Earlier this week, the wife of al Qaeda’s second-in-command allegedly issued a message urging women to raise their children to love holy wars to defend Muslim lands.

“Fighting is not easy for women because they need a male guardian by their side. … But we can place ourselves in service of the mujahedeen and do what they ask of us. We can help by supporting warriors with money or information or even by a martyrdom operation.” The text was released by As-Sahab Media — al Qaeda’s production company, and not verified by CNN

Omaima Hassan Ahmad Mohammad Hassad, wife of Osama bin Laden advisor Ayman al-Zawahiri, also asked that Allah grant her and her Muslim sisters “patience and persistence until death,” especially in the Palestinian Authority, and in Iraq, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Authorities are concerned that the initiative represents a new move in al Qaeda to recruit women.

This message comes as authorities in India are focused on “love jihad”. The Economic Times reports that India’s Kerala High Court on Wednesday found indications of ‘forceful’ religious conversions under the garb of ‘love’ in the state, and askedthe government to consider enacting a law to prohibit such ‘deceptive’ acts. ‘Under the pretext of love, there cannot be any compulsive, deceptive conversion,” the court said.

For a contrary view of “love jihad” as a topic blown out of proportion, read Intellectuals concerned over rapid communalization of Malayalam Media. TwoCircles.net Anne