Will one of the Muslim groups that has denounced the Islamic State kindly explain how the Islamic State is misrepresenting Muhammad’s example here, and why it is wrong on Islamic grounds to use children as jihadi executioners?
I thought not.
“Islamic State’s Propaganda Magazine Justifies Use Of Child Executioners,” by Joanna Paraszczuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, March 31, 2015 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
The latest edition of Dabiq, the full-color, glossy propaganda magazine published by Islamic State (IS) militants, praises two children who have carried out execution-style killings for the militant group.
The eighth issue of Dabiq magazine, whose cover has the headline Sharia Alone Will Rule Africa, was shared on social media on March 30.
An article titled The Lions Of Tomorrow features photographs of the two child militants, both of whom are shown in videos apparently shooting captives that IS had accused of being foreign agents.
One of the children, who was shown apparently shooting dead two men accused of being Russian spies in a video released in January, looks very similar to a young Kazakh boy who appeared in an earlier video showing a group of ethnic Kazakh children undergoing military and ideological instruction.
The second child is shown in a video released earlier this month, where he appears to shoot dead a Palestinian man whom IS had accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad.
The Dabiq article refers to the children as “the lion cubs of the Khilafah (caliphate),” a term that IS has adopted to refer to its child militants. IS refers to the lands under its control as a “caliphate.”
IS’s use of children to carry out execution-style killings led to outpourings of shock and disgust across Western and Arab media. Dabiq referred to these reactions in its article, suggesting that IS militants had deliberately chosen to film the “child executioners” in order to create this response.
“As expected, the kuffar (infidels) were up in arms about the Khalifah’s use of ‘child soldiers’,” Dabiq wrote.
The author of the article goes on to justify the use of children as soldiers and to carry out killings by saying that this is part of IS’s interpretation of Islam and Islamic history.
“This was the Sunnah (Muslim way of life based on Muhammad’s teachings and the Koran) of Allah’s Messenger, who would allow those capable from among the young Sahabah (the Prophet Muhammad’s companions) to participate in his battles against the mushrikin (polytheists),” Dabiq says.
As part of its attempts to ground its justifications for training and using child soldiers in terms of Islamic history, law, and tradition, Dabiq also refers to the battle in which these children are being made to fight in terms of a centuries-long, epic struggle between Islam and the “crusaders” and “infidels.”
“The Islamic State has taken upon itself to fulfill the Ummah’s (the global community of Muslims) duty toward this generation by preparing it to face the crusaders and their allies in defense of Islam. … It has established institutes for these lion cubs to train and hone their military skills,” Dabiq adds.
Dabiq magazine is named after an area in Syria where some Muslims believe an apocalyptic battle between Islamic mujahedin (fighters who are waging jihad) and the “Romans,” or Christians, will take place….