Dhimmis At The Local Level

In an astounding display of dhimmitude, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors renewed the Saudi Royal Embassy's $2.2 million lease for the Islamic Saudi Academy in Northern Virginia.

The 45-minute video of the hearing is available HERE; select "Public Hearings" from the May 19 links.

Among the idiotic statements from Board members, who were confronted with concerns about the curriculum used at the Islamic Saudi Academy, is the following (paraphrase):

Latin has violence in it too.

The Board Chairman also stated that those who voiced concerns about the school were slandering the school, but that such slander came under the right of freedom of speech. His tone was that of scolding those who had taken time from their day to voice their concerns.

Apparently, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was (1) uncomfortable with the testimony objecting to the lease and (2) conducting a pro forma hearing.

The vote by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to renew the Islamic Saudi Academy's lease for another year was unanimous. Applause followed the Board's decision.

Additional reading: A comprehensive posting on the Islamic Saudi Academy is available HERE, at Blue Ridge Forum.

The Full Report On The Textbooks At The Islamic Saudi Academy

From this source and providing additional details to this recent post by Pastorius here at IBA:

June 11, 2008: Saudi Arabia: USCIRF Confirms Material Inciting Violence, Intolerance Remains in Textbooks Used at Saudi Government's Islamic Saudi Academy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2008

Contact: Judith Ingram
Communications Director
(202) 523-3240, ext. 127
communications@uscirf.govThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

WASHINGTON—Last fall, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom asked the U.S. Department of State to secure the release of all Arabic-language textbooks used at a Saudi government school in Northern Virginia, the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA). The Commission took this action in order to ensure that the books be publicly examined to determine whether the texts used at the ISA promote violence, discrimination, or intolerance based on religion or belief. The ISA is unlike any conventional private or parochial school in the United States in that it is operated by a foreign government and uses that government’s official texts. It falls under the Commission’s mandate to monitor the actions of foreign governments in relation to religious freedom. The government of Saudi Arabia, as a member of the international community, is committed to upholding international standards, including the obligation not to promote violence, intolerance, or hate.

The Commission requested Saudi government textbooks repeatedly during and following its trip to Saudi Arabia in May-June 2007. Shortly after the Commission raised the issue publicly, the Saudi government turned over textbooks used at the ISA to the State Department, but as of this writing, the Department has not made them available either to the public or to the Commission, nor has it released any statement about the content of the books that it received. Nevertheless, although it was unable to obtain the entire collection, the Commission managed to acquire and review 17 ISA textbooks in use during this school year from other, independent sources, including a congressional office. While the texts represent just a small fraction of the books used in this Saudi government school, the Commission’s review confirmed that these texts do, in fact, include some extremely troubling passages that do not conform to international human rights norms. The Commission calls once again for the full public release of all the Arabic-language textbooks used at the ISA.

In July 2006, the Saudi government confirmed to the U.S. government that, among other policies to improve religious freedom and tolerance, it would, within one to two years, “revise and update textbooks to remove remaining references that disparage Muslims or non-Muslims or that promote hatred toward other religions or religious groups.” The Commission is releasing this statement as the two-year timeframe is coming to an end, and with particular concern over the content of textbooks used at the ISA, in order to highlight reforms that should be made before the 2008-09 school year begins at the ISA.

Examples of Problematic Passages in Current ISA Textbooks

The most problematic texts involve passages that are not directly from the Koran but rather contain the Saudi government’s particular interpretation of Koranic and other Islamic texts. Some passages clearly exhort the readers to commit acts of violence, as can be seen in the following two examples:

In a twelfth-grade Tafsir (Koranic interpretation) textbook, the authors state that it is permissible for a Muslim to kill an apostate (a convert from Islam), an adulterer, or someone who has murdered a believer intentionally: “He (praised is He) prohibits killing the soul that God has forbidden (to kill) unless for just cause…” Just cause is then defined in the text as “unbelief after belief, adultery, and killing an inviolable believer intentionally.” (Tafsir, Arabic/Sharia, 123)

A twelfth-grade Tawhid (monotheism) textbook states that “[m]ajor polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible,” which in Islamic legal terms means that a Muslim can take the life and property of someone believed to be guilty of this alleged transgression with impunity. (Tawhid, Arabic/Sharia, 15) Under the Saudi interpretation of Islam, “major polytheists” include Shi’a and Sufi Muslims, who visit the shrines of their saints to ask for intercession with God on their behalf, as well as Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists.
The overt exhortations to violence found in these passages make other statements that promote intolerance troubling even though they do not explicitly call for violent action. These other statements vilify adherents of the Ahmadi, Baha’i, and Jewish religions, as well as of Shi’a Islam. This is despite the fact that the Saudi government is obligated as a member of the United Nations and a state party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other relevant treaties to guarantee the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. The statements include the following:

“Today, Qadyanis [Ahmadis] are one of the greatest strongholds for spreading aberration, deviation, and heresy in the name of religion, even from within Islamic countries. Thus, the Qadyani [Ahmadi] movement has become a force of destruction and internal corruption today in the Islamic world…” (“Aspects of Muslim Political and Cultural History,” Eleventh Grade, Administrative/Social Track, Sharia/Arabic Track, 99)


“It [Baha’ism] is one of the destructive esoteric sects in the modern age... It has become clear that Babism [the precursor to Baha’ism], Baha’ism, and Qadyanism [Ahmadism] represent wayward forces inside the Islamic world that seek to strike it from within and weaken it. They are colonial pillars in our Islamic countries and among the true obstacles to a renaissance.” (“Aspects of Muslim Political and Cultural History,” Eleventh Grade, 99-100)


“The cause of the discord: The Jews conspired against Islam and its people. A sly, wicked person who sinfully and deceitfully professed Islam infiltrated (the Muslims). He was ‘Abd Allah b. Saba’ (from the Jews of Yemen). [___]* began spewing his malice and venom against the third of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, ‘Uthman (may God be pleased with him), and falsely accused him.” (Tawhid, Administrative/Social Sciences Track, 67)
(*The word or words here were obscured by correction fluid.)


