banner seems to have closed the possibility for
women to carry out such attacks. However, the "shaming tactic" is now massively used by the group
to increase the number of Muslim travelling to Iraq and Syria by reporting the case of feeble, old, or
pregnant women performing this Hijra successfully.
The last but not the least of the narrative’s contradictions regarding women involvement in Jihad are
the examples of female figures, which illustrate the discourse. Many of them are Coranic figures
including wives of the prophet like Khadija or Aisha bint Abou Bakr depicted as women superior in
virtue and wisdom, regularly consulted by men on religious matters and consequently far from being
passive actors relegated to the strictly private sphere. Classical examples of women fighting in the Jihad
are quoted (and have become omnipresent in the social network conversations). Aisha herself is told
to have been leading the battle of the Camel while the prophet granddaughter Zaynab fought in the
battle of Kerbala (Von knop, 2007). As to his aunt, Saffiya bint Abd Al Mutalib, she is praised as the
ideal muslima in the "jihadosphere" for having cut the head of a Jew in the battle of Khandaq (627)
during the siege of Medina (Cook, 2005; Von Knop, 2007). Another woman, Nusayba bint Kab, fought
with four other women during the battle of Uhud (626), one of Muhammad’s worst defeat. She
received many wounds by moving herself in front of the prophet whose life was directly threatened
(Cook, 2005; Von knop, 2007; Zakaria, 2015). Tumadir Bint 'Amr, alias Al Khansaa, who gave her name
to both an Al Qaeda female magazine and an ISIS female brigade, is emphasized as the ideal figure of
the Muslim widow. But at the same time, she was a very free-minded woman who refused a marriage
proposal, got married to another man she disliked and got divorced. One of her sons even fought
against the Caliph Abou Bakr during the battle of Aqaba in 633 (Oseni, 2010). Finally, Aafia Siddiqui

