Egyptian Couple Celebrates Nuptials With Islamic State-Themed Wedding

A couple in Egypt celebrated their wedding with an Islamic State-themed reception — complete with friends in black masks brandishing beheading-style swords, a cage on the dance floor like the one used to burn a Jordanian pilot alive, and a percussive remix of the Islamic State anthem blasting in the background.

The Cairo Post reported that the aim was to parody Islamic State group fighters.

Video from the celebration showed men dressed in suits and black face masks raised their swords as the Islamic State theme blared.

Wedding guests covered with black face masks raise their swords. (Image source: YouTube)

After the cage was set atop the disco floor lights, one of the masked men walked to the couple, sitting on a couch off to the side, and escorted them to the dance floor.

A wedding guest dressed as an Islamic State militant escorts the bride and groom to the dance floor (Image source: YouTube)

As the music became more dramatic, the couple was placed into the cage. Then, the dance party began!

The couple dances in a cage apparently meant to evoke Islamic State atrocities. The cage sat atop a disco dance floor with flashing lights. (Image source: YouTube)

At one point, the groom started waving around one of the swords, then swapped it for what looked like a pistol as he danced with his bride. One of his friends put a black balaclava on the groom’s head.

The Cairo Post noted that besides jihadist chants, the newlyweds danced to a song that prompts revelers to dance like a duck.

The same anthem, which in its original version is comprised of only men chanting without musical instruments, which the hardline Islamists view as contrary to their faith, has been the backdrop of numerous videos the group has circulated, including those showing beheadings.

Quoting the Arabic-language website Youm7, BuzzFeed reported that the groom, Ahmed Shehata, had secretly organized the display with his friends to surprise his bride, Shymaa Daif.

“The idea came to me two weeks before the wedding, because I wanted a wedding night that is different and special and not like everybody else’s,” Shehata told Youm7, according to BuzzFeed.

The bride, Shymaa Mohammad Daif, told Think Progress that her husband meant for the dance to serve as a political statement. She said she understood the message: “They came to the world by terrorism and murder, but our fun and smile will fight ISIS. ... A cage of murder will be broken by Egyptians and they will dance and never be scared.”

The photographer said some guests thought militants might really storm the wedding.

The groom, brandishing a pistol, said he wanted his wedding to be different and special. (Image source: YouTube)

“I was so afraid of the loud music, it made me feel as if something was going to happen,” the bride told Youm7.

The groom later got his own balaclava mask. (Image source: YouTube)

The joke didn’t go over so well with some observers:

Un - f**king-real. Egyptian bride and groom choose re-mix of ISIS' anthem for their wedding. Comes with a cage too! https://t.co/SbAJLQtnup

— سلطان سعود القاسمي (@SultanAlQassemi) March 3, 2015

“Egyptians shouldn't fear ISIS, ISIS should fear Egyptians. We operate at a level of crazy that surpasses theirs by at least 10 points,” Egyptian blogger and columnist Mahmoud Salem posted on Facebook.

Islamic State militants last month executed Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath Al-Kaseasbeh by burning him alive in a cage.

Here is the video that’s being widely shared on Egyptian social media: