The seizure of Infidel girls and their use as sex slaves is sanctioned in the Qur’an. According to Islamic law, Muslim men can take “captives of the right hand” (Qur’an 4:3, 4:24, 33:50). The Qur’an says: “O Prophet! Lo! We have made lawful unto thee thy wives unto whom thou hast paid their dowries, and those whom thy right hand possesseth of those whom Allah hath given thee as spoils of war” (33:50). 4:3 and 4:24 extend this privilege to Muslim men in general. The Qur’an says that a man may have sex with his wives and with these slave girls: “The believers must (eventually) win through, those who humble themselves in their prayers; who avoid vain talk; who are active in deeds of charity; who abstain from sex, except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess, for (in their case) they are free from blame.” (Qur’an 23:1-6)
The rape of captive women is also sanctioned in Islamic tradition:
Abu Sirma said to Abu Sa’id al Khadri (Allah he pleased with him): 0 Abu Sa’id, did you hear Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) mentioning al-’azl? He said: Yes, and added: We went out with Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) on the expedition to the Bi’l-Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and we desired them, for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at the same time) we also desired ransom for them. So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by observing ‘azl (Withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen to avoid conception). But we said: We are doing an act whereas Allah’s Messenger is amongst us; why not ask him? So we asked Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him), and he said: It does not matter if you do not do it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be born. (Muslim 3371)
It is also in Islamic law: “When a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact of capture, and the woman’s previous marriage is immediately annulled.” (Umdat al-Salik O9.13)
The Egyptian Sheikh Abu-Ishaq al-Huwayni declared in May 2011 that “we are in the era of jihad,” and that meant Muslims would take slaves. In a subsequent interview he elaborated:
Jihad is only between Muslims and infidels. Spoils, slaves, and prisoners are only to be taken in war between Muslims and infidels. Muslims in the past conquered, invaded, and took over countries. This is agreed to by all scholars—there is no disagreement on this from any of them, from the smallest to the largest, on the issue of taking spoils and prisoners. The prisoners and spoils are distributed among the fighters, which includes men, women, children, wealth, and so on.
When a slave market is erected, which is a market in which are sold slaves and sex-slaves, which are called in the Qur’an by the name milk al-yamin, “that which your right hands possess” [Koran 4:24]. This is a verse from the Qur’an which is still in force, and has not been abrogated. The milk al-yamin are the sex-slaves. You go to the market, look at the sex-slave, and buy her. She becomes like your wife, (but) she doesn’t need a (marriage) contract or a divorce like a free woman, nor does she need a wali. All scholars agree on this point—there is no disagreement from any of them. […] When I want a sex slave, I just go to the market and choose the woman I like and purchase her.
Around the same time, on May 25, 2011, a female Kuwaiti politician, Salwa al-Mutairi, also spoke out in favor of the Islamic practice of sexual slavery of non-Muslim women, emphasizing that the practice accorded with Islamic law and the parameters of Islamic morality.
A merchant told me that he would like to have a sex slave. He said he would not be negligent with her, and that Islam permitted this sort of thing. He was speaking the truth. I brought up [this man’s] situation to the muftis in Mecca. I told them that I had a question, since they were men who specialized in what was halal, and what was good, and who loved women. I said, “What is the law of sex slaves?”
The mufti said, “With the law of sex slaves, there must be a Muslim nation at war with a Christian nation, or a nation which is not of the religion, not of the religion of Islam. And there must be prisoners of war.”
“Is this forbidden by Islam?” I asked.
“Absolutely not. Sex slaves are not forbidden by Islam. On the contrary, sex slaves are under a different law than the free woman. The free woman must be completely covered except for her face and hands. But the sex slave can be naked from the waist up. She differs a lot from the free woman. While the free woman requires a marriage contract, the sex slave does not—she only needs to be purchased by her husband, and that’s it. Therefore the sex slave is different than the free woman.”
The savage exploitation of girls and young women is, unfortunately, a cross-cultural phenomenon, but only in Islamic law does it carry divine sanction. Homaidan al-Turki no doubt doesn’t think he did anything wrong in keeping his sex slave — but going to the sex offender’s course that he thinks would feature pictures of scantily-clad women is absolutely out.
“Saudi who ‘kept maid as sex slave’ denied parole in US for refusing to attend sex offender course,” by Orlando Crowcroft, International Business Times, May 15, 2015:
A Saudi national who was convicted of keeping his Indonesian maid as a sex slave has refused to attend a mandatory sex offender’s course, arguing that his Muslim beliefs do not allow him to look at pictures of scantily-clad women.
Homaidan al-Turki, 45, was jailed for 28 years in 2006 after his maid claimed she had been forced to work 12 hour days with no break and then locked in a cellar and abused regularly by the Saudi, who was in the US on an academic scholarship with his wife and five children.
Al-Turki’s sentence was reduced in 2011 to eight years-to-life but his parole applications have been repeatedly denied because of his refusal to attend a sex offenders course.
Al-Turki told prison officials in 2013 that the sex offender treatment programme “conflicts with [his] Islamic faith”, according to a letter by the then executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Tom Clements.
His lawyers told the court in the same year that the programme: “would require [him] to look at photos that included women in bathing suits or undergarments as part of the evaluation process”, AP reported.
A Colorado Department of Corrections spokesperson told IBTimes UK: “Our treatment program does not show photos or images of scantily clad women” but that it would involve open discussion and admission of his offenses, which al-Turki has always denied.
Al-Turki’s extremely complex case began in 2004 when he, his wife and the maid – who the family had brought to America from their home in Riyadh – were arrested by US immigration over visa issues. The housekeeper claimed that she had suffered four years of exploitation and abuse by the family, including being sexually abused in a cellar in the al-Turki home.
After a two-and-a-half week trial – where it also emerged that al-Turki was being investigated by the FBI over potential terrorist links – he was convicted and given 28 years for sex offences and unlawful imprisonment. This was reduced to eight years in 2011 with a Colorado judge arguing that the original sentence had been “excessive”.
The case has become a cause célèbre in Saudi Arabia, with Al-Turki’s conviction and subsequent failure in 2013 to persuade the courts to allow him to serve his sentence at home garnering major media coverage.
As well as the refusal to take the mandatory treatment, prosecutors argued that there was no guarantee that the Saudi authorities would not release al-Turki as soon as he landed in Riyadh.
A hashtag in Arabic featuring al-Turki’s name had got over 900 thousands tweets by Thursday, and prominent media figures had made statements calling for his release.
Many Saudis consider al-Turki’s conviction to be politically motivated and that his original jailing was the product of anti-Muslim bias in the wake of the September 11 attacks. They point to his original investigation on terrorism charges as evidence that the US government wanted to frame al-Turki anyway it could.
Abdullah al-Mudaifer, a TV presenter at Rotana in Riyadh, said: “The majority of people in Saudi Arabia believe he has been subject to fabricated charges. Even those who believe he is guilty suggest that 28 years [the length of his initial charge] is long for this kind of conviction.”…