The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On August 13, 2015, the Islamic State Homs province released a video showing the execution of two men convicted of engaging in homosexual acts in the Syrian city of Palmyra. The men are seen being thrown off a tall building and then stoned.
ISIS had already published images from the same execution last month.[1] The execution follows a string of other executions of homosexuals in Iraq.[2]
The video, which is slightly over six minutes long, begins with a masked ISIS man reading the men's sentence aloud to a gathered crowd, which includes children of various ages.
The speaker notes the Islamic ruling regarding homosexuals, i.e. that they must be killed, and says in that regard that "the [prophet's] companions have agreed on the killing of the homosexual, but [that] they have differed in the method of killing him." In a separate segment, the video notes that some companions had burnt homosexuals, while others opted to stoning them or throwing them off a tall building. The speaker also emphasizes the gravity of committing such a "crime," and notes how Allah had severely punished and tormented the biblical people of Lot.
The next segment shows the execution: The blindfolded men are walked into a building and then pushed by several ISIS men from the roof. A group of men then stone the two.
The final segment of the video shows the Islamic burial services being administered to the men, which the video notes that they are granted despite the gravity of their crime. The video notes in that regard the duty to properly bury Muslims, even those who committed various major sins like engaging in homosexual acts. The men's bodies are seen washed, wrapped in shrouds, and buried.
Source: Shumoukh Al-Islam, August 13, 2015.
Endnotes:
[1] See MEMRI JTTM report, Warning: Graphic Images – ISIS Executes Two Homosexuals In Palmyra, July 23, 2015.
[2] See MEMRI JTTM reports, ISIS In Iraq Executes More Homosexuals By Casting Them From A Rooftop (Warning: Graphic Images), July 2, 2015; ISIS Executes Homosexuals By Dropping Them Head First From Roof Of Tall Building (Warning – Graphic Images), June 3, 2015; and WARNING: Graphic Images. ISIS Executes Homosexuals By Casting Them Off Rooftops, Shooting Them, May 3, 2015.
