Online magazine of the Islamic State, 2014–2016
Dabiq (Arabic: دابق) was a Raqqa-based online magazine of the Islamic State, published via the deep web from July 2014 to July 2016 (Ramadan 1435 to Shawwal 1437). One of the many forms of Islamic State mass media, it partook in religious outreach to Muslims around the world,[1] ultimately seeking to gain new recruits for the "caliphate" by encouraging Muslims to immigrate to Islamic State territory.[2] In addition to Arabic, the magazine's content was written in a number of different languages, including English. Dabiq described itself as serving the purposes of tawhid, manhaj, hijrah, jihad, and jama'ah. It was named after the town of Dabiq, Syria, which is believed in Islamic eschatology to be the primary location where the Muslims will fight and bring about the fall of Christendom (see al-Mahamat al-Kubra), preceding the Day of Judgement.
Details
Dabiq was published by IS via the deep web, although it was widely available online through other sources.[3][4][5][6] The first issue carried the date "Ramadan 1435" in the Islamic Hijri calendar.[1] According to the magazine, its name was taken from the town of Dabiq in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith about Armageddon.[7] IS believes Dabiq is where Muslim and infidel forces will eventually face each other,[1][8] and that after the Crusaders' forces are defeated, the apocalypse will begin.[9] Every issue of Dabiq contained a quote attributed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: "The spark has been lit here in Iraq, and its heat will continue to intensify — by Allah's permission — until it burns the Crusader armies in Dabiq".[10]
Harleen K. Gambhir of the Institute for the Study of War considered that while al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's magazine Inspire focuses on encouraging its readers to carry out lone-wolf attacks on the West, Dabiq was more concerned with establishing the religious legitimacy of IS and its self-proclaimed caliphate, and encouraging Muslims to emigrate there.[11] In its October 2014 issue, an article outlined religious justifications for slavery and praised its revival.[2][12][13][14][15]
IS used its Dabiq magazine to express its strong opposition to groups including Christians,[16][17][18][19] Jews,[20][21][22][23] Hindus,[24][25] Shia Muslims[26][27] and the Muslim Brotherhood.[28][29][30]
In September 2016, IS replaced Dabiq with another online magazine, Rumiyah (Arabic for Rome), published in English and other languages. Analysts speculated this was due to IS being driven out of the town of Dabiq by the Turkish Military and Syrian Rebels in October 2016. The new title refers to an Islamic prophecy about the fall of Rome.[31][32][33][34]
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