The Majestic Woman

Screen print of a page from Al-Shamikha magazine

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Muslim women can now read about fashion and Islam in a new magazine Al-Shamikh, translated as "The Majestic Woman." According to England's Daily Mail, Al Qaeda is behind this endeavor:

Al-Qaeda has launched a women's magazine that mixes beauty and fashion tips with advice on suicide bombings...

Dubbed 'Jihad Cosmo', the glossy magazine's front cover features the barrel of a sub-machine gun next to a picture a woman in a veil.

A Canadian and American magazine, Muslim Girl, folded in September 2010 after less than three years of glossy publications. Perhaps a magazine that has both fashion and commentary ambitions cannot really work when part of its fashion features are dedicated to variations of the hijab.

Al-Shamikha is more radical. It doesn't look like there is any attempt to gloss over the coverings that Muslim women are expected to wear. As the Daily Mail explains:

[T]he 'beauty column' instructs women to stay indoors with their faces covered to keep a 'clear complexion'.

They should 'not go out except when necessary' and wear a niqab for 'rewards by complying with the command of Allah Almighty'.

The jihadi nature of Al-Shamikha is explicitly stated, which Muslim Girl never broached so openly. Daily Mail continues:

The first issue's editorial explains that the magazine's goal is to educate women and involve them in the war against the enemies of Islam.

Although the magazine appears to be exclusively in Arabic, and is probably for Middle Eastern Muslim women, Daily Mail's article implies that it can be available for Muslims in non-Muslims countries.

Al-Shamikha's first cover is ideologically driven, unattractive and design-bereft. Muslim Girl at least attempted at some graphic and color cohesion, and many of its covers were aesthetically pleasing. But, the real purpose of Al-Shamikha is not to compete with Vogue and Cosmopolitan, but to provide those Muslim girls other things to think about besides frivolous fashion. This magazine might just last.