herself, even if not a classical figure, is worth mentioning. She used to be described in the press as "the
most wanted woman in the world" or "Lady Al Qaeda" and has become extremely popular in the
Muslim world, embodying the figure of the "heroic fighting women". Nevertheless her first husband
constantly accused her of not taking good care of their children. She stood up to a prominent Pakistani
mufti on the question of Jihad, she got divorced to remarry with a nephew of Khaled Sheik
Mohammed, the planner of the 9/11 attacks and finally became the leader of the female wing of a
Pakistani militia, Jaisch Muhammed (Daniel, 2014; Kakaria, 2015). How paradoxical is the jihadist
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discourse: on the one hand it makes into heroes and legitimizes these free-minded (one could said
liberated) women who always refused to live under the domination of men, with some of them being
highly educated (Siddiqui was a neuroscientist), some being poor housewives, and others being active
and efficient fighters holding responsibilities in organizations! On the other hand it offers a far
different, much more traditional, model of living for its "common" female supporters. The Al Khansaa
manifesto advances much less controversial figure as ISIS "ideal model for Muslim Women" namely
Assia (the wife of Pharaoh) and Mariam "daughter of Imran" (Mary in the Christian tradition). Both are
praised for their devotion and chastity, far from the figure of the "Islamic Amazon" ISIS seems less than
ever inclined to promote:
In the last of the Surat al-Tahrim related from God the Almighty, in which is given examples of the two
believers Asia and Mariam, two ideal women, the two qualities most celebrated were religion and
chastity: “And [the example of] Mariam, the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew
into [her garments] through Our Angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures
and was of the devoutly obedient” (Quran 66:12).
Case study: Inspire and Dabiq magazines
An interesting and concrete manifestation of the limited access to the public sphere granted to women
by the current two most prominent jihadist groups lies in their official online magazines. This is all the
more interesting that these media are dedicated to the Western audience of these groups, which can
reasonably be considered as the most "open-minded". Inspire is an AQAP magazine published since
the summer of 2010. 12 issues have been diffused, the last one dating from the summer of 2014. Dabiq
is the ISIS version, 8 of them have been issued more or less on a monthly basis since July 2014. While
the first combines news of the war against America and its allies and practical advices to commit
terrorist attacks in the West, the second focus more on the achievements of the so-called Caliphate.
Inspire is highly visual, with an important number of pictures, but none of them represent women,
even veiled. Inspire n°1 includes an article dealing with women affairs, namely the "war on Niqab"
waged by Western countries. Then women-related topics disappear completely until Inspire n°6 with
an ode to the prisoners of Guantanamo written by an Umm Rashasha. Marriage is evocated in Inspire
n°8, quite ambiguously since the author emphasizes the practical difficulties it could impose to the
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Mujaheed. A certain Umm Ahmed writes an article on Anwar al Awlaki in Inspire n°9. Inspire n°10
inaugurates a "sister corner" with a very interesting poem entitled "if only I was a Mujaheed". It lists
all the glorious tasks (reserved for man), such as carrying a rocket launcher and taking part into battle,
the author would be glad to perform. It ends with the following sentence:
"but this cannot be, for a lion-hearted Mujaheed warrior I'm not, in fact... I am a fragile woman"
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The poem is very much telling of the frustration experienced by some women regarding the gender-
based separated role they are assigned, and at the same time its interiorization, perhaps the
manifestation of the author pragmatism: another tone would probably have been vetoed. Finally
Inspire n°12 provides another article by a certain Umm Yahya glorifying in a much less revolutionary
way, the role of the Mujaheedah as wife of the Mujaheed above all. Al Qaeda program for women is
summarized: counter-propaganda, diffusion of the true Islam, children rising and moral support of the
husband. Interestingly men are depicted as weaker and as more prone to demoralization in case of
defeat than women. The latter role of reinforcing her husband’s faith, especially in period of doubt, is
consequently made crucial.
The analysis of the Dabiq does not tell a different story. Out of the 8 numbers already published,
women are totally absent from number 1, 2 and 5. They are slightly evocated in number 3, 6 and 7 as
victims of the war on Islam. Number n°4 (October 2014) is the first to dedicate an article to them...and
quite ironically, its purpose is to justify through Islam the right to enslave non-Muslim women
considered as common Ghanima (spoil of war). Dabiq n°7 (February 2015) is the first one to give voice
to a woman, in the person of Hayat Boumedienne, the French widow of one of those responsible for
the Paris attacks in January 2015. The article itself, in addition to the recurrent call for Hijra, provides
a traditional view on the role of women in the Caliphate: to be a moral support for the Mujahedeen.
Dabiq n°8 (March 2015) is the first to be redacted by a women, "Umm Sumayyah al Muhajirah", in
which she also insists on the mandatory nature of Hijra, and provides examples of old or pregnant
women who performed it, with a tone aiming at shaming reluctant Muslims. Finally, and perhaps more
strikingly than with Inspire, not a single women is present on the magazine pictures including on those
depicting public scenes of everyday life in the town and villages "liberated" by ISIS", and scenes of
attacks claimed by ISIS in Western countries where the presence of Women at least in the background
is most likely. By comparison, men are represented about 430 times. This is telling of ISIS’ obsession
with women being completely driven away from the public area, to an extent close to denial. ISIS’ two
female brigades (Al Khansaa and Umm Al Rayan) are never mentioned which is indicative of ISIS
reluctance to promote too openly these initiatives. Such a minimization of women’s active
involvement in the general struggle for the advent of the Caliphate, let alone in the fighting, is
demonstrative of today’s ISIS being much more conservative on the subject than its founding father,
Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. The role of women within ISIS ranks is most certainly a step below what it used
to be in the 2005-2008 period.
Let us conclude this first part on discourse analysis by wondering why such a resistance from the
jihadist leaders to the involvement of women in most aspect of the Jihad, including the violent ones.
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Pragmatically speaking, such an involvement is not without tactical interest. Based on the universal
representation of war being men’s business, women are less suspect of carrying attacks. They are
consequently less likely to be monitored by intelligence services, or to be searched by the security
services, especially in conservative Muslim countries where men cannot inspect a veiled woman that
easily (Lahoud, 2014). The very same representation offers an additional publicity to women-led
attacks, something jihadist groups are very much looking for. The terror effect of such attacks is most
likely enhanced compared with the similar operations being carried on by men (Von Knopp, 2007;
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Gonzalez Perez, 2010; Bloom, 2011). But jihadist groups are probably also aware of possible negative
side effects. Theological issues may arise including the question of reward for the Shaheeda (the
female Shaheed), indeed, what about the Houris (the virgins) offered in paradise to their male
counterparts? The issue was closed quite abruptly by Al Takruri (and also by Hamas leaders): not
surprisingly, women are deprived from these Houris (Cook, 2005), but then an endless debate is
opened on the equality among Shaheed. The cultural aspect must also be taken into account: jihadist
leaders may be afraid to go against the cultural norms that cement the societies where they are
evolving, deeply patriarchal and conservative in most cases. Indeed the promotion of non-socially
endorsed norms like women fighters may erode the support of the population, vital in the context of
asymmetric warfare conducted by most of these groups. Even for ISIS, which has transformed into
something closer to a "proto-state", the matter remains sensitive. The alleged tensions between the
group’s foreign and local fighters regarding possible discriminatory treatments are very representative
of the threat. Yet the cultural argument should not be given an essentialized strength. Indeed, jihadist
groups have not hesitated in the past to overcome deeply rooted cultural features like parental
consent by allowing young people to join Jihad without the approval of their parents (Lahoud, 2014).
Knowing its importance in many Muslim societies, one could wonder if jihadist ideologues may not in
the future cross the Rubicon of women fighting. Nelly Lahoud offers a last explanation based on the
possible fear by these leaders of the potential for sexual revolution that allowing women to take part
into fight may bring about, with potentially serious consequences on these leaders’ own control over
the movements, largely based on gender inequalities. To be sure, Lahoud’s argument does not lack
credibility, especially with ISIS, which must now absorb hundreds of Western educated women, many
of them showing enthusiasm in taking an active part into the consolidation of the Caliphate.
II Beyond the discourse: Women involvement in Jihad
As previously noted, Jihad ideology is based on a highly conservative social vision structured by gender
inequality, with women being confined as much as possible within the private sphere. Jihadist
discourse is one of men, delivered by men, and mainly for men. But the reality of the women
involvement on the jihadist ground demonstrates the limits of such a conservative narrative. As already
mentioned, women have been fighting within jihadist groups especially (but not only) by performing
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suicide attacks. Examples of such total involvement can be traced back at least to the Algerian civil war
in the 1990s. It is nevertheless true that the phenomenon remained relatively rare and more or less
on an individual basis until recently. With the Syrian revolution progressively evolving into a total civil
war, a novel pattern of massive women convergence to a land of Jihad has emerged. Women
originated from Western countries are probably the tip of the iceberg in that process, but thanks to
the extensive online material they provide willingly, they represent the most accessible population for
academic work on the phenomenon. The following pages first offer a brief historical perspective of
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women’s involvement in the 1990s and 2000s. Second, some element of answers will be provided
regarding the motivations for Western women to engage in the Jihad in Syria (and to a much lesser
extent in Iraq) since 2012-2013. The impact of these women on the ground, notably with the recent
creation of ISIS female brigades will finally be evaluated. It is a large and relatively untouched academic
field. Much more will remain to be done, especially on women originated from the Arab World (and
beyond) should they be Syrian, Iraqi or immigrants.
Historical perspective
The last two decades of Jihad struggles have seen women being part of the fight. During the Algerian
Civil war, the Islamic Salvation Front, and then the "Groupes Islamiques Armés" created female
brigades that progressively shifted from logistical missions to direct armed operations. In the region of
Medea for instance these brigades took part in mass slaughtering (Ghanem-Yazbeck, 2014). Women
were involved in suicide attacks in Palestine as early as 2002 (even if mostly under the banner of
nationalist groups like Al Fatah), in Ouzbekistan (starting in 2004 with a 19 years old women detonating
her suicide vest, killing 47 people on a market in Tachkent), in Chechnya, in Jordan, in Pakistan, in
Afghanistan, and in Iraq where the first women-led terrorist attack2 was carried out in 2005 in Talafa
(Von knop, 2007; Site, 2009; Herman, 2010; Gonzalez-Perez, 2010). In Egypt two women opened fire
on a tourist bus in 2005, with the responsibility of the attack being claimed by an Al Qaeda affiliated
group, the Abdallah Azzam brigades (Von Knop, 2007). Many more followed notably in Iraq where
women were also involved in recruitment and training networks (Site, 2009). The first Western
originated woman involved in a jihadist violent action was Muriel Degauque, a Belgian convert who
carried out a vehicular suicide attack in Baqouba (Iraq) in November 2006, claimed by Al Qaeda in Iraq
(Von Knop, 2007, Guidere, 2010). Other failed in their attempts like US originated Collen LaRose alias
"jihadi Jane" who was arrested in 2009 for her alleged participation in a plot to kill the Dutch
Caricaturist Lars Vilks (Guidere, 2010) or Roshonara Choudhry, a British female citizen originated from
Bangladesh who stabbed a British member of Parliament in 2010 (only wounding him) and claimed
having been motivated by Anwar Al Awlaki speeches in Inspire (Lahoud, 2014). Finally, Western women
2
The first to be claimed by a jihadist organization, namely the Al Qaeda affiliated Malik suicidal brigades. Most
interestingly, the first women led suicide attack carried out against the coalition in Iraq was operated by Saddam
Hussein’s security forces in April 2003, see Von Knop, 2007.
13

