Islamic State leaders have been forced to abandon one of their religious beliefs by no longer forcing Muslim women to wear the burqa in public. The reason: Women under ISIS domination are fighting back – and using the face-and-body covering garment to do it.
Using clothing items to cover women’s bodies is common in the Islamic world. Many Muslim women are not forced to wear these garments, they are proud to do so. In some areas, however, the law does force women to wear certain coverings.
These items range from a simple headscarf, called a “hijab,” to the full-body burqa.
The burqa became synonymous with the harsh treatment of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Now, under penalty of torture and death, ISIS forces women to wear such a garment in cities under its control.
They used to, anyway.
According to the International Business Times, sources inside the ISIS-held city of Mosul in Iraq say a Muslim woman in full veil shot and killed two ISIS fighters at a checkpoint south of the city’s center. She used a pistol hidden under her burqa to do it.
ISIS is now on the alert for similar attacks.
Burqas are used by women in some parts of the Muslim world, but Iraq and Syria are typically not among them. Syria, traditionally a secular state, discourages the use of Islamic head coverings. When the Syrian city of Manbij was liberated from the Islamic State by Kurdish fighters in August, VICE’s Tess Owen reported women burning their burqas. Some lit cigarettes from the burning garments.
“Damn this stupid invention that they made us wear,” IndiaTimes quoted a recently freed woman as she lit her burqa on fire.
Update 9/9/16: As great as this story was to think about, it turned out to be part of a misinformation campaign by Iran.