by Raymond Ibrahim<\/p>\n
PJ Media<\/em><\/p>\n From what American schoolchildren are being\u00a0taught<\/a>\u00a0[1] by their teachers to what Americans are being told by their presidents, concepts unique to Islam are nowadays almost always \u201cWesternized.\u201d 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\u2019s more troublesome doctrines.<\/p>\n A typical seventh-grade textbook, for instance,\u00a0teaches that<\/a>\u00a0[2] \u201cjihad 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Strictly speaking, this is by and large true. However, by not explaining what it means to be \u201cbetter people, reform society, or correct injustice\u201d \u2014 from a distinctly Islamic, as opposed to Western, perspective \u2014 the textbook abandons students to fall back on their own (misleading) interpretations.<\/p>\n Yet the facts remain: In Islam, killing certain \u201cevil-doers,\u201d such as apostates or homosexuals, is a way of \u201ccorrecting injustice\u201d; overthrowing manmade constitutional orders (such as the\u00a0United States<\/a>\u00a0[3]) and replacing them with Sharia mandates, and subjugating women and non-Muslims, are ways of \u201creforming society.\u201d Those enforcing all this are, in fact, \u201cbetter people\u201d \u2014 indeed, according to the Koran (3:110), they are \u201cthe best of peoples, evolved for mankind,\u00a0enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong<\/a>\u00a0[4],\u201d that is, ruling according to Sharia law.<\/p>\n So it is with the Muslim concept of\u00a0zakat<\/em>, a word often rendered into English as \u201ccharity.\u201d But is that all\u00a0zakat<\/em>\u00a0is \u2014 mere Muslim benevolence by way of feeding and clothing the destitute of the world, as the word \u201ccharity\u201d all too often connotes?<\/p>\n U.S. president Barack Hussein Obama seems to think so \u2014 or, given\u00a0his background<\/a>\u00a0[5], is at least banking that others do \u2014 based on\u00a0his recent proclamation to the Muslim world<\/a>\u00a0[6] that \u201cin 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\u00a0zakat<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus does Obama conflate a decidedly Islamic concept,\u00a0zakat<\/em>, with the generic notion of charity. Is this justified? As with all things Islamic, one must first examine the legal aspects of\u00a0zakat<\/em>\u00a0to truly appreciate its purport. Etymologically related to the notion of \u201cpurity,\u201d\u00a0zakat<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 paying a portion of one\u2019s wealth to specifically designated recipients \u2014 is a way of purifying oneself, on par with prayers (see Koran 9:103).<\/p>\n The problem, however, has to do with who is eligible for this mandatory \u201ccharity.\u201d Most schools of Muslim jurisprudence are agreed to eight possible categories of recipients \u2014 one of these being those fighting \u201cin the path of Allah,\u201d that is, jihadis, also known as \u201cterrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, financially supporting jihadis is a recognized form of jihad \u2014\u00a0jihad al-mal<\/a><\/em>\u00a0[7]; 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\u2019s\u00a0wealth<\/em>\u00a0often precedes fighting with one\u2019s self. Well-known Islamists \u2014 from international jihadi\u00a0Osama bin Laden<\/a>\u00a0[8] to authoritative cleric\u00a0Sheikh Qaradawi<\/a>\u00a0[9] \u2014 are well aware of this and regularly exhort Muslims to fund the jihad via\u00a0zakat<\/em>.<\/p>\n More revealing of the peculiarly Islamic nature of\u00a0zakat<\/em>\u00a0is the fact that Muslims are actually\u00a0forbidden<\/a>\u00a0[10] from bestowing this \u201ccharity\u201d onto non-Muslims (e.g., the vast majority of American infidels). \u201cCharitable\u201d Muslim organizations operating on American soil are therefore no mere equivalents to, say, the\u00a0Salvation Army<\/a>\u00a0[11], a Christian charity organization whose \u201cministry extends to all, regardless of ages, sex, color, or creed.\u201d In Islam, creed is a major criterion for receiving \u201ccharity\u201d \u2014 not to mention for receiving socialequality<\/a>\u00a0[12].<\/p>\n From here, one can better understand Obama\u2019s lament that \u201cin the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation\u201d \u2014 a statement that unwittingly implies that Americanzakat<\/em>\u00a0has, in fact, been used to fund the jihad. After all, these irksome \u201crules\u201d to which Obama alludes appear to be a reference to the presumably \u201cexcessive\u201d scrutiny American Muslim \u201ccharities\u201d are subject to by law enforcement. Yet this scrutiny is itself a direct byproduct of the fact that American Muslim \u201ccharities\u201d have indeed been\u00a0funding the jihad<\/a>\u00a0[13], both athome and abroad<\/a>\u00a0[14].