The competition is one of many that take place during the month of Ramadan, which began on 18 June, when Muslims fast during daylight hours and are encouraged to read, recite and memorise the Quran. Muslims believe Muhammad received the Quran during Ramadan, on Lailat al Qadr (the Night of Power). Always towards the end of Ramadan, Lailat al Qadr falls on 13 July this year.

IS militants put up a notice announcing that there will be ten prize winners: the top three will each receive a slave girl, and prize winners four to ten will be given monetary awards ranging from 100,000 Syrian pounds (£340; €470; US$530) down to 50,000 Syrian pounds (£170; €235; US$265). Those who wish to participate must register with the imams of one of four listed mosques and the prizes will be distributed on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, when Ramadan ends.

This is not the first time IS have released a public announcement containing a reference to slaves. In late 2014, IS issued a document standardising the prices at which Christian and Yazidi women and children would be sold in the market. IS justifies slavery by reference to sharia sources which permit Muslims to obtain non-Muslim human slaves captured in a context of jihad.

The IS notice indicates four Suras (chapters of the Quran) for memorisation in this competition. According to The Clarion Project (an organisation that challenges extremism) these are considered to be chapters that include some of the most explicit promotion of jihad in the Quran. They also validate the gift of war booty, and promise great reward for those who fight while condemning those who do not.

Verse 29 of Surat At-Tawbah (one of the four Suras for memorisation), for example, says: “Fight those who believe not in God nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by God and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book*, until they pay the Jizya**with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

The month of Ramadan is also considered to be the most appropriate time for waging jihad. Last year, IS publicly announced the establishment of a caliphate in the Middle East on 29 June, the first day of Ramadan.

The competition announcement says that the event is for “soldiers of the Islamic State” in the wilayat of Al-Barakah. This IS territory corresponds to the north-eastern province of Al-Hassake. Ignoring conventional geographical divisions, IS has divided its territory into wilayat (meaning literally “what is ruled”). In March 2015 it announced 20 wilayat: ten in Iraq, nine in Syria and Al-Furat, which straddles the border.

* People of the Book refers to Jews and Christians

** Jizya is a tax prescribed by sharia (Islamic law) that is paid by Jews and Christians living under Islamic rule in return for being allowed to keep their own religion. Payment of the tax is a recognition of the inferior status of non-Muslims as a subjugated minority and if they refuse to pay it, or refuse to adhere to the demeaning regulations imposed on them, then the Muslim majority no longer needs to protect them and they can legitimately be killed.

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https://barnabasfund.org/news/Islamic-State-offer-slave-girls-as-top-prizes-in-Quran-memorisation-competition-to-mark-Ramadan?audience=GB