The Quran allows for taking “brides of war”. See Quran 4:24, 23:6, and 70:30. From the beginning, “those whom your right hands possess” has been understood to mean slave women captured by Muslim conquerors. Well respected Hadiths support that (Sahih Muslim, 8.3432):
It is permissible to have sexual intercourse with a captive woman after she is purified (of menses or delivery) in case she has a husband; her marriage is abrogated after she becomes captive.
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (Allah her pleased with him) reported that at the Battle of Hanain Allah’s Messenger (May peace be upon him) sent an army to Autas and encountered the enemy and fought with them. Having overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah’s Messenger (May peace be upon him) seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their husbands being polytheists. Then Allah, Most High, sent down regarding that: “And women already married, except those whom your right hands possess (iv. 24)” (i.e. they were lawful for them when their ‘Idda period came to an end).
You could dismiss a single Hadith (even a respected one like Sahih Muslim). But not when various Hadiths confirm this. See also Sunun Abu Daud 11.2150; and Tafsir Ibn Kathir’s call for raping the wives in front of their husbands.
Bottom line: Boko Haram is following the Quran and the supporting Hadiths; and, yes, the Quran condones rape.
Around forty women have been taken hostage after Boko Haram militants carried out a gruesome cross-border raid on a village in Niger. Security forces have launched an operation to find the captives.