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.
