Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Propaganda magazine Dabiq is shocking in its content and is widely available  

Named after a town in northern Syria, flagged as the location of “Armageddon”, DABIQ is a professional-looking publication, and it’s disturbingly accessible.

Three 50-page volumes of the extremist propaganda mag, used by the terror outfit to recruit and radicalise foreigners are available online and published in a number of languages, including English.

An explanation of the name of the magazine in the first issue outlines the apocalyptic message and makes sense of some of the destructive images of a world in destruction that are common across the publication’s three issues.

“This place (Dabiq) was mentioned in a hadith describing some of the events of the Malahim (what is sometimes referred to as Armageddon in English). One of the greatest battles between the Muslims and the crusaders will take place near Dabiq,” it reads.

The editorial goes on to detail the outfit’s aim, outlining a blunt terror agenda.

“The Muslims today have a loud, thundering statement, and possess heavy boots. They have a statement to make that will cause the world to hear and understand the meaning of terrorism, and boots that will trample the idol of nationalism, destroy the idol of democracy, and uncover its deviant nature.”

An article in the first issue, entitled The Return of Khilafah, infers the magazine has been published by popular demand.

“After a review of some of the comments received on the first issue of Islamic State News and Islamic State Report, AlHayat Media Center decided to carry on the effort — in sha’allah — into a periodical magazine focusing on issues of tawhid, manhaj, hijrah, jihad, and jama’ah,” the foreword reads.

“It will also contain photo reports, current events, and informative articles on matters related to the Islamic State.”

The propaganda publication delivers exactly as promised, with disturbingly frank reports on IS conquests.

Chilling sections celebrating martyrdom through jihad, the destruction of democracy, stoning of women for adultery and images of dead bodies are interspersed with news about Ramadan festivities and caring for orphans.

There are pictures of corpses, scenes of destruction, and a feature defending the beheading of American journalist James Foley.

And of course there are instructions, direct from “a messenger of Allah”.

“You will invade the Arabian Peninsula, and Allah will enable you to conquer it. You will then invade Persia, and Allah will enable you to conquer it. You will then invade Rome, and Allah will enable you to conquer it. Then you will fight the Dajjal, and Allah will enable you to conquer him.”

Another message in the magazine’s third issue, The Flood, addresses readers’ “obligations”. “Many readers are probably asking about their obligations towards the Khilafah right now. Therefore the Dabiq team wants to convey the position of the Islamic State leadership on this important matter.”

Strong anti-US messages are illustrated with images of President Obama and Senator John McCain. The messaging casts the West as “Romans” or “crusaders”, and divides people into two camps — “the camp of Islam, and the camp of kufr (disbelief) and hypocrisy”.

Analysts say the magazine’s focus is on recruitment and state-building, and focuses on attracting young radicalised Western Muslims to Syria, rather than urging them to carry out attacks.

Robert Danin, an expert with the Council of Foreign Relations explains how Dabiq has harnessed this propaganda strategy.

“Employ Islamic apocalyptic tradition — with the West as the modern day Romans — to mobilise followers. Both the organisation and its new recruits understand this script, made all the more relevant and compelling by the recent debate about U.S. air strikes in Syria,” he writes.

“Other militant jihadists have used this approach before.

“This prophetic rhetoric, coupled with ISIS’s claim to establish the first Caliphate since the Ottoman Empire, aims to place the organisation as the sole legitimate representative of Muslims and the inevitable enemy of the Western world. It can be a powerful message, one that has already helped bolster ISIS’s popular support.”