15 March,2011 03:36 PM IST | | Agencies
Al-Qaeda has launched a women's magazine that mixes beauty and fashion tips with advice on suicide bombings.
Dubbed Jihad Cosmo, the glossy magazine's front cover features the barrel of a sub-machine gun next to a picture of a woman in a veil.
The beauty column in Al-Shamikha instructs women to keep their faces covered and stay indoors.
There are exclusive interviews with martyrs' wives, who praise their husbands' decisions to die in suicide attacks.
The slick, 31-page Al-Shamikha magazine meaning The Majestic Woman has advice for singletons on "marrying a mujahideen".
And the beauty column instructs women to stay indoors with their faces covered to keep a clear complexion.
And another article urges readers to give their lives for the Islamist cause.
It advises, "From martyrdom, the believer will gain security, safety and happiness." A trailer for the next issue promises tips on skin care and how to wage electronic jihad.
The first issue's editorial explains that the magazine's goal is to educate women and involve them in the war against the enemies of Islam.
It says, "Because women constitute half of the population and one might even say that they are the population since they give birth to the next generation the enemies of Islam are bent on preventing the Muslim woman from knowing the truth about her religion and her role, since they know all too well what would happen if women entered the field of jihad."
The publication is being distributed online by the al-Qaeda media wing behind Inspire, a similarly slick magazine that encourages Muslims to commit terrorist atrocities in the West.
31
Number of pages in Al-Shamikha
