Ignore feminism, be an obedient wife: al-Qaeda’s tips for women

From The Times and the New York Post

A magazine affiliated with the terrorist organization advised women not to be modern “of the ‘strong, independent’ variety,”  “Marriage is not a 50-50 egalitarian partnership of two leaders,” a magazine tip says. “Your husband is the leader. Sit back and enjoy it.”

The guidance was shared in the latest edition of the magazine Ibnat al-Islam, which is Arabic for “Daughter of Islam,” Left, a portion of an earlier edition. 

The female author of the article, who used the alias Umm Khalid, told readers “Ladies, we need to detox – we need to unlearn the toxic and damaging messages we’ve been programmed to believe by feminism.”

She advised that women choose to be wives and mothers, not “corporate slaves.”

“As a wife, you are not in charge. Neither are you your husband’s ‘partner’. You certainly give your input, but your husband has a headship.”

…terrorism experts believe that al-Qaeda and other extremists are feeling threatened by the growing refusal of women to be treated as second-class citizens. “I think they are genuinely scared that these ideas could start to take root,” said Dr Elisabeth Kendall, a senior research fellow at Oxford University who monitors jihadist propaganda.

Although it is mainly written in Arabic, the Daughter of Islam magazine, which is distributed through encrypted apps, usually features around 10 pages at the back in English for supporters in Britain and other western countries. Its target audience comprises women and girls in their late teens and 20s who are starting families and raising children.

Kendall said: “You get recipes and beauty tips, as well as write-ups of [al-Qaeda leader] Ayman al-Zawahiri’s latest video calling for the killing of Jews. It’s very professionally done.”

And as one of the comments to the Times report says “…(the) bit about Ayman al-Zawahiri’s latest video calling for the killing of Jews. In Israel it has been getting more frequent that lone women have been pulling a knife from under their burqas and stabbing the nearest Jew they can find”