Video – Row, Row Your Boat into Islamic State Land

There’s no doubt the idea of the Islamic State is very attractive for many Muslim’s around the world. Behold – a caliphate was established in which every Muslim can plant roots and where sharia is the order of the day.

Because of this many Muslims relocate to ISIS territory and others donate money to the Islamic state.

Nevertheless, of late it seems not everything is rosy in the Islamic state and people, particularly in the West, are not so thrilled at the prospect of giving up a life of luxury to move to Islami- State land, especially when it is in the context of jihad.

Apparently, many Muslims understandably conceive the idea of jihad as something equating to certain death.

As a result, it is now tougher for ISIS to recruit fighters and therefore the organization has changed tactics. Instead of calling Muslims to join a jihad, ISIS is using a new slogan “migrate (hijrah) to the Islamic State.”

Jihad today, especially as viewed by ISIS, is a violent struggle against infidels or Muslims that are not properly implementing the laws of sharia.

The hijrah is a concept that describes the migration of the Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. That event marks the starting point of the Islamic calendar. So, when a Muslim performs hijrah, this is a re-enactment of the life of Mohammed and a connection with the roots of the faith. ISIS hopes this will be perceived as making one’s life more meaningful.

With this in mind, we can understand a new ISIS video clip published on February 2, entitled We Will Surely Cause Him to Live a Good Life (a translation of the Quran: Chapter 16 The Bee; Verse 97).

It should be mentioned jihad plays a role in the film but is not the main part. ISIS combines the principles of happiness and family values.

The clip begins with images of the Islamic State attacks on the West in order to show how bad things are in that part of the world, as opposed to the peaceful life in the caliphate.

Early in the video one sees happy children living in the Islamic state:

The clip’s title follows, with a blonde child in the background, giving the viewer the impression the infant is being held by a jihadist:

The clip portrays more serene images. However, the key scene begins pastorally, with a rowing boat making its way across blue water, with mountains in the background. Enter our hero. Abu Shahid the Belgian. He is sitting in the boat. Next to him is his young child. While Abu Shahid talks, his daughter rows the boat.

Our hero tells the audience of his hijrah (immigration), which he describes as a journey from slavery to freedom under sharia:

He relates of an idyllic state, which includes people from across the globe: Africa, Europe, Asia and America, in which there is no racism, the door is open for all and everyone helps their neighbor.

Father and daughter then prepare, cook and share a picnic with like-minded folk in the countryside:

There is no doubt the aim of the film is to recruit new fighters to the organization. ISIS is simply attempting to sweeten the pill.

If the Muslim’s in the West won’t fall for the softly-softly approach and particularly if Western nations start to strengthen liberal Muslims domestically, ISIS will probably face a tough challenge in recruiting new warriors.

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