A ‘right’ to finance terrorism?

The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has been the focus of considerable attention recently as a result of its continuous attempts to circumscribe free and open discourse regarding Islam and terrorism, but one of its lesser-known initiatives may well already be on a collision course with US law.

On November 28, 2006, the OIC established the International Zakat Organisation (IZO), inaugurated by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, with a stated vision of “Establishing an official, and not political, global organisation emanating from the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), with which all member countries of the OIC will work and cooperate in the fields of Zakat and charity and missionary work.” 

Further elaboration is given on a page entitled “What is Zakat?” in which the following appears: “For the cause of Allah (Fisabillillah): Zakah can be used to finance any form of struggle or work for the love of Allah. The following examples fall under this category, e.g. Da'wah; building & developing society's infrastructure; defending Muslims, who are being oppressed; assisting poor travellers and sponsoring a student's educational expenses.”

While many of the examples listed above are largely unobjectionable, two phrases stand out as deeply alarming when placed against the OIC’s track record, particularly the statement that Zakat may be used for “any form of struggle.” Irrespective of religious debates as to the meaning of ‘struggle’, when is utilized by the OIC, the term ‘struggle’ has a particular usage, as exemplified by the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, which states that “It is the duty of all States and peoples to support the struggle of colonized  peoples  for  the  liquidation  of  all forms of colonialism and occupation.” 

Indeed, as the OIC stated in its Kuala Lumpur Declaration on International Terrorism, “We reject any attempt to link terrorism to the struggle of the Palestinian people in the exercise of their inalienable right to establish their independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital”  In its 2007 Islamabad Declaration, the OIC applied the term to defend those whom it perceives to be “the true representatives of the Kashmiri people in their struggle against foreign occupation.”

The United States takes a significantly different view of terrorism, including the prohibition on providing material support to terrorist entities, and of the 45 entities currently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the US Department of State, fifteen are active in Israel, Kashmir or Iraq, while a number of others are active in Afghanistan.

Unsurprisingly, United States material support and related laws have been challenged on religious grounds. When this has occurred, several federal courts have reiterated the statement made by Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that "...there is no constitutional right to facilitate terrorism by giving terrorists the weapons and explosives with which to carry out their grisly missions." [Humanitarian Law Project v. Reno, 205 F.3d 1130 (9th Cir. 2000)]

Still, as Supna Zaidi, assistant director of Islamist Watch, which combats lawful Islamism in the US and throughout the West explains, “with the Holy Land Foundation trial and similar cases, there is already a real concern as to where Muslim charitable funding is going. With an organization like the IZO, determining where money really goes would be a logistical nightmare that could demand new transparency and oversight standards to follow the money trail.” 

And even while the US and OIC have been skirmishing over definitions of terrorism and related international norms at the United Nations, a potentially significant showdown could happen within the next several years. Among the OIC’s stated “Objectives & Goals” is the development of five regional centers around the world. The first three such centers are within OIC member states Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, while a fourth is scheduled for London “by 2010/2011.” The fifth and final such location is “New York, USA.” 

Considering the fact that the OIC’s views on terrorism conflict with United States law and foreign policy, there are serious questions that must be publicly asked - and answered - before a International Zakat Organisation center is set up in the United States, and prime among them is whether this OIC subsidiary will be allowed to pursue its political aims under this religious guise. By contrast, if the US allows the IZO to be active within its borders without significant oversight regarding funds used to finance forms of ‘struggle,’ it could set terror finance investigation back to an unprecedented degree.  

Comments

[American Delight]

The OIC is paraphrasing the Koran itself, which says that zakat shall be used, among the other reasons stated above, “for the cause of Allah” (9:60) which means holy war.

Not only is zakat for jihad justified by the Koran and by the the OIC, but zakat is probably the primary source of jihadist revenue in the world today. Supna Zaidi is exactly right to bring up the Holy Land Foundation scandal, but it should also be noted that the 9/11 Commission found that Al Qaeda funds were “raised almost entirely through donations,” ie zakat. If anything, examples of terrorism fueled by zakat (like the ones listed at http://moneyjihad.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/the-zakat-part-iii/#more-174 ) have increased since 9/11.

Aaron Eitan Meyer has performed a very valuable service by exposing the OIC’s attitudes on zakat, on “struggle,” and on its plot to establish a center in New York—the very place that was attacked by a zakat-funded operation eight years ago.

[Bryant]

I agree entirely with American Delight's statement that "Allah's Cause" does, indeed, refer to Jihad (holy war). This is underlined by the fact that this expression ('in the cause of Allah' or 'for Allah's cause' or 'in the way of Allah') appears throughout the Koran and its supporting Hadiths in hundreds of verses and the meaning is always warfare, by whatever means, to bring the world and all peoples under submission to Islam. Furthermore, a reading of Koran 9:60 (in which Zakat's uses, and the recipients of this 'charity', are listed) also mentions that Zakat is to be applied "to attract the hearts of those who have been inclined (towards Islam)." This can be regarded as "da'wa", stretching all the way from false 'inter-faith dialog', funding Islamic chairs or schools which are required to teach a highly sanitized and essentially false understanding of Islam and its doctrines and history (Muslims have already 'donated' millions to American and British universities, usually also requiring Islam be taught by Muslims), to financial inducements/bribes to individuals, organizations, parties, etc. Also, all Sharia-compliant financial institutions and services (that includes banks, for example, which offer sharia finance) are required to have imams (Muslim clergy) as an 'advisory board' dictating how the sharia services are to be offered and applied; also, all such financial institutions must offer a percentage of their profits to Zakat which means, that these financial institutions and services may, perhaps unwittingly or unknowingly, serve as conduits for funding terrorism. This is also why the US Federal Government, in taking over AIG's debt through 'stimulus' funds, is not only violating the Constitution by involving the Government in a religious system (Sharia finance) but also, given one of the purposes of Zakat (funding Jihad), the Federal Government is possibly assisting terrorism against the American people and the nation, clearly a violation of the duties of the Government as laid out in the Constitution. There is also the question of Barack Hussein Obama's statement in Cairo that "Rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That's why I'm committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill Zakat." Muslims residing in Western countries who contribute to Zakat (it is an obligation on all Muslims and is one of the 'Five Pillars' of Islam) are engaging in an activity which may be regarded as seditious, since 'Allah's Cause' means the dominance over, and eventual destruction of any competing governance/jurisprudence to Islam.

[American Delight]

Bryant, that's a compelling case you make that the influence-pedaling at our universities is actually a type of zakat!

I know that this site is about funding terror, but given that some professors at Western universities actually incite terror, it's a relevant insight.