Review: Guest House For Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS

by Azadeh Moaveni (Random House, 2019)

In her fourth book, Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS, Iranian-American journalist Azadeh Moaveni presents a riveting study of young Muslim women who searched for purpose by joining ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in the turbulent years following the 2011 Arab Spring.

Covering the years 2007 to 2017, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Moaveni—who has reported on the Middle East for two decades—profiles thirteen young women who grew up in Germany, Great Britain, Tunisia, and Syria. As different as their backgrounds are, each chose to become a muhajirat, a female traveler who emigrates from her home to live within ISIS's self-proclaimed caliphate. Over time many became disillusioned by the contradictions they noticed between the teachings of the Qur’an and the atrocities they witnessed within ISIS. For example, women were severely punished for slight dress code violations and ISIS fighters unflinchingly killed other Muslims. Most of the young women's jihadist husbands also died in combat, leaving them traumatized and vulnerable, often with infants to raise.

As of October 2019, following years of conflict, the region is still unstable, with ISIS forces scattered but still active. The situation has been worsened by the Trump administration's sudden withdrawal of a thousand U.S. Special Forces troops who had been deployed in Syria to contain the jihadist group. On October 13, hundreds of supporters of ISIS easily escaped from a detention center in Ain Issa, in northern Syria.

Some of the young women interviewed by the author remain stateless. Emma, for instance, escaped from ISIS to a town near the Syrian-Turkish border, but encountered resistance when she petitioned the German consulate for help. Shamima Begum, one of the Bethnal Green girls from London, was still at the Al Hol refugee camp in late September 2019 after having been stripped of her British citizenship. Kadiza, another Bethnal Green student, was killed by an air strike in Raqqa.

Highly recommended for those who want to dive deeper behind contemporary headlines. Read full review (with a special feature about the History of ISIS) at BookBrowse.