U.S. Treasury Prepares Its Submission to Shari'a by David J. RusinThu, 13 Nov 2008 at 11:37 AMhttp://www.islamist-watch.org/blog/2008/11/us-treasury-prepares-its-submission-to-sharia.html Send RSS Share: What do radical Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi and theUnited States Treasury Department have in common? Disturbingly, bothare pushing Shari'a-compliant finance (SCF) as a remedy to the globalcredit meltdown. "The collapse of the capitalist system "¦ is proof that it is in crisisand shows that Islamic economic philosophy is holding up," al-Qaradawienthused at an October forum attended by prominent terrorists and Jew-haters. Muslims, he added, should "profit from the crisis to bringabout the triumph of the [Islamic] nation." At the same time, the Treasury Department hopes that "Islamic economicphilosophy" could help right the listing financial ship without pokingeven more holes below the waterline. According to Arab News, DeputyTreasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt explained during an October 25 pressconference in Saudi Arabia that "the U.S. government is currentlystudying the salient features of Islamic banking to ascertain how farit could be useful in fighting the ongoing world economic crisis." Inaddition, last week the Treasury hosted a half-day seminar entitled"Islamic Finance 101." Though billed as an opportunity for regulatorsto gather objective information, the event was panned by Alex Alexievas one-sided and "little more than a government-sponsored promotion ofthe subversive Islamist agenda carried out under the Shari'a financeguise." SCF is a classic wolf in sheep's clothing. The saccharine view, likethe one presented in a recent Washington Post essay, emphasizes thatIslamic finance prohibits making money off of money (interest) andavoids investments in "unethical" industries such as gambling,alcohol, or pork. Shari'a-compliant firms must also purify themselvesthrough zakat, the charitable contributions that comprise one of thefive pillars of Islam. Here is the reality: SCF employs the financial equivalent of RubeGoldberg machines to circumvent the ban on interest; it also bestowsupon clerics sole authority to determine which investments are Shari'a-compliant and which are not. Worse, the "charitable" donations oftenend up funding terrorism "” some Islamic banks in the Middle Eastappear to have been set up precisely for this purpose. Frank Gaffneyfurther argues that SCF serves as the "leading edge of the spear forthose seeking to insinuate Shari'a into Western societies," pointingto its acceptance in Britian as the start of that nation's slipperyslope of accommodating Islamists. Handed nearly a trillion dollars to distribute as he sees fit,Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson now wields unprecedented power toimpose his desires upon the financial sector. And with aninternational economic summit looming on November 15, Gaffney fearsthat government steps to promote SCF indicate that the Saudis "havesecured the Bush administration's acquiescence to the sinister stringsattached to any bailout of the West in which they might participate." Americans recall the frequent and embarrassing spectacles of PresidentBush pleading with Saudi King Abdullah to increase oil production. Aregreater indignities still to come? [/align]
Islam Means "submission"
