Iman Al-Bagha legitimizes brutality of Daesh and labels society as disbelieving

Mustafa Hamza

Dr. Iman Mustafa Al-Baja, the daughter of the famous Syrian jurist Dr. Mustafa Al-Bagha, is the first Sharia scholar to join the Daesh organization after announcing her loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in late October 2014 following his alleged succession.

Iman was born in Damascus in the early seventies. She obtained her doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Damascus, in addition to the diploma of educational qualification. She worked as a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Dammam in Saudi Arabia. She left her job after joining Daesh. Her father is a Syrian jurisprudent, and her brother is Dr. Mohamed Hassan al-Bagha, who served as former Dean of the Faculty of Sharia at the University of Damascus, succeeded by Dr. Tawfiq Mohammed Saeed Ramadan Albouti.

Iman is the first woman specializing in Islamic jurisprudence who announces loyalty to Daesh. She was the only woman to sign the "Al-Baghdadi" victory statement, entitled "The Scientific Torches in the Support of the Islamic Caliphate State" in November 2014. The statement was signed by 50 jurisprudents who announced their allegiance to Daesh from all over the world.

One of her most prominent ideas is the rejection of the Syrian revolution which calls for freedom and rights, not the application of Sharia and the rule of caliphate, which she seeks to "advocate" - according to her understanding - even though her father is a major supporter of President Bashar al-Assad.

"After studying the tragedies of the Muslims, the biography of the Messenger of Allah, the life of the Companions, the conquests and contemporary history, and the jurisprudence of Jihad, I discovered that I was a proponent of Daesh in terms of thinking and methodology," she said in one of her tweets on her Twitter account.

Fatwas of immorality

Iman lashed out at the world-renowned writer Naguib Mahfouz, describing him as a corrupt writer and warned against reading their books. She said: "He was brilliant in describing the lanes, places of garbage, negative characters and unpleasant attitudes." She even criticized famous poets Nizar Qabbani and  Mahmoud Darwish.

She also called for getting away from scenes of immortality that appear in TV series. She also published a number of books, including a doctorate thesis titled “Women’s State”. She was a lecturer in the College of Applied Studies and Community Service in Saudi Arabia, and now holds a leading position in public education at Daesh.