<\/p>\n In light of all this, what truly remains to be seen is how, precisely, Obama plans on \u201cworking with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill\u00a0zakat<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n URLs in this post: 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.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media From what American schoolchildren are being\u00a0taught\u00a0[1] by their teachers to what Americans are being told by their presidents, concepts unique to Islam are nowadays almost always \u201cWesternized.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[227,653],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-BT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4090,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/radical-muslims-in-america-all-the-benefits-and-still-turning-to-jihad\/","url_meta":{"origin":2349,"position":0},"title":"Radical Muslims in America: All the Benefits and Still Turning to Jihad","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York Recent remarks by Attorney General\u00a0Eric Holder\u00a0on the threat posed by \"radicalized\" American Muslims are revealing \u2014 not just because of what they say regarding the domestic situation, but for their international implications as well. According to Holder: \u201c[T]he threat is real, the threat is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Terrorism"","block_context":{"text":"Terrorism","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/war-on-terror\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2830,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/textbook-lies-about-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":2349,"position":1},"title":"Textbook Lies About Islam","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media In recent House hearings dedicated to examining Islamic extremism, I stressed that the fundamental stumbling block to effective policy-making is educational and epistemological. What people are taught about Islam needs a serious overhaul before we can expect to formulate strategies that make sense. 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Predictably, Western elites \u2014 especially through the MSM \u2014 have begun a new round of moral,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1402,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ground-zero-mosque\/","url_meta":{"origin":2349,"position":4},"title":"Ground Zero Mosque","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Why it is counterproductive to the Islamist cause. by Raymond Ibrahim PJ Media While vexing to many, the\u00a0mega mosque\u00a0set to be built two blocks from Ground Zero has produced one interesting but unintended consequence: like the 9\/11 strikes a decade before it, the \"9\/11 mosque\" is also creating a stir,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Raymond Ibrahim"","block_context":{"text":"Raymond Ibrahim","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/raymond-ibrahim\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3433,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/caliphate-jihad-sharia-now-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":2349,"position":5},"title":"Caliphate, Jihad, Sharia: Now What?","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim Hudson New York You can sit here and talk about jihad from here to doomsday, what will it do? 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\n
\n[1] taught: http:\/\/pajamasmedia.com..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/blog\/textbook-lies-about-islam\/
\n[2] teaches that: http:\/\/www.historytextbooks.org\/islamreport.pdf
\n[3] United States: http:\/\/www.wnd.com\/news\/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53303
\n[4] enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong: http:\/\/www.java-man.com\/pages\/Books\/alhisba.html
\n[5] his background: http:\/\/pajamasmedia.com..\/..\/..\/..\/..\/blog\/obamas-puzzling-approach-to-the-muslim-world\/
\n[6] his recent proclamation to the Muslim world: http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2009\/06\/04\/obama-speech-in-cairo-vid_n_211215.html
\n[7] jihad al-mal: http:\/\/www.jcpa.org\/jl\/vp531.htm
\n[8] Osama bin Laden: http:\/\/www.memri.org\/bin\/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD218909
\n[9] Sheikh Qaradawi: http:\/\/www.douglasfarah.com\/article\/119\/zakat-and-jihad-from-the-words-of-the-master
\n[10] forbidden: http:\/\/qa.sunnipath.com\/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1527&CATE=5
\n[11] Salvation Army: http:\/\/www.salvationarmy.org\/ihq\/www_sa.nsf
\n[12] equality: http:\/\/www.archons.org\/pdf\/issues\/DHIMMI.pdf
\n[13] funding the jihad: http:\/\/www.ustreas.gov\/press\/releases\/js1895.htm
\n[14] home and abroad: http:\/\/www.discoverthenetworks.org\/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6181<\/p>\n