Muslim Women in Iraq on Hunger Strike Have No Helper Under Liberal Capitalist Laws

On the 6th of May 2023, the BBC reported that hundreds of women are on hunger strike at an Iraqi prison in the capital Baghdad. They are protesting their incarceration for being part of the Islamic State group, after what they say were unfair trials. The group is said to include foreign nationals from Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Syria, France, Germany and the US. “It is thought about 100 children are also being held at the facility”.

The horrors of what used to be Iraq are only getting worse for the women and children in that region. The unimaginable trauma that must be experienced by a child being locked up in prison is something out of a nightmare. Unfortunately, with the Capitalist colonialist policies dominating our lands, there is no means to end this cruel reality. Women and children are being used as examples to punish and teach other Muslims that there would be great punishments for those that attempt to challenge Western hegemony.

There is no Islamic State anywhere in the world. It is a fact the West knows clearly. What is happening in the example of these women and children is simply terrorism under the banner of protecting freedom. Instilling fear in the minds of Muslims if they are to be aligned with any Islamic identity is the true objective here.

The Muslims of the world can only expect these kinds of abuses to be prolonged and accelerated as the work for the true Khilafah (Caliphate) by the correct Hizb (party) becomes ever closer to its realisation.

Since 2017, thousands of women and children have been taken into detention. Some were repatriated to their home nations, but many remain in Syrian and Iraqi jails. Human rights as discussed in UN laws have no application in the cases of Muslims, but their superficial purpose as a tool to impose control is clear in this case of oppression.

The words of Allah (swt) are realised when we are warned of the grave dangers we face as an Ummah when our affairs are in the hands of an enemy that wishes to destroy Quran and Sunnah as a reference in the politics of the world.

[يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا۟ عَدُوِّى وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَآءَ تُلْقُونَ إِلَيْهِم بِٱلْمَوَدَّةِ وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا۟ بِمَا جَآءَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْحَقِّ يُخْرِجُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَإِيَّاكُمْ ۙ أَن تُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ خَرَجْتُمْ جِهَـٰدًۭا فِى سَبِيلِى وَٱبْتِغَآءَ مَرْضَاتِى ۚ تُسِرُّونَ إِلَيْهِم بِٱلْمَوَدَّةِ وَأَنَا۠ أَعْلَمُ بِمَآ أَخْفَيْتُمْ وَمَآ أَعْلَنتُمْ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْهُ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَآءَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ]

“O you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies, extending to them affection while they have disbelieved in what came to you of the truth, having driven out the Prophet and yourselves [only] because you believe in Allah, your Lord. If you have come out for jihād [i.e., fighting or striving] in My cause and seeking means to My approval, [take them not as friends]. You confide to them affection [i.e., instruction], but I am most knowing of what you have concealed and what you have declared. And whoever does it among you has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.” [TMQ 60;1]

Videos sent to BBC Arabic from inside the Baghdad facility show emaciated women lying motionless on hard stone floors. It is thought the group have not eaten since 24 April.

The BBC has been told that at the start of the hunger strike, participants were consuming just half a glass of water per day. Some women have now stopped drinking altogether.

Young children can also be seen in the video footage - many reportedly born inside the facility.

May Allah (swt) return the dignity of this Ummah back to its former state before the destruction of the Khilafah, Ameen!

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Imrana Mohammad
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir