İsmail Beşikci
03.07.2023, Pts | 09:26
Nadia Murad & Jeanna Krajeski, The Story of My Captivity, and My Struggle Against ISIS, translated by Peren Gülmez, Epsilon Publishing House, August 2021 304 p. (*)
On June 10, 2014, ISIS captured Mosul. The second largest headquarters of the Iraqi army was in Mosul. In the face of the ISIS attack, the Iraqi army abandoned all its weapons and withdrew from Mosul.
ISIS attacked Shengal, where mostly Yazidis live, on 3 August 2014. Nadia Murad (b. 1993) describes what happened after the ISIS attack, the capture of Shengal by ISIS. She talks about the gathering of Yazidi men in a certain place and being shot, the captivity of women and children, the persecution, torture and rape that took place in this process.
Nadia Murad has an understanding that does not see herself as a Kurd, but as an ethnic category such as Yazidis, Arabs, Turks, Persians. She has this understanding despite her native language being Kurdish and speaking Kurdish like the Kurds. This is very surprising. It is inexcusable to consider that she consider the South of Kurdistan as Northern Iraq. (p. 19, p. 279, p. 289) In my opinion, this is an important indicator of where the division, disintegration and sharing of Kurdistan has reached the Kurds. It should be pointed out that there is a division in the form of those who use the Arabic alphabet, those who use the Latin alphabet, and those who use the Cyrillic alphabet, as well as geographical division, division and sharing within different state structures.
Let’s look at the following statements: ‘We were asked to reject our Yazidi culture and submit to Kurdish or Arab identities.’ (p.20), ‘Saddam tried to win the loyalty of the Yazidis so that they could stand by his side against the Kurds and fight in his war’ (p.47), ‘Kurds Even today he calls the 2003 American invasion liberation. (p. 51), ‘We weren’t as confident as the Kurds about what our lives would be like after Saddam’ (p. 51), ‘When he came home, he would tell stories of Kurds who despised the Yazidis just like the Arabs’ (p. 53), ‘Many Sunnis The Kurds turned their backs on us. (p. 61), “They believed that the more favored sections of Yazidi areas would be left to wealthy and well-connected Arabs and Kurds.” (p. 75)
Ezidism is a concept that shows both religious, ethnic and national belonging. Ezidism is a religion originating from Mithra. Nature is religion. Like Zoroastrianism, it is a Mithraic faith like Mani. For example, it is a belief that is older than Judaism. It is a belief dating back 4000 years before Christ. The faith called Yaresan in Iran, Kakai in Iraq, Ezidism and, for example, Alevism living in Dersim, Rêya Hekîyê, are like three branches of a great plane tree. It is well known that this belief developed among Persians and especially Kurds before Islam. Despite this, it is surprising that Nadia Murad considers the Yazidis as a separate ethnic category such as Arabs, Turks, Persians, and not as Kurds. Although her mother tongue is Kurdish, this is surprising, despite the fact that she speaks Kurdish. However, Yaresan in Iran or Kakais in Iraq, people living in Hewraman, Alevis in Dersim, Yazidis are of course Kurds. It is known that part of Hawraman is in Iran and part of it is in Iraq.
Mitra is a belief that unites nature, man and God, prioritizes man and respects nature.
The Slavery Problem
According to one interpretation of the Qur’an, Yazidi girls were considered infidels. This interpretation was prohibited by most Muslim communities. But ISIS used this interpretation extensively. Yazidi girls captured in the war were now slaves. According to the aforementioned interpretation, raping a slave was not considered a sin. It was called ‘sabiyyah’. These girls, who were captured by ISIS, were now ‘sebaya’. (**)
ISIS had formalized this interpretation by issuing fatwas and printing brochures before attacking Shengal. The Islamic State established by ISIS put particular emphasis on this. It was called the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Damascus’. (p. 134, 159)
Nadia Murad was among the girls who were put on a bus and seen in Mosul. On the bus, she tried to shout, to protest the situation. Thereupon, the ISIL administrators said to them, ‘You are now a sebiyye. You will do what we say,” he replied. (p.134-135) Rape takes place with insults, snoring, torture and cruelty to Yazidis. Prayer before rape is never forgotten. accepted as slave Yazidis are also forced to lead prayers. (p. 175 ff.)
‘The Sheikh pointed at us, as if he already owned every girl in the room. After a few minutes, he decided on three. They were all from Koço’ (p. 142)
‘You know, Yazidis are infidels,’ said Hadji Salman, ‘God wants us to convert you to Islam, and if we can’t, we can do whatever we want to you’ (p. 156)
ISIS has even published a handbook on captive and slave purchase questions and answers to provide further guidance: “Question: Is it possible to have sexual intercourse with a female slave who has not reached puberty? Answer: If a female slave who has not reached puberty is suitable for sexual intercourse, it is permissible to have sexual intercourse with her. Question: Is it halal to sell female captives? Answer: It is permissible to buy, sell or gift women captives and slaves. Because they are property.” (p. 14)
Nadia Murad’s and Jenna Krajeski’s The Last Girl book evaluates these relationships in detail.
Islam and Slavery
During the reign of Hz.Muhammad (570-632), the abolition of slavery was emphasized, and this process was heavily praised. Emphasizing that it is fighting for Islam, ISIS heavily uses slavery relations and the aforementioned interpretation. It should also be pointed out that ISIS hade a base in areas such as Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. It can be said that slave markets worked easily and as business. (p.169) The attitudes of ISIS can be cited as ‘this is not the real Islam’. However, it is also known that during the periods when ISIS dominated the aforementioned areas, no Muslim shouted, “I am a Muslim, your fatwas are not true Islam”. Considering the relations in areas such as Raqqa and Mosul, it can easily be said that contemporary Arab thought approves of slavery relations. At that time, It is a process that needs to be examined why slavery relations, which were emphasized to be abolished and banned during the reign of Hz. Muhammad, are now intense and widespread.
Iraqi Kurds drove ISIS out of Shengal with a war that took place on November 15, 2015. After that, mass graves began to be opened. Regarding this situation, a Yazidi girl describes her feelings and thoughts as follows: ‘Now where were the Yazidi boys who were going to marry us, even though we girls were all alive and we tried hard to get better? They were buried in mass graves in Sinjar. Our entire community was almost completely wiped out. And we Yazidi girls would have a very different life than we imagined when we were children. We weren’t looking for happiness, we just wanted to survive and, if we could, do something meaningful with our lives that hadn’t been taken away by chance.’ (p. 293)
(*) The book includes a Foreword by Amal Clooney and a foreword by Zülfü Livaneli. The book cover also states that Nadia Murad is the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. Amal Clooney is Nadia Murad’s lawyer.
(**) The word ‘Sebaya’ is used as the plural of ‘sebiyye’.
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