were involved in jihadist logistical and training networks. This was the case for Collen LaRose, Robyn
Huntchinson (an Australian women converted to Islam who got married to the leader of an Indonesian
jihadist group and opened a hospital for women in Afghanistan), or Malika al Aroud, the Belgian wife
of one of the Commandant Massoud’s assassins (Guidere, 2010; Thomson, 2014).
Most jihadist leaders demonstrated embarrassment especially regarding women-led suicide bombing.
A fatwa published in the immediate aftermath of a Chechen women suicide attack in 2000 made no
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mention of women participation in Jihad and the spiritual leader of Hamas disagreed in 2002 with this
kind of operation (Cook, 2005; Hernan, 2010). At most, the operations are blessed with hindsight and
women are not admitted as strictly speaking members of the groups, which claim responsibility for the
attacks (Gonzalez-Perez, 2010; Lahoud, 2014).
The Syria/Iraq conflict: a game changer
It is very difficult to quantitatively assess the importance of women’s direct involvement in this
"preliminary phase", perhaps with the exception of Iraq where the number of suicide-led attacks by
women is relatively well known. At least regarding Western women involvement, it can be said that
the phenomenon remained limited to a few individuals who consequently gained a noticeable media
visibility. The Syrian conflict, which started in 2011 as a pacific upsurge against the Bashar al Assad
authoritarian regime and turned progressively into a bloody civil war, was a game changer. In 2012,
with the growing importance of radical Islamist groups like JAN and the subsequently growing
sectarianization of a conflict emphasized as a Jihad by an increasing number of actors within the
insurrection, the flow of foreign fighters converging to Syria began to soar. The pace accelerated
tremendously with ISIS open presence in Syria since 2013 and its affirmation as the most powerful
opposition group by mid-2014 when its forces considerably expanded the territory under control in
Syria and Iraq. The movement reached a peak in July 2014 when its leader, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi
proclaimed the re-establishment of the Caliphate with himself as the new Caliph. In January 2015, the
International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSRP) estimated at 20,000
the number of foreign fighters that had joined Sunni militant organizations in the Syria/Iraq conflict.
The number may be much higher regarding official declarations, including one by the French Premier
on March 19th 2015, revealing that about half of the French candidates to Jihad make their way to Syria
or Iraq completely under the scope of the authorities’ radar (Le Monde, march 19th. 2015). The
Westerners accounted for about 4,000 in the ICSRP survey. Among them is a significant number of
women who may represent between 10% and 15% of the total (The Telegraph, 2014; Thomson, 2014).
Because most Western countries do not communicate precisely on the phenomenon, only fragmented
data are available and are summarized in figure 2. These figures are definitely far from the reality and
are only indicative of the cases 100% identified and published in the media, with two noticeable
exceptions: France, where in-depth statistics have been recently published, and the United Kingdom,
where the press follows attentively the phenomenon. In France, the proportion of women jihadist is
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considerably higher than the Western average. According to November 2014 statistics provided by the
Ministry of the Interior, 35% of the profiles identified as "radicalized" are women and they account for
28% (119 out of 413) of the identified departures to Syria/Iraq (Le Monde, November 11 th. 2014 and
March 26th. 2015). If assessed3, the singularity of the French case will have to be explained. Intuitively,
the strongly promoted French model of secularism, embodied in recent legislation forbidding the
wearing of Niqab in public areas, and of any veil in the administration or in schools, might play a role.
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Table 1 Western women departure in Syria/Iraq. Compiled sources
Total on the …including

