ISIS launches ‘Agony Uncle’ radio show for jihadists

WASHINGTON: The Islamic State’s radio station has reportedly launched an ‘Agony Uncle’ phone-in show where terrorists and the terror group’s sympathisers can get answers to their personal problems.

Al-bayan, which broadcasts in Iraqi territories controlled by the militant organisation, recently launched the programme that translates as ‘Fatwas Over the Airwaves’ programme in which clerics provide answers to questions presented to them on a variety of topics concerning Islamic law, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

In the show, clerics take on the role as an ‘Agony Uncle’ where they answer questions submitted by militants whilst referring to aspects of Islamic law. One such question asked during the show was whether it is permissible for women to watch ISIS videos.

The response to the question, according to MEMRI, was “Some of the scholars have tended not to permit women to look at male strangers at all, and some of them have tended to prohibit women from look- ing at male strangers if this was out of desire or at a time or place ripe for temptation.”

“However, if the looking is devoid of these things, it is permissible, and this is the correct stance to which the textual proofs point,” the transcript of the answer said.

“Since women were ordered to conceal themselves from men, and men were not ordered to do this, therefore it is fundamentally permissible for the Muslim women to watch Islamic State videos, even if they military preparation,” it said.