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Monday, March 23, 2009

SHARIAH CREEP ! The Other AIG Scandal

This is worse than the AIG bonus Scandal. AIG's American International has been selling Sharia-based "Islamic insurance" for at least two years, through its Takaful division with a stated goal to sell such Sharia financial instruments in the United States. AIG Sun America, AIG Financial Services Corp, and other divisions of AIG also are dealers in Sharia mutual trusts. Many of those trusts fund terrorism

Less than a week after the government bailout of AIG, Reuters reported on how AIG's unit American International Assurance Co (AIA) was awarded an "international takaful (Islamic insurance) license" by the Malaysian government. AIG's American International has been selling Sharia-based "Islamic insurance" for at least two years, through its AIG Takaful division, since its October 1, 2006 announcement, with a stated goal to sell such Sharia financial instruments in the United States. AIG Sun America, AIG Financial Services Corp, and other divisions of AIG also are dealers in Sharia mutual trusts.

The AIG bailout came two days before Congressman Tancredo's introduction of the "Jihad Prevention Act" (H.R. 6975), which "would deny U.S. visas to advocates of 'Sharia" law, and expel Islamists already here." This House bill has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Yet as the AIG bailout shows, the challenge of Sharia is more than an immigration problem, and the U.S. federal government is not yet taking any action on Sharia finance. While we should be concerned about "Islamists" coming to the U.S. to promote Sharia, shouldn't we be really concerned that the U.S. taxpayers own a nearly 80% equity interest in a company promoting Sharia finance today? Shouldn't the first assets that AIG should have sold two weeks ago have been their Sharia finance businesses?  Source:
Should America Bail Out ‘Sharia’ Finance?
,,,,,organizations promoting Sharia finance have employed individuals such as former Dow Jones' advisor Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani, who have called for Jihad. As Alex Alexiev has stated, "far from being an innocent venture in free market capitalism, Islamic finance was conceived and is practiced as one of the key instruments of the militant Islamist movement in its struggle against the West." As reported by Alex Alexiev, Alyssa A. Lappen, Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi, and others, Shariah finance zakat can be used to promote Jihad warfare. As addressed by Allyson Rowen Taylor and others, Sharia finance is anything but simply "business," as has been addressed inmultiple articles on this subject. Source
The Thomas More Law Center has sued the treasury department to stop the bailout based on their Shariah finance division. The Treasury Department has filed a motion to dismiss. Below is the status of that lawsuit:

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “Although widespread public anger has rightfully focused on bonuses AIG paid to top executives using taxpayers’ money, that anger would be at an even higher pitch if the public knew that our tax dollars were being used by AIG to promote Islam and Shariah law, which provides support for terrorist activities aimed at killing Americans and destroying America.”

In its motion to dismiss, the Department of Justice claimed that the government does not control AIG and that it provided billions of dollars in taxpayer money to AIG “to address what is possibly the worst financial crisis this country has encountered since the Great Depression.” In its response the Law Center pointed out that, while our federal government may be compelled to act in unprecedented ways during these difficult times, the crisis itself does not excuse the government from using tax dollars to promote the religion of Islam in violation of the Constitution. [ See the Law Center’s response here.]

The lawsuit, which was filed in December of last year in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, is a constitutional challenge to that portion of the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” that appropriated $40 billion in taxpayer money to fund and financially support the federal government’s majority ownership interest in AIG, which engages in Shariah-based Islamic religious activities that are anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Jewish. According to the lawsuit, “The use of these taxpayer funds to approve, promote, endorse, support, and fund these Shariah-based Islamic religious activities violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” [ See the complaint here.]

Continued Thompson, “Through this taxpayer-funded bailout, our own government is providing financial support to anti-American, Islamic activities. Make no mistake, there is a cultural jihad underway against our great nation, and I fear that our government is unwittingly complicit in it.”

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Kevin Murray, a former Marine who served honorably in harm’s way in Iraq to defend our country against Islamic terrorists. Murray objects to being forced as a taxpayer to contribute to the propagation of Islamic beliefs and practices predicated upon Shariah law, which is hostile to his Christian religion. He is being represented by Law Center attorney Robert Muise and by David Yerushalmi, an associated attorney who is an expert in Shariah law and Shariah-compliant financing, as well as general counsel to the Center for Security Policy.

According to the lawsuit, through the use of taxpayer funds, the federal government acquired a majority ownership interest (nearly 80%) in AIG, and as part of the bailout, Congress appropriated and expended an additional $40 billion of taxpayer money to fund and financially support AIG and its financial activities. AIG, which is now a government owned company, engages in Shariah-compliant financing which subjects certain financial activities, including investments, to the dictates of Islamic law and the Islamic religion. This specifically includes any profits or interest obtained through such financial activities. AIG itself describes “Sharia” as “Islamic law based on the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet [Mohammed].”

As alleged in the lawsuit, with the aid of taxpayer funds provided by Congress, AIG employs a “Shariah Supervisory Committee,” which is comprised of the following members: Sheikh Nizam Yaquby from Bahrain, Dr. Mohammed Ali Elgari from Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Muhammed Imran Ashraf Usmani from Pakistan. Dr. Usmani is the son, student, and dedicated disciple of Mufti Taqi Usmani, who is the leading Shariah authority for Shariah-compliant finance in the world and the author of a book translated into English in 1999 that includes an entire chapter dedicated to explaining why a Western Muslim must engage in violent jihad against his own country or government. According to AIG, the role of its Shariah authority “is to review our operations, supervise its development of Islamic products, and determine Shariah compliance of these products and our investments.”

As further alleged in the lawsuit, an important element of Shariah-compliant financing is a form of obligatory charitable contribution called zakat, which is a religious tax for assisting those that “struggle [jihad] for Allah.” The amount of this tax is between 2.5% and 20%, depending upon the source of the wealth. The zakat religious tax is used to financially support Islamic “charities,” some of which have ties to terrorist organizations that are hostile to the United States and all other “infidels,” which includes Christians and Jews. Source

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