Local officials in Iraq’s Diyala province said on Sunday that al-Qaeda has asked the ?widows of its killed leaders and militants to implement a fatwa (Islamic edict) of “Jihad marriage” to support ?its fighters. The mayor of the Khales district, Adey al Khadran, said in a press release that the intelligence service who is in charge of monitoring the activities of al-Qaeda in certain areas of Diyala have ?uncovered an order from the organisation’s highest leaderships to the widows of its killed fighters, telling them it is necessary for them to marry other militants to help boost morale. Khadran said al-Qaeda’s attempt to implement a fatwa issued by its own”corrupt” ?religious clerics to support the armed groups in Syria, proves that it is a cross country fatwa, and ?that the development of al-Qaeda in Syria or any other country is connected to ongoing events in Iraq. He added that the fatwa, which was issued over the last years, and whoever supports ?the religious clerics that issued it, deeply harmed Islam. He stressed on necessity of a stern ?stand by religious scholars in order to fight extremist ideologies that are attempting to “abuse the ?human values of Islam.?” The jihad marriage fatwa first became known in Syria earlier this year, and allowed fighters of the extremist organisation to marry a woman for a few hours only, in order to have sexual intercourse with her. When the marriage became void, another fighter could marry the same woman and continue the process.