Cosmopolitan it isn’t. Al-Qaeda has launched a women’s magazine mixing beauty and fashion tips with advice on “marrying a mujaheddin” and carrying out suicide attacks.
At a glance it may seem like any other women’s glossy with moving true-life stories alongside articles on skin care.
However, the interviews are with martyrs’ wives and the “beauty column” advises women to stay indoors with their faces covered to retain their skin’s youthful glow.
A trailer for the next issue of Al-Shamikha magazine, which loosely translates as The Majestic Woman, is promising tips on exfoliation — and how to wage electronic jihad.
The 30-page publication is being distributed online by the same Al-Qaeda media wing behind Inspire, a similarly slick magazine that encourages young Muslims in the West to commit terrorist atrocities.
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The cover features the barrel of a sub-machinegun next to the image of a woman in a veil.
Inside there is an interview with a woman called Umm Muhanad, who praises her husband’s decision to die in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan, while another piece encourages readers to give their lives for the Islamist cause.
“From martyrdom the believer will gain security, safety and happiness,” it says.
This is followed by a section on the benefits of honey facemasks and why readers should avoid “towelling too forcibly”.
To maintain a “clear complexion” readers are told to “not go out except when necessary” and that wearing a niqab will “protect you from direct sun, and will earn you rewards by complying with the command of Allah Almighty”.
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James Brandon at Quilliam, an anti-extremism think tank, said: “[Al-Qaeda] see how effective magazines are at pushing the ideals of western culture and want to try the same thing.
“As a result they have come up with a jihadist’s version of Cosmopolitan magazine.”