The
Dark Side of Zakat
Muslim "Charity" in
Context

by Raymond Ibrahim
Pajamas
Media
August 15, 2009

http://www.meforum.org/2438/zakat-muslim-charity-in-context

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From what American schoolchildren are being taught
by their teachers to what Americans are being told by their presidents,
concepts unique to Islam are nowadays almost always "Westernized." Whether
the product of naivety, arrogance, or downright disingenuousness, this
phenomenon has resulted in epistemic (and thus endemic) failures,
crippling Americans from objectively understanding some of Islam's more
troublesome doctrines.

A typical seventh-grade textbook, for instance,
teaches that
"jihad represents the human struggle to overcome difficulties and do
things that are pleasing to God. Muslims strive to respond positively to
personal difficulties as well as worldly challenges. For instance, they
might work to be better people, reform society, or correct injustice."

Strictly speaking, this is by and large true.
However, by not explaining what it means to be "better people, reform
society, or correct injustice" — from a distinctly Islamic, as opposed to
Western, perspective — the textbook abandons students to fall back on
their own (misleading) interpretations.

Yet the facts remain: In Islam, killing certain
"evil-doers," such as apostates or homosexuals, is a way of "correcting
injustice"; overthrowing manmade constitutional orders (such as the United
States) and replacing them with Sharia mandates, and subjugating women
and non-Muslims, are ways of "reforming society." Those enforcing all this
are, in fact, "better people" — indeed, according to the Koran, they are
"the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is
right, forbidding what is wrong [3:110]," that is, ruling according to
Sharia law.

So it is with the Muslim concept of zakat, a
word often rendered into English as "charity." But is that all zakat is —
mere Muslim benevolence by way of feeding and clothing the destitute of
the world, as the word "charity" all too often connotes?

U.S. president Barack Hussein Obama seems to
think so — or, given his
background, is at least banking that others do — based on his
recent proclamation to the Muslim world that "in the United States,
rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill
their religious obligation. That is why I am committed to working with
American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat."

Thus does Obama conflate a decidedly Islamic
concept, zakat, with the generic notion of charity. Is this justified? As
with all things Islamic, one must first examine the legal aspects of zakat
to truly appreciate its purport. Etymologically related to the notion of
"purity," zakat — paying a portion of one's wealth to specifically
designated recipients — is a way of purifying oneself, on par with prayers
(see Koran 9:103).

The problem, however, has to do with who is
eligible for this mandatory "charity." Most schools of Muslim
jurisprudence are agreed to eight possible categories of recipients — one
of these being those fighting "in the path of Allah," that is, jihadis,
also known as "terrorists."

In fact, financially supporting jihadis is a
recognized form of jihad — jihad al-mal; even the
vast majority of militant verses in the Koran (e.g., 9:20, 9:41, 49:15,
61:10-11) prioritize the need to fund the jihad over merely fighting in
it, as fighting with one's wealth often precedes fighting with
one's self. Well-known Islamists — from international jihadi Osama bin
Laden to authoritative cleric Sheikh
Qaradawi — are well aware of this and regularly exhort Muslims to fund
the jihad via zakat.

More revealing of the peculiarly Islamic nature
of zakat is the fact that Muslims are actually forbidden
from bestowing this "charity" onto non-Muslims (e.g., the vast majority of
American infidels). "Charitable" Muslim organizations operating on
American soil are therefore no mere equivalents to, say, the Salvation Army, a
Christian charity organization whose "ministry extends to all, regardless
of ages, sex, color, or creed." In Islam, creed is a major criterion for
receiving "charity" — not to mention for receiving social equality.

From here, one can better understand Obama's
lament that "in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it
harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation," a statement
that unwittingly implies that American zakat has, in fact, been used to
fund the jihad. After all, these irksome "rules" to which Obama alludes
appear to be a reference to the presumably "excessive" scrutiny American
Muslim "charities" are subject to by law enforcement. Yet this scrutiny is
itself a direct byproduct of the fact that American Muslim "charities"
have, indeed, been funding the
jihad, both at home
and abroad.

In light of all this, what truly remains to be
seen is how, precisely, Obama plans on "working with American Muslims to
ensure that they can fulfill zakat."

Originally published at: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/why-muslim-charities-fund-the-jihad/

Raymond Ibrahim is the
associate director of the Middle East Forum and the author of The Al
Qaeda Reader, translations of religious texts and propaganda
.

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