Following the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s overt military surge on June 10, 2014, which took over Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, a strict interpretation of Shari’ah was imposed on the locals. “Diwan Al-Hisba”—Chamber of Morality Police—was immediately established and soon took on an organized form. Hisba members were deployed in public venues such as markets, parks, and even schools where they sought out violations of the religious code and imposed penalties varying from fines for minor misdemeanors, to execution in more severe cases. This paper attempts to demystify the work of Hisba in Mosul. While other works have extensively highlighted Hisba in other ISIS-controlled areas such as Raqqa, Aleppo, and Anbar, namely the work of Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, this paper shall present accounts from trusted eyewitnesses and reflect on the social aspect of the practice. This paper also examines the psyche of Mosul’s society prior to the Islamic State surge, taking a closer look at the various preexisting interpretations of social conservatism and whether, and if so how, the surge influenced the concept of Hisba.
Hisba in Mosul: Systematic Oppression in the Name of Virtue
February 1, 2016