Country Date of the figures Total involved4 ground… women
France March 2014 1500 413 119
United Kingdom April 2015 500 to 700 about 60
Germany February 2015 600 100
Austria September 2014 150 14
Netherlands March 2014 100 20
Belgium November 2014 438 35
Denmark October 2014 115 15
Sweden October 2014 75 to 80 at least 6
Finland May 2014 35 8
Australia February 2015 90 40
Canada March 2015 35 to 60 5 to 7
The absence of profile
If the number of Western women involved in jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq remains unclear (with
the figure of 550 regularly evocated in the past months), the same can be said of these women’s
profiles. When one attempts to dress such a profile, very few common patterns emerge. It can only be
said that under 25 years old women are over-represented (including a significant part of minors) and
that most of them turned into a radical practice of Islam only shortly before their departure: a few
months, sometimes a few weeks (Bouzar and Thomson, 2014; Thomson, 2014; Van San, 2015). Several
studies on the European jihadist profile from the years 2001-2006 showed clear common
denominators like the over-representation of popular classes, of people originated from North Africa,
with many of them having a criminal record (Van San 2015) 5. Such a picture does not fit with women
nowadays leaving for Syria and Iraq... According to a 2014 report from a French association6 specialized
3
The lack of consolidated data in other Western countries forbids any certitude on an overrepresentation of
women within French foreign fighters in Syria/Iraq
4
Including people currently on the ground, who died there, who have returned in their country of origin or who
are currently on their way to Syria/Iraq
5
Women only represented a tiny minority is these years as previously stated.
6
The "center for the prevention against sectarian excesses related to Islam" (CPDSI) led by the French
anthropologist Dounia Bouzar.
15

