A complete list of links to reports and articles can be found on kagge.no using the search term To søstre—kildeliste.
* * *
This book would not have been possible without all those who contributed. I am impressed with and grateful to those who chose to speak when it would have been easier to keep silent and to those who set aside time to further illuminate matters so that they are as correct as possible.
Some of these people I spent hours, days, and weeks with; others I merely chatted with online or met for a brief interview. Together they created the images, scenes, and stories in this book.
I am deeply grateful to all those who spoke to me and responded to my inquiries.
Assistant Professor and Arabist Pernille Myrvold from the University of Bergen helped me with Arabic words and transcription. Likewise, the medical student Warsan Ismael helped with regard to Somali words and phrases.
I am grateful to those who unearthed material for me. Nasser Weddady found the al-Nusra soldier’s text about the sisters, and the historian Tore Marius Løiten located relevant articles and research material. Ikhlaque Chan, employed by Bærum county, offered me interesting perspectives on radicalization from his work with youths from the area. I also am thankful to friends of the girls for sharing what they knew, as well as the teachers and principals at Dønski, Nesbru, and Rud secondary schools.
I am grateful to Styrk Jansen and Veslemøy Hvidsteen for their cooperation over the course of two years. We shared material we found and discussed each other’s projects under way.
The author Trude Marstein tidied up my language, while the editor in chief at Kagge, Tuva Ørbeck Sørheim, held things together to the last to ensure the book actually was published.
I thank the publishing director, Anne Gaathaug, who arranged my meeting with Sadiq Juma, and the publisher, Erling Kagge, who was there at every stage and at every twist and turn the book took. For the English version, I am grateful to the translator, Seán Kinsella, and the editor, Alex Star at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. They did a tremendous job of helping transfer my text into English.
Turning a story told into a book is demanding. Many choices need to be made along the way, many decisions considered. What ended up in this book is what I found most important to answer: What causes two girls, who are good students, who are ambitious, and who fled from war when young, to seek out war again and submit to the strict control of the Islamic State?
For her help throughout the process of making their story into a book, I thank Cathrine Sandnes from the Manifest think tank, who was there to discuss the choices taken along the way, and contributed to putting the manuscript together. Finally, I thank the editor Aslak Nore, who delved into the topic and met the problems around it with great knowledge and enthusiasm.
Together we arrived at how this story could best be told.
* * *
Two individuals deserve the most gratitude.
Sadiq and Sara.
Of approximately ninety sets of Norwegian parents whose children have traveled to Syria, only a handful have come forward. The rest have remained silent. There can be many reasons for this: to protect themselves, or to protect their children, perhaps in the hope that if their children return, they can continue their lives where they left off, without the stamp of being a jihadist.
Sara and Sadiq experienced one of the worst things imaginable to a parent: their children leaving them with no intention of ever returning. They invited me into their home in Bærum and to Hargeisa in Somaliland. In addition, I undertook a trip to Hatay with Sadiq.
They themselves decided where to draw the line; they established how open they would be. They both read the finished manuscript, or in Sara’s case had it read out loud in translation by an interpreter. They had the opportunity to make corrections. They were not, as per our agreement, allowed to correct or change what others said about their daughters. In this respect, all the sources are independent, have been compared against one another, and were double-checked.
I am deeply humbled that Sara and Sadiq allowed me to study the dynamics and story of their family. What I included in the book is what I found most relevant to the question: Why did the daughters go?
Without the courage of Sadiq and Sara, there would not have been any book.
Oslo, October 4, 2016
GLOSSARY
Arabic words often have various spellings in English.
abo. Father.
ajr. Reward in the hereafter.
akh. Brother.
akhi. My brother.
akhirah. The hereafter; life after death.
Alawites. Syrian religious minority.
Al-Dawla al-Islamiya. The Islamic State (IS).
Al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Alhamdulillah. Praise be to God.
al-Khansa. IS women’s police brigade.
Allah. God.
Allahu Akbar. God is greater.
al-salaf al-salih. The first three generations of Muslims after Muhammad.
al-Shabaab. Islamic terror group on the horn of Africa.
al-Sham. Greater Syria.
aqeeqah. Animal sacrifice for a newborn.
Baath. Renaissance/resurrection; the ruling party in Syria and previously in Iraq.
baya. Loyalty; oath of allegiance.
caliph. A religious successor of the Prophet Muhammad.
caliphate. A geographical area ruled by a caliph.
Daesh. Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
dawa. Literally, invitation; proselytizing of Islam.
deen. Righteous way of life; good deeds.
Dhu al-Hijjah. Pilgrimage month.
dunya. The world; earthly life.
Eid al-Fitr. Celebration marking the end of Ramadan.
emir. Leader, commander.
fard al-ayn. An individual’s religious duties.
fard kifaya. Collective religious duty.
fatwa. Islamic decree.
fiqh. Islamic jurisprudence.
fi sabil Allah. The cause; the way of God.
Five Pillars of Islam. Faith, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca.
ghanimah. Spoils of war.
hadith. Descriptions of the word, actions, and habits of Muhammad.
hafiz. Someone who knows the Koran by heart.
hajj. Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina.
halal. What Allah has permitted.
haqq. Right; Truth.
haram. Forbidden.
hijra. Emigration.
iftar. Evening meal at sundown during Ramadan.
imam. Leader of congregational prayer in a mosque.
iman. Belief in the metaphysical aspects of Islam.
inshallah. God willing.
Jabhat al-Nusra. People’s front; Syrian militia, previously tied to al-Qaida.
Jannah.
