Islamic State stones women to death in Raqqah

The Islamic State’s Raqqah Division released photographs of the stoning of a woman in the city of al-Tabaqa. The photographs were published on the jihadist group’s Twitter page.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Islamic State “applied the first ‘stoning to death’ judgement on a woman in al-Tabaqa city in the charge of adultery last night in the public souq of Tabaqa, she was stoned to death.”

The statement accompanying the photographs reads: “Carrying out the punishment of stoning on a chaste [Arabic: muhsina, in Islamic law this word can mean ‘married’] woman, a group of believers attended the stoning #Islamic_State,” according to a translation by Oren Adaki.

The photographs are reproduced below. First, an Islamic State official, likely from its sharia court, is shown reading a judgment. Then, a large crowd that witnesses and participates in the stoning is shown. It appears there are more than 100 people in attendance. The last photograph shows a man with a stone in his hand, preparing to throw it. The Islamic State did not show photographs of the woman as she was being stoned to death.

According to the SOHR, the Islamic State conducted a second stoning in the city of Raqqah. The stoning of the second woman was carried out “in a square near the Municipal Stadium, where the IS fighters threw her by stones to death after bringing a pickup full of stones because people refused to participate of stoning.”

Photographs from the first stoning:

IS-Raqqah-stoning-woman.jpg

IS-Raqqah-stoning-woman2.jpg

IS-Raqqah-stoning-woman3.jpg

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.

Tags: ,

3 Comments

  • Alex says:

    I never quite understood morality in the Sharia world. If I follow correctly, rape is okay and an acceptable form of disciplinary punishment, but consensual sex is haram? Am I missing something here?

  • Birbal Dhar says:

    She probably was raped by these evil pigs and then she reported it to the “Islamic State” authorities, who then charged her with Adultery, because she probably couldn’t get 3 Muslim men to witness the rape, according to islamic law.

  • Ben Dere says:

    Understand the morality? Morality was never the basis behind sharia law. It’s basis is control of the masses through the imposition of terror, over all others.
    This is antithesis of western democracy and should be recognized as such, at every possible occasion.
    This sharia law? Is nothing more than imposing your will and your control, over weaker people through the use of terror. These public acts, such as “Stoning of an Adulteress” a subject being executed under authority of some cult religious verse. Should be viewed as nothing more than entertainment. Entertainment for those in command, while they plot the total subjugation of their neighbors.
    The power of this so-called religion is rooted in their subject’s knowledge, that there is No Morality! There is No Rationale behind the selection process. Their knowledge that anyone, at anytime, can find themselves being put to death. Their own death warrant based solely on the whims of a sharia court. Designed to terrorize those who remain alive…This is sharia’s modern day demonstration of Ghengis Khan’s Pyramid of Heads and terror, is it‘s only message…

Iraq

Islamic state

Syria

Aqap

Al shabaab

Boko Haram

Isis