Egypt's Islamic authority warns women against weddings with ISIS fighters

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March 5, 2015 4:02 PM

The state-sponsored body, Dar al-Ifta, which issues rulings based on Sunni Islamic law, said its call was prompted by ISIS' online attempts to entice women into marrying its fighters 'through video conferences.'

Top Islamic religious authority in Egypt has warned women against marrying fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, the body said such unions would push them into a 'circle of terrorism,' AFP reports.

The state-sponsored body, Dar al-Ifta, which issues rulings based on Sunni Islamic law, said its call was prompted by ISIS' online attempts to entice women into marrying its fighters 'through video conferences.'

"Dar al-Ifta warns girls from adhering to these calls that go against Shariah," the religious body said in a Wednesday statement, referencing Islamic law.

It added that heeding ISIS' calls would push these women into "the circle of extremism and terrorism through illegitimate marriages that neither please Allah or his prophet."

ISIS' online recruitment targeting young people is now troubling governments around the world.

British authorities said they were 'concerned about the number of girls and young women who have or are intending to travel to the part of Syria that is controlled by the terrorist group calling themselves Islamic State,' after three teenage girls from London apparently traveled to Syria to join ISIS last month, ABC reported.

In an interview with CNN, Michael Steinback, the head of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said the terror group is aggressively recruiting women and luring them to Syria by presenting a false narrative of what life is like in the country.

"We have seen everything from a female fighter -- dedicated groups of women fighters -- and those who have come over to support foreign fighters by marrying them," he said.

According to ABC, the recruitment is mainly taking place online, where Twitter accounts supposedly belonging to women living under ISIS rule paint a rosy picture of day-to-day life and urge others to come join.

Some countries, including Egypt, have imposed restrictions on young men from travelling to Turkey and Libya in an attempt to prevent them from joining ISIS. But Egypt does not have a similar ban for women.

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