in deradicalization programs, only 40 % of the 325 cases studied had grandparents of foreign origins.
Popular classes seem under-represented, only 30% of the total (CPDSI, 2014). The survey was accused
of bias because based on voluntary calls from concerned families: as the association was closely related
with the authorities, mostly middle and upper class families might have felt confident enough to call
(Thomson and Bouzar, 2014). But other journalistic and academic works also emphasized the
significant share of converts outside "the population of Muslim culture" among the women who left
Europe (Kern, 2014; Van San, 2015). It seems that the proportion of convert is higher among women
©
than men. In contradiction with previous profiling attempts, an overwhelmingly share of these women
had never experienced judiciary problems. On the contrary many of them, like Aqsa Mahmood, a 20
years old student in medicine from Glasgow who is now a top member in the ISIS Al Khansaa female
brigade, were well integrated in Western society with a shining future ahead of them (Kern, 2014;
Sherwood and al, 2014).
Interiorization or contestation of the discourse?
The online material provided by these women demonstrates two diverging patterns. On the one hand,
many aspects in the discourse and the visual contents show a level of interiorization of the jihadist
narrative regarding women’s role in the Islamic society. On the other hand, many elements indicate a
desire for some of them to go beyond the assigned functions and a frustration regarding the obstacles
to a more active, violent involvement. The contradiction is blatant and synonym of potential instability
within this emerging "perfect society". This may explain ISIS’ initiatives to channel this enthusiasm into
tolerated and controlled form of active militancy, such as "recruiting sergeants" (Hoyle and al, 2015)
or "vice squads" members like the Al Khansaa brigade in the Syrian town of Raqqa.
Why becoming a female jihadist?
The motivations to join the Jihad can be summarized along three main axes. The first axis is the
commitment toward an ideological and religious duty. The second is the research for belonging to a
group. The desire to give a sense to their existence may be consider the third axis (Sassine 2015; Taub,
2015). These are notably the same incentives as for their male relatives, but the concretization differs.
Female supporters of groups like ISIS or JAN demonstrate a strong adhesion to the official discourse
that migrating to the holy land of Cham is a religious duty. Only those who faced the perils of the Hijra
(similar to what the prophet and his followers endured when they were expelled from Mecca and
traveled to Medina in 622) are true Muslims. In the jihadist ideology, the land of Cham bears a
significant importance: it is the place for resurrection at the judgment day, the place of the final battle,
a land of knowledge, faith and truth... (Ansar al Haqq; Thomson, 2014; Lacroix, 2015). Moreover, at a
time when Muslims are being oppressed on a global scale by a total war against Islam, it is a political
duty to resist. With Syria and Iraq considered lands of Islam under attack, women, like men, must
converge and take part in the struggle to repel the aggressors. This narrative of Muslim defensive
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actions against multiple enemies is omnipresent in women conversations and posts online. At
contrario, life in Western countries or bilad al Kufr (land of the unbelievers) is rejected as places where
women are constantly humiliated by anti-religious laws such as the interdiction of wearing the Niqab ».
Western democracy is rejected as a moral disaster with symbols like gay marriage or the caricatures
of the prophet systematically pointed out (Thomson, 2014). Examples of the general violence against
Muslim women are continuously posted in a totally indiscriminate fashion. “Genocide” against the
Rohingyas in Burma and the Muslim populations in the Centrafrican Republic, the gazing of civilian
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populations by Alawis in Syria, the assassination of three US Muslim students in Chapel Hill (North
Carolina) in February 2015 or the racist tagging of French mosque and the harassment of veiled women
in the streets of Western countries are looked through the same lens. Consequently, only by migrating
to the true land of Islam and by enjoying there the protection of righteous believers, namely the
Caliphate soldiers, can the Muslim women live plainly in accordance with their religion. In a complete
reversal of values, emigration is emphasized as the true women liberation. The reasoning is a frontal
attack on strongly rooted representations that women are nowhere enjoying more rights and freedom
than in Western societies. While obviously true, some very specific situations may lead to the need for
a bit of nuance: in Norway, the over-representation of girls from the Somali immigrant community in
the ranks of candidates for Jihad may find an explanation in the highly conservative nature of this very
inward-looking community. Some women may then really be experiencing the departure as liberation,
for in Cham, they may at least be able to choose their husband (Ranstorp, 2014)... This quite
paradoxical perspective must be kept in mind for future works addressing the question of women from
the Arab gulf for instance. An intuitive hypothesis would be that Saudi women may also be attracted
by migrating where they might enjoy more freedom. Only by comparing the share of women within
these countries’ contingents with the share of their counterpart in the West may provide answers.
Lastly, the perspective of death is regularly mentioned and looked upon positively because the life in
the aftermath, al Akhira, is regarded as much more invaluable than the physical life, al Dunya (Knobel
2014; Van San, 2015). Dying in such a holy place is then synonym with an almost guaranteed entry
into paradise for both oneself and members of one's family. This last aspect is often opposed by today
jihadist women in Syria to the call for return made by their relatives in Western countries.
The second axis is the search for group belonging. In the context of social atomization and rising
individualism often pointed out in Western societies, the jihadist narrative offers the feeling of
belonging to the universal community of the Islamic Ummah. The argument is attractive because it has
real and immediate manifestations. In the tremendous majority of cases, the first step in the
radicalization process takes place online (Carvalho, 2014; Bouzar and Thomson, 2014; Thomson, 2014),
through the integration of the virtual jihadist community. In a (relative) respect with the principle of
not mixing between genders, women enter virtual sisterhoods that suddenly provide relatives, highly
ritualized daily activities and a ready-to-use narrative, which offers simple answers to so many
existential questions (Carvalho, 2014). It offers the exciting feeling of belonging to an elite of true
believers in an ocean of silliness and cowardice. It offers a new identity, with all the women taking a
virtual name known as kunya (war name) in addition to a new language, or at least a new vocabulary
since many of the women are not Arabic speakers but demonstrate a certain appetite for learning and
17

immediately use generic terms like Ukhtys (sisters). Finally, many stories indicate that this virtual
socialization along jihadist lines led to close relations between individuals, which is determinant in the
self-motivation process. In several cases, online Ukhtys who barely, or even never met before join and
undertake the Hijra journey together (Thomson, 2014).
Finally, the will to be part of something bigger, historical, and meaningful seems a strong incentive for
these women’s radicalization. The recent establishment of the Caliphate by ISIS has considerably
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strengthened the appeal. Often describing their earlier existence as boring and meaningless, women
joining jihadist organizations express a great enthusiasm based on the search for adventure and thrills
and/or the will to help endangered Muslim populations (Knobel, 2014). To put down a political order
experienced as the symbol of Western domination on Islam and to help securing this new, successful
and yet threatened experience of the Caliphate, is a deeply attractive project for would-be jihadist,
male or female. Women’s vision of the war in Iraq and Syria is heavily romanticized, often (but not
totally) minimizing the worst aspects, while revering jihadist warriors like pop stars (Hoyle and al, 2015;
Diehl and al, 2015). Marriage is not the least idealized aspect of this new meaningful existence. The
future husband, because a jihadist fighter, is meant to be the perfect, brave and loving companion,
with the metaphoric imagery of the lion and the lioness being omnipresent (see annex 2 and 3). There
lies perhaps the greatest success in the jihadist effort to have their discourse interiorized by women.
Contestation of the necessity to get married as soon as possible after (if possible even before, through
online procedure) arriving in Syria or Iraq, is never expressed openly by women, even by those most
interested in taking up arms (Thomson, 2014). The interest is at least double for a group like ISIS: it
enhances the attractiveness of Jihad for male fighters, who can reasonably expect to be able to found
a family (before being Shahid...) and it acts as an effective way of controlling potentially too free-
minded, educated Western women.
A will to go beyond the assigned role
But the reality may be more complex. There are several indicators that the traditional vision of the
women role in Jihad promoted by ISIS leaders and their predecessors spreads only partially within
today Western female candidates to Jihad in Syria and Iraq.
The frustration toward a too narrowed role granted by jihadist leader is not new. Al Zawahiri’s position
of refusing any woman as Al Qaeda members was met with strong disappointment among some
female circles, sometimes publicly stated (Lahoud, 2014). We have already seen how certain articles
from Inspire magazine illustrate such a frustration.
At least two contradictions in the women discourse are observable in the Syria/Iraq context. First is
the fact that these women only superficially integrate the local society. ISIS jihadist women remain
most of the time with each other and their mixing with the Syrian, and to a larger extent Iraqi, societies
18

