A new ISIS magazine released by its propaganda wing in charge of foreign-language outreach advises jihadists to target teens playing sports after school or even flower sellers hawking blooms on the street.
The first edition of the new magazine — Rumiyah, meaning Rome — was published in English, Turkish, German, French, Indonesian, Russian, Pashto and Uyghur. The name, of course, is symbolic of ISIS’ apocalyptic goal of the conquest of Rome.
The design of the magazine is more simple than English-language Dabiq. It’s also much shorter: 38 pages compared to the 82 pages in the last issue of Dabiq.
The new effort by ISIS’ Al-Hayat Media Center is likely an effort to reach broader audiences on a more frequent basis. The articles are similar to other ISIS material: heavily on Quranic verse yet not so much in a Western tone, like al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine.
In one article on the Muslim’s responsibility to shed the blood of the kafir [disbelievers], the writers stress that “Allah did not only command the ‘fighting’ of disbelievers, as if to say He only wants us to conduct frontline operations against them. Rather, He has also ordered that they be slain wherever they may be – on or off the battlefield.”
“…All of this becomes all the more apparent for those who have realized that the blood of a kafir is cheap, filthy, and permissible to shed.”
The article heavily quotes scholars citing the Quran to justify targeting civilians. “None of this should be surprising to any Muslim who has studied his religion, as this matter of a kafir’s blood being halal to shed is something upon which scholars have recorded consensus,” the author concludes.
“Muslims currently living in Dar al-Kufr [land of the disbelievers] must be reminded that the blood of the disbelievers is halal, and killing them is a form of worship to Allah, the Lord, King, and God of mankind,” readers are told. “This includes the businessman riding to work in a taxicab, the young adults (post-pubescent ‘children’) engaged in sports activities in the park, and the old man waiting in line to buy a sandwich.”
“Indeed, even the blood of the kafir street vendor selling flowers to those passing by is halal to shed – and striking terror into the hearts of all disbelievers is a Muslim’s duty. There is no shar’i requirement to target soldiers and policemen nor judges and politicians, but all kuffar who are not under the covenant of dhimmah are fair game. How can the disbelievers ever dream of safety and security while Muslims suffer anywhere in the world and while the rule of Allah is mockingly replaced by manmade monstrosities of democracy?”
The article shows a photo of what appears to be a British flower seller with the caption: “Even the blood of a merry Crusader citizen selling flowers to passersby.”
Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, ISIS’ Syria commander and spokesman who the terror group says was killed in a recent airstrike, graces the cover of the magazine.
“Those fools do not realize that Allah preserves His religion however He wills, and this religion will remain established and will not be damaged by the death of any person,” says the foreword. “…Men shall continue to be employed by Allah to frustrate the kuffar, thereby healing the hearts of a believing people, just as Allah employed those who established its foundations and raised its bases, until it reached, by Allah’s grace, what it has reached today of dignity and empowerment.”
“…Today, they rejoice over the killing of Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-‘Adnani. However, they shall shed many tears when Allah places over them – by His permission – one of the many soldiers and brothers of Abu Muhammad who will inflict them with a far worse torment.”
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