ISIS Recruits Russian-Speaking Muslim Women: Islamic State Message Shared On Social Media Urges Them To Reject Oppression, Offers Marriage

The Islamic State group is calling on Russian-speaking Muslim women to travel to Syria and join the militant group, telling them they are being oppressed under their non-Muslim governments, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe reported. Its new message was purportedly delivered by Russian-speaking women who are members of the Islamic State group in Syria.

In the message, the women -- "sisters from Islamic State" -- spoke to their "Muslim sisters in the lands of the infidels," asking them to journey to Syria. "The state in which you now find yourselves is a state of humiliation and shame," they said, adding that Muslim women living in non-Muslim countries are oppressed by their governments and unable to truly practice their religion. "Every step you take is monitored, and once you go beyond what the kuffar [infidels] have allotted you in terms of practicing religion, you are immediately driven back," Radio Free Europe quoted them as saying in their message.

According to the message, such oppressed women are obliged to move to Syria as a form of hijra, or migration, a religious concept associated with the time the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, led his followers to the holy city of Mecca in the seventh century. Once these women arrive in Syria and join the Islamic State group, they will be offered "mujahideen [those engaging in jihad] as husbands," given to these women by God, the message reportedly said.

The message also pointed to the potential of women to be part of religious history in the making. "This is the land where important events in Islam will occur. And you have the chance to get involved and be part of it," the message added, comparing the women who choose to come to Syria to the "great women" who accompanied the Prophet Muhammad during his hijra.

The militant group formerly known as either ISIL or ISIS has displayed sophistication in using social media to persuade recruits, particularly young Muslims, from all over the world to travel to Syria and join its ranks.