remains minimal7. Very few examples of wedding between Western female migrants and local ISIS
fighters have been observed, the large majority of it being between Westerners themselves (L'Orient
le Jour, 2014; Stoter, 2014; Hoyle and al, 2015). The language barrier is often pointed out by women
to explain why there are so few links. But other reports pointed to the cold welcome provided by locals
to these new incomers in a context of growing resentment toward ISIS, consequence of the
enforcement of a very conservative lecture of Sharia as well as tensions between local and foreign
fighters (Leigh, 2014; Sly, 2015). Another explanation may be that the cultural gap is simply too large
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for being easily crossed. Western ISIS women remained first and foremost Western women, raised in
the West and who will not give up all their habits nor their cultural references...nor (quite
paradoxically) a certain chauvinism, as shown by the common choice of a particle in the kunya
indicative of the country of origin: Al Hollandia, Al Faransia... The importance given in these women’s
discourse to the possibility to live in Cham almost like in the West may prove another indicator beyond
the strict propaganda interest for ISIS to demonstrate a kind of "normality" in the new established
"Islamic State" (see Annex 1).
The second and most important contradiction is the deep attraction for violent actions, demonstrated
by some of these women. There again, women being sweet and pacific figures condemned to a role of
victim of the men’s war remains a stereotyped vision, present both in Western representations and in
the jihadist discourse. Terrorist actions by the groups, including the most barbaric ones like the killing
of little girls by Mohammed Merah in 2012 in southern France or the execution of a captured Jordanian
pilot by burning him alive are met with great enthusiasm by ISIS female Western supporters, be they
in Western countries or already on the ground. For the latter, a step in the acquisition of a tolerance
to violence has been passed, with several pictures of UK female jihadist holding the heads of beheaded
ISIS enemies and demonstrating wishes to be the next beheaders or calling for new attacks in the West
(Kern, 2014). The omnipresence of weapon in these women’s visual contents, sometimes inserted in
familial scenes, demonstrates their desire to appear as more than just passive mothers and wives. The
message is clear: at any time, they may transform into coldblooded Mujaheedat (see annex 5). The
profile pictures on their social media accounts often represent them in highly martial attitudes (see
annex 6), often depicting their training sessions among sisters. Some of them express openly their will
to take part into the fights as soon as possible with the figure of "Mulan", the Disney character of the
female fighter dressed up as a man being sometimes used (Thomson, 2014; Hoyle and al, 2015).
A case study: "Diary of a Muhajirah"
The contradictions are particularly striking in one of the most popular blog by a Western female ISIS
jihadist. "Diary of Muhajirah" is a Tumblr blog created by Aqsa Mahmood alias "Umm Layth" or "Bird
of Jannah". Its main purpose is to recruit other Western women for ISIS ranks. Table 2 provides a
repartition of the topics covered by the blog.
7
While actively advocating for emigration to Syria, ISIS shows much more reluctance to appeal for a similar move
to its real homeland, Iraq. If cases of suicide attacks led by foreign fighters have been observed in Iraq, the vast
majority of the women are located in Syria, mostly in the towns of Raqqa, Manbij, Al Bab and Tabqa.
19

Table 2 Repartition of the topics covered in "Diary of a Muhajirah"
Topics number of posts percentage of the total

