ISIS Celebrates Ramadan by Awarding Sex Slaves as Prizes in Quran Memorization Contest
As a way of celebrating the the month-long Islamic festival of Ramadan, the Islamic State terrorist organization is holding a seven-day Quran memorization contest in which the top three competitors will receive a sex slave as their grand prizes.
ISIS' fliers, believed to have been circulated around the Hasakah province of Syria, now renamed Barakah, were posted to social media outlets last Friday advertising the contest.
According to a tweet from Rita Katz, director of one of the leading counter-terror monitoring organizations SITE Intelligence Group, the advertisement states that the top winners of the Quran memorization contest will receive female slaves as a reward for their Quranic knowledge.
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"Purported #ISIS document lists 'Sabaya [female slaves]' as prize in Qur'anic memorization contest," Katz posted in her tweet last Saturday, along with a photo of the handout.
The contest began on Sunday and is scheduled to end on June 27. The contest will be held inside mosques within the group's Syrian caliphate, including the Osama bin Laden mosque and the mosque of Abu Musab el-Zarqawi.
According to the Clarion Project translation of the advertisement, militants finishing in fourth through 10th places will receive cash consolation prizes, instead of sex slaves, which will be offered to men who rank in first, second and third places.
The fourth place contestant will receive 100,000 Syrian lira ($462) and the prize total decreases by 10,000 lira for each competitor until the ninth and 10th place participants both receive 50,000 lira.
"We ask the great lord to make your life easier and to grant you with what he loves and what pleases him," the translated version of the advertisement reads.
As ISIS has become notorious for abducting thousands of religious minority girls and women and selling them and abusing them as sex slaves, Clarion Project's National Security Analyst Ryan Mauro told Fox News that giving sex slaves away as part of the Quran contest is an attempt by the terror group to proclaim that its brutality against women is the correct way of practicing Islam.
Mauro added that ISIS will not be affected by the international condemnation it receives for its inhumane and torturous treatment of women.
"By showcasing its slavery, ISIS is boasting that it practices Islam in its most literal interpretation, doesn't capitulate to public opinion and rejects modern interpretations," Mauro asserted.
According to the Clarion Project, it's not uncommon to see Quran memorization contests held during Ramadan, as many are held throughout the world during the holiday to celebrate the month in which Muhammad came up with the Quran.
"Ramadan is a time of year where Muslims are meant to rejuvenate their faith," a June 21 Clarion Project report states. "Memorizing the Quran is considered a pious and worthy thing to do and many memorization competitions are held around the world, especially during Ramadan."
The report added that the chapters of the Quran that the ISIS flier highlighted for militants to memorize for the contest include some of the most jihad-centered texts in the book.
"Links to the chapters of the Quran that have been chosen for the competition are provided. The chapters selected by the Islamic State include some of the most warlike passages in the entire Quran," the report added. "Jihadists also consider Ramadan to be the optimal month for Jihad. Last year the Islamic State proclaimed a Caliphate on the first day of Ramadan."
