What is the worst religion? What is the most vile of beliefs. What is the crime of crimes, that condemns belief in god and leads us to atheism?
According to various sources, Sheikh Mohammad Al-Arifi stated that foreign fighters in Syria had the right to engage in short-term marriages to satisfy their sexual desires and boost their determination to fight against the Assad regime. Syrian girls and women from age 14 upward were considered fair game and apparently secured their own place in heaven if they participated in these “intercourse marriages.”
Only, he didn’t. Never happened.
There was also skepticism from many quarters about the veracity of the report, particularly among savvy Mideast experts. Rightly so. The story, much like one a few months ago about Egyptian Islamist MPs proposing laws that permitted sex with a deceased spouse up to six hours after his/her death, turned out to be a gross lie.
Oops. Confirmation bias, and what happens when we starting thinking the worst of each other…. without bothering to check facts.
Let’s be careful out there.