Religious and spiritual 26 25
message
everyday life anecdotes 19 18
practical advises regarding
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hijra or explicit 21 20
recruitment
political statements, critics
25 24
of Western countries
women role in ISIS 4 4
activities
Others 8 8
Total 103 100
In accordance with the jihadist narrative, a significant part of the posts (43%) are related to either
religious or private affairs, including her marriage with a perfect Mujaheed. The first contradiction can
be found in posts related to performing Hijra (20%). While at the same time glorifying the idea of
emigrating to the Caliphate for both religious and ideological reasons, and emphasizing the sweetness
of the life there, Mahmood informs incidentally on what she is deeply lacking by asking for new comers
to bring her as much medicine and other products as possible.
Far from rejecting Western modernity altogether, Mahmood, a former student in medicine, advises
would-be new comers to have as many vaccinations as possible and to complete a medical check-up
before leaving. The paradox becomes all the more obvious when she explains that she might have
never supported her life in Syria, especially the first months, without Disney movies (Aladdin and
Jasmine in priority8), Naruto mangas and Jane Austen novels she brought from the UK! Mahmood
makes explicit on several occasion that direct fighting is not for women and the share of posts related
to practical activities for women in ISIS is tiny, in accordance with the ISIS obsession to keep women at
home. But there lies a second paradox for Mahmood is known to be deeply involved in the Al Khansaa
female brigade which carried on armed patrols in Raqqa (Kern, 2014; Peretz and Maller, 2014). Of
these activities, not a single mention is made on the blog, a good revelator of ISIS’ malaise regarding
the promotion of such controversial engagements.
8 Pictures of the movie are popular among jihadist girls as symbolic of the perfect "oriental" couple
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ISIS and the question of female fighters
One considerable challenge ahead for ISIS will be to channel the enthusiasm of these foreign Western
women. Confining them to an Afghan or Saudi way of life does not seem realistic regarding the cultural
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environment in which they have been evolving all their lives. Here lies a potential source of
contestation from this female base, which may damage the narrative of an ideal, homogenous and
serene community. Internal dissenting voices, should they be from women, can have disproportionate
negative effects on ISIS’ communication strategy based on providing the (fake) impression of a
unanimous, or at least massive, support within the Sunni Muslim world. On the other hand, allowing
them to join men's realm of war on an equal footing may trigger considerable social destabilization
within ISIS ranks themselves (mainly composed of Syrian, Iraqi and other Arabs, including many Saudis
and Northern Africans deeply rooted in the Salafist background) and in the local communities.
Since about a year ago, ISIS seems to have opted for an intermediate solution to solve the dilemma.
Western women have been granted an important role as online "recruiting sergeant". Many blogs and
social network accounts have emerged and diffuse massively the ISIS narrative to mobilize more
support. The tone is often familiar and based on a disturbing mixture of insignificant details aiming at
reassuring potential female candidates on the "normality" of life in the Caliphate and extremely violent
material describing the terrible fate awaiting ISIS enemies. The fiction of the female fighter (notably
through the omnipresence of images of armed women) coincides with the weak, victimized pictures
to create a very efficient propaganda machine. This triggers a dynamic of identification frequently
assumed by ISIS Western female supporters: "if she did it, then why not me?" but also by men: "if she
did it, it would be shameful if I do not do it too" (Thomson, 2014; Knobel, 2014). The mission is self-
valorizing for women and has the convenient interest for ISIS to be extremely time consuming. It may
also offer compensation to both the feeling of loneliness expressed by many of the Western women
on the ground and their sense of enclosure (even if not openly expressed) since they are largely denied
a physical access to public space, by allowing them a virtual opening on the rest of the world, including
interferences with men9. Propagating the cause of Jihad justifies a slight infringement of the rule...
In addition to that, a minority of Western women has been enrolled in the two ISIS brigades created
in 2014, Al Khansaa and Umm al Rayan brigades. Both of them may be composed of 50 to 100 women,
in a majority of Western origin10 (Sassine, 2015). In addition to the recruitment mission, these women
9
Indeed, the necessity to avoid gender mixing seems less strictly enforced in the online area, with limits:
consulting a male social media account is permitted for women. But having direct chat or becoming "Facebook
friend" is prohibited. Having said that, many jihadist Facebook and twitter accounts, male or female have
"friends" from the opposite sex in reality.
10
The term is obviously vague. Several sources for example insists on the strong representation of Somali
women, even if many of them indeed spend a part of their life in Western societies, in the UK or in Scandinavian
countries
21

officially allowed to carry weapons act as "vice squads" aiming at disciplining women in the ISIS-
controlled city of Raqqa (Zakaria, 2015). ISIS then empowers a minority of indoctrinated women, and
commissions them to enforce gender segregation that is the very essence of the group’s ideology,
based on women subordination. Here again, the process is not new and has for instance been observed
in Pakistan, with several Islamist militias having formed female wings (Zakaria, 2015). In reaction to
the Western ideology of gender equality, ISIS, like many other Islamist movements including Muslim
feminists, promote an alternative ideology of "gender complementarity" (Chafiq, 2010; Zakaria, 2015).
©
Another recent ISIS initiative is worth mentioning, it a forward-looking perspective: the group decision
to create the Al Zawra school dedicated to the training of women in suicide attack techniques among
other things. There is no clear indication of how many women have been involved in the "program"
but it illustrates the opportunistic nature of ISIS (and more generally of jihadist groups): limited mixing
seems allowed in the Al Zawra school and the initiative may indicate ISIS’s anticipation of a less shining
future, in which the use of female soldiers may prove necessary.
Will these initiatives be sufficient to channel women jihadist’s desire to go beyond the narrow vision
of gender complementarity which until now prohibits them to take part in the war? The question is
worth asking in the light of the very recent (April 2015) apparition on Twitter of a new female group.
In a 5 minute movie, a group of 45 "women from Al Cham" wearing a full Niqab is shown training at
the use of arms in the region of Aleppo (see figure 2). A speech pronounced by what appears to be
their leader emphasizes women as being the equal of men. Both the discourse and the visual
symbolism of the group link it with the Jihad world11, but it claims no affiliation with already existing
jihadist organizations like JAN or ISIS, indirectly denounced for their sexism. As limited as the initiative
may be (45 is a small number and the possibility to efficiently fight while wearing a Niqab is at least
doubtful), it is of a great symbolic importance. It embodies the contradictions of the jihadist discourse
on women and shows how women within the Jihad sphere itself may turn into protesters against ISIS’
patriarchal project.
11
Which makes of this group the first of its kind in Syria. Female fighting brigades already existed on the
ground, for instance Oumana Aïcha and Banat Al Walid in Homs and Aleppo, but they are affiliated to the non-
jihadist Free Syrian Army, see Ghanem-Yazbeck, 2014.
22

