The Critical Reappraisal of Considering Women as Booty in Islamic Jurisprudence in Contemporary World

The legitimacy of initial jihad (jahād-i ibtidā’ī) in the texts of Islamic scholars is one of the propositions that has provided the ground for “women enslavement” by Takfīrī groups. The international community has reacted against such conduct by criminalizing it. Nevertheless, the existing jurisprudential opinions regarding the legitimacy of women enslavement and initial jihad have provided the way for justifying the activities of Islamist terrorist groups. This study attempts to prove the prohibition (ḥurmat) of women enslavement with a critical view of such gender-stereotype view by benefiting from some components such as dignity, international custom, preliminary abrogation, and historicity. As a consequence of this study, considering women as booty is an obsolete opinion in the contemporary era with no status among shari’a and human wisdom; thus, by transition through historical writings in this respect, one should think of the transition through such an approach and stepping into a realm of equality between man and woman.