TheHisbah of the Islamic State (Arabic:الحسبة التابعة لتنظيم الدولة الإسلامية,romanized: al-Ḥisbah al-tābiʻah li-tanẓīm al-dawlah al-Islāmīyah), also known under the official nameHisbah Diwan (Arabic:ديوان الحسبة,romanized: Dīwān al-ḥisbah,lit.'Hisbah Office'), is thepolice force of theIslamic State in localized territory under the Islamic duty "Enjoining good and forbidding wrong" which is their slogan.[3]
After the Islamic State's declaration of acaliphate and subsequent control ofRaqqa inSyria andMosul inIraq, the Islamic State established the Hisbah Diwan, alongside theAl-Khansaa Brigade for women's enforcement of modesty and faith,[4] in order to enforce Islamic morals andsharia in the public.[5] The Hisbah Diwan was in almost every single town/city in which the Islamic State controlled inIraq and Syria, this allowed for means for civilians to interact with them and for them to go to both local and jurisdictional sharia courts.[6] The Hisbah Diwan was organized hierarchically, with a central office overseeing city-level units. Officers were responsible for enforcing dress codes, religious observance, and market regulations.[7] These religious observances mostly included the banning and destruction of forbidden items (alcohol, drugs,cigarettes,music instruments) and the destruction of what they deemed to be idols.[8] The level that the Hisbah Diwan worked at was under the ShariaShura of the Islamic State, outside of the Military Shura in which fighting units resided, the Sharia Shura is where most if not all Diwans were regulated and created.[9]
The Hisbah Diwan primarily used tactics of fear and coercion to enforce the Islamic State's interpretation of sharia law, including acts of torture and violence.[10][11] For crimes of smoking which was common in the territory of the Islamic State, punishments included fines, imprisonment, and publicflogging.[12] Due to the amount of imprisoned in Raqqa, the Hisbah created large detention centers in nearby areas, including near the Al-Tabqa Dam, where the imprisoned included political prisoners and petty thieves.[13] The hisbah has also been known to carry out extrajudicial executions against what they deem to be violators of shariah law.[14] While enforcing the local law and sharia under their interpretation, the Hisbah wear traditionAfghan clothing, specifically thethawb style, and patrol areas where it's been reported by eyewitnesses, they harass women and beat passersby.[15] These patrols would normally travel around on foot or with vehicles, carryingAK-47s or similar weaponry.[16] The Hisbah also enforced the dismantlement of what they viewed asshirk and attempted to force an ideal oftawhid, this included the praise ofJesus inChristianity to the destruction of ancient artifacts in Mosul andPalmyra.[17][18]
The Hisbah Diwan police normally during prayer times would patrol the city before and force anyone who isn't leaving to go to amosque to go to prayer, sometimes forcefully.[19]
The Hisbah Diwan has been mentioned in several works of the Islamic State including officially published videos and magazines made by the Islamic State's official media outletAl-Hayat Media Center,Dabiq.[25] TheVice News documentaryThe Islamic State talked with the head of the hisbah at the time inRaqqa,Syria, in July 2014 which allowed them to show their enforcement policies and methods.[26]
Islamic State