©
Figure 2. A new jihadist female brigade? Source: Charlie Winter tweeter account, 10th of April. 2015
Conclusion
Women have a tremendous importance in the discourse on Jihad. They embody the suffering endured
by the Muslims in the global war on Islam waged by its enemies, from the Tyrants of the Arab countries
to the Zionists and their allies within Europe and the United States. This essentialization of women as
the victims of war is a common pattern of jihadist groups (and beyond) and has proven efficient in
catalyzing mobilization for the cause all across the globe. As for women’s participation in the Jihad
itself, the ideology emphasizes first and foremost their importance as mother, wives and widows,
whose place lies within the private sphere. They are responsible for the glorious tasks of enhancing
Mujaheedin’s moral, firming up their commitment, and raising the next generation in the cult of Jihad.
Western authorities must not underestimate this last aspect. A generation of Western originated
children are currently being raised by indoctrinated mothers and fathers in the hatred of Western
society and its values, in a war environment that deeply affect their relationship with violence. This
may prove an unprecedented threat in the coming years. Women may be offered more active roles in
Jihad depending on the context. If performing logistical or medical tasks do not trigger significant
protests, taking part into suicide attacks or direct fighting is met with much more defiance by
ideologues and leaders, because waging the war is considered as men’s business first. While this essay
focus on women supportive of Jihad, it must not be forgotten that the vast majority of women present
in land of Jihad do terribly suffer from the groups' exactions. In Iraq and Syria, women, especially from
religious minorities, are enduring treatments that may account for crimes against humanity as stated
23

by the International Court of Justice in April 2015. In Nigeria, the Boko Haram jihadist group has led
operations that blur the lines between fighting and victimized women, with suicide attacks led by very
young girls (an attack was perpetrated on February 22th 2015 by a 7 years old girl). Regarding their age,
it is most likely that these girls were forced into perpetrating the attacks. Some of them may be
Christian abducted girls according to certain sources, but such assertions remain unchecked. With such
tactics, Boko Haram has nevertheless undoubtedly crossed a significant threshold in the war it is
waging against civil society.
©
Apart from this very heterodox situation 12, women’s voluntary engagement in violent jihad is a pattern
observed at least since the 1990s, that took place against a more or less established consensus, even
if such involvement was always ambiguously welcomed and instrumentalized by the groups for
instance to shame reluctant males. In a desperate need of candidates for suicide attacks, Al Qaeda in
Iraq expressed no remorse in endorsing women led attacks in the 2005-2008 years. As its direct
successor, ISIS currently shows a clear opposition to such "extremities", mainly because it doesn’t have
the need for it: its waiting list of male would-be shahid seems endless. Women involvement in jihad
remained quantitatively limited in the 1990s and the 2000s but the Syrian/Iraqi context has deeply
scaled up the phenomenon. Just the Western-originated women represent hundreds of individuals
that have already immigrated in "the holy land of Cham". No precise profile of the Western jihadist
women has emerged yet: women of all ages, social classes and origins are represented. Their
motivations don’t seem different from their male counterparts, mainly a sense of religious and
ideological duty, the feeling to belong to a universal community, and the appeal offered by a travel in
"Muslim utopia" (Taub, 2015). The very short amount of time that elapses between the adhesion to a
radical lecture of Islam (sometimes immediately after a conversion) and the departure for Syria in
many cases is one of the many signs that give ground to the classification of the process as a new form
of sectarian indoctrination, but the assumed political agenda of many of these western candidates for
Jihad must also be taken into account.
To what extent does the jihadist discourse on gender get internalized by women is the key question
for evaluating the potential impact of this massive flow of foreign women to the jihadist groups on the
ground. If some aspects, such as the importance of marriage, do not face significant questioning, the
prohibition of taking up arms and actively participating in the fight generates a visible, perhaps
growing, frustration. The figure of the armed and veiled fighting women as the representation of the
modern perfect Muslim women is omnipresent in social media. Such an enthusiasm obviously diverges
from the groups’ interests, intrinsically related to male domination, out of fear of both losing social
support among traditional, conservative Muslim societies and of triggering a sexual liberation that may
endanger their power. The emergence of ISIS female brigades may then appear as a quest for a modus
Vivendi. It allows for the relative empowerment for a highly committed and potentially less
controllable minority of women, but this empowerment is dedicated to the enforcement of highly
patriarchal, sometimes barbaric rules for the majority, including the stoning of couples found guilty of
12
Including in Nigeria where the first attack of this kind is very recent: it occurred on June 8 th 2014, see France
24, February 24th 2015.
24

adultery or the sexual enslavement of women within non-Muslim communities13. This modus Vivendi
based on gender complementarity, as opposed to gender equality, may not be sustainable in the
future. The recent apparition of a female jihadist group claiming equality between men and women
could announce a new era of Jihadi girl power.
13
©
ISIS women may be involved in the management of brothels for ISIS fighters (Kern, 2014).
25

References
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©
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28

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29

Annexes
Annex 1: Life is normal in the Caliphate
© 30

Annex 2: Marriage idealization
© 31

Annex 3: The lion and the Lioness
© 32

Annex 5: Weapons are omnipresent
© 33

Annex 6: Staging the readiness for fighting
© 34


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Simon Bonnet

Master in International security. Spring 2014-2015

Western women in jihad,

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I The discourse on women in Jihad

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Figure 1 The Fake wedding

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In most cases, women must remain at home

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Exceptions may yet arise

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The delicate issue of taking up arms

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Case study: Inspire and Dabiq magazines

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II Beyond the discourse: Women involvement in Jihad

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The Syria/Iraq conflict: a game changer

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Total on the …including

The absence of profile

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Interiorization or contestation of the discourse?

Why becoming a female jihadist?

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A will to go beyond the assigned role

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A case study: "Diary of a Muhajirah"

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Topics number of posts percentage of the total

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Books and Academic material

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THOMSON DAVID, 2014, Les Français Jihadistes, Les Arènes, Paris

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Annex 1: Life is normal in the Caliphate

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