{"id":5159,"date":"2011-03-17T08:38:58","date_gmt":"2011-03-17T04:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2011-03-17T08:40:40","modified_gmt":"2011-03-17T04:40:40","slug":"al-qaidas-alternative-to-cosmopolitan-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-business\/middle-east-media-analysis\/al-qaidas-alternative-to-cosmopolitan-magazine\/","title":{"rendered":"Al-Qaida&#8217;s Alternative to Cosmo Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/sham.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5160\" title=\"sham\" src=\"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/sham.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"498\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/sham.jpg 498w, https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/sham-145x93.jpg 145w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/a>I remember early editions of \u201cSoldier of Fortune\u201d magazine and classified ads which would appeal to mercenaries.\u00a0 Even now, Soldier of Fortune magazine is described as \u201c\u2026the right of the individual to keep and bear arms\u2026 By opposing tyranny of all kinds, we support the basic freedom of mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Has Al-Qaida taken a lesson in publishing from Soldier of Fortune?\u00a0 The first issue of \u201cAl-Shamikha\u201d magazine made its debut in early March. Al-Shamikha, meaning \u2018Majestic Woman\u2019 in Arabic is a women\u2019s magazine which Al-Qaida has combined elements of Soldier of Fortune and \u201cCosmopolitan\u201d magazine into a slick glossy publication targeting Muslim women.\u00a0 Al-Shamikha is published in the Arabic language through the Al-Fajr Media center.<\/p>\n<p>Al-Shamikha articles encourage Muslim women to marry a mujahedeen (freedom fighter\u2026a la Soldier of Fortune) on one page and in the next advise Muslim women how covering the face maintains the perfect skin (reminiscent of Cosmopolitan and its beauty tips).\u00a0 Interviews with the wives of martyrs praising the actions of their late husband are also featured. The next issue is promising further articles on skin care and how to wage electronic jihad.<\/p>\n<p>The debut of such a publication as Al-Shamikha is further confirmation that Al-Qaida is \u201cwooing\u201d and targeting the Muslim woman.\u00a0 It is pulling out all the tactics towards influencing and shaping their minds. The interviews with wives of martyrs make it sound like a badge of honor and pride for a Muslim woman to marry and \u201csupport a mujahedeen against infidels.\u201d\u00a0 The teaser of the future issue on how to wage electronic jihad may intrigue and encourage more Muslim woman to become internet savvy and active in social media.<\/p>\n<p>How do Muslims and Muslim women in particular counter this latest offensive by Al-Qaida?\u00a0 Would Saudi Arabia promote and support a group of Saudi women to produce their own version of an Al-Shamikha which specifically targets and presents an opposing perspective to Al-Qaida\u2019s picture of a majestic (Muslim) woman?\u00a0 It could even debut with an article on how a Muslim woman can recognize the signs of an electric jihad or what to do if a spouse or other family member is showing signs of supporting Al-Qaida.<\/p>\n<p>What do YOU think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AMERICAN BEDU: Al-Shamikha, meaning \u2018Majestic Woman\u2019 in Arabic is a women\u2019s magazine which Al-Qaida has combined elements of Soldier of Fortune and \u201cCosmopolitan\u201d magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":5160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,44],"tags":[169,353,18275,143,133],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}