Islamic State launches ‘Agony Uncle’ radio show for terrorists

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.

Many questions have to do with women and issues specific to them. One such question asked during the show was whether it is permissible for women to watch IS videos.

“It is easy to understand why the question came up: The videos’ extremely violent content is likely seen by many in conservative Muslim circles as inappropriate for women. It appears, though, that the person who asked the question and the scholar who issue the ruling are concerned with issues of modesty stemming from women watching videos featuring men,” MEMRI said.

The exact date on which the “fatwa” was broadcast on Albayan is not known, it said.

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 looking 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 (according to the second group of scholars), 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 contain sermons, military preparation, or combat by the men of the Islamic State,” it said.