Sunni Muslims are told to “shun those who are extreme regarding the People of the House (Muhammad’s family) and who claim infallibility for them.” (Tawhid, Arabic/Sharia 82; Tawhid, Administrative/Social Sciences Track, 65) This would include all Shi’a Muslims, for whom the doctrine of infallibility is a cardinal principle.
Other problematic passages employ ambiguous language, and the textbook authors do nothing to clarify the meaning.

A ninth-grade Hadith textbook states: “It is not permissible to violate the blood, property, or honor of the unbeliever who makes a compact with the Muslims. The blood of the mu’ahid is not permissible unless for a legitimate reason…the mu’ahid is an unbeliever who contracts a treaty with a Muslim providing for the safety of his life, property, and family.” (Hadith, Ninth Grade, 142-3)
The passages about the mu’ahid are most troubling for what they leave out. They address the protected status of an unbeliever in a Muslim country, but are silent on whether unbelievers living in non-Muslim countries are afforded the same protections of “blood, property, or honor.” Such an omission, taken together with the outright incitement to violence and vilifying language noted above, could be interpreted as tacitly condoning violence against non-Muslims living in non-Muslim countries.

The Commission would urge the textbook authors to put more context into some sections of the textbooks to avoid any perception that they could be encouraging violence. For example, one passage that requires clarification is the following explication of the Koranic phrase, “Respond to God and His Messenger when He calls you to that which will give you life.” (Q 8:24)

Although this Koranic passage does not in itself invoke the term jihad, the Saudi textbook authors write:

“In these verses is a call for jihad, which is the pinnacle of Islam. In (jihad) is life for the body; thus it is one of the most important causes of outward life. Only through force and victory over the enemies is there security and repose. Within martyrdom in the path of God (exalted and glorified is He) is a type of noble life-force that is not diminished by fear or poverty.” (Tafsir, Arabic/Sharia, 68)
While there are various meanings of the term jihad, including an internal struggle of the soul, none are given in this brief discussion, which also includes an emphasis on the importance of power or force over one’s enemies and discusses “martyrdom” with approval. Such an ambiguous interpretation can be perceived as giving the verse a militant connotation, potentially justifying acts of violence, which should not be left without elucidation in a textbook that is aimed at children who are still learning the main tenets of religion.


More broadly, the analysis of the ills of the Muslim world that is offered in the ISA textbooks—that it was strong when united under a single caliph, a single language (Arabic), and a single creed (Sunnism), and that it has grown weak because of foreign influence and internal religious and ethnic divisions—is identical to some of the exclusionary ideological arguments used by extremists to justify acts of terror.

In the Commission’s view, these troubling passages should be modified, clarified, or removed altogether from the next edition of the textbooks in order to bring the books at this Saudi government school into conformity with international human rights standards.

Long-term Commission Concern over Content of Saudi Government Textbooks

The Commission has long called for Saudi Arabia to be designated a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for its egregious and systematic violations of religious freedom. In particular, the Commission has expressed concern about the promotion of religious intolerance and religion-based violence in official Saudi government textbooks used both within Saudi Arabia and at Saudi schools abroad, such as the ISA. The Commission has been urging the U.S. government to press the Saudi government to promote religious tolerance in the Saudi curriculum since 2001, and in 2003 it issued an in-depth report about religious freedom conditions in Saudi Arabia, including intolerance and incitement to violence found in Saudi textbooks and the country’s official educational curriculum. It was not until September 2004 that the State Department first publicly expressed concern over the Saudi government’s “export of religious extremism and intolerance to other countries” at a press conference announcing Saudi Arabia’s CPC designation.

In mid-2007, the Commission visited Saudi Arabia to assess the government’s progress in implementing textbook reform and other policies. However, based on that visit and subsequent research into Saudi government textbooks, including those used at the ISA, the Commission concluded that despite some improvements, these commitments, regrettably, remain largely unfulfilled.

In every official meeting during the visit to Saudi Arabia, the Commission delegation asked Saudi interlocutors for copies of textbooks. The Saudi government’s refusal to make them available during that visit or after the Commission’s return, despite repeated requests, left the Commission with continued concerns about their content and serious questions about whether they were in fact being reformed. The Commission also sought to obtain the textbooks used at the ISA. Until the Commission drew attention to the problem at a press conference in October 2007, the ISA publicly stated on its Web site that it adhered to the official Saudi government curriculum. The Commission called for the ISA to be closed under the terms of the Foreign Missions Act until the official Saudi textbooks used at the school were made available for comprehensive public examination. Soon after the Commission released its October 2007 report, the ISA dropped the language on its Web site stating that its Arabic-language and Islamic studies curriculum “is based on the Curriculum of the Saudi Ministry of Education.” In the months following the Commission’s report, the Saudi government has also posted copies of the official 2007-2008 Saudi textbooks on the Internet.

Members of Congress, some of whom had also sought in vain to obtain official Saudi textbooks for review, have joined the Commission in expressing concern. In November 2007, Reps. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Steve Israel (D-NY), and Anthony Weiner (D-NY) introduced a resolution, H.Con.Res. 262, calling on the State Department to heed the Commission’s requests regarding the ISA and to create a mechanism to monitor implementation of the 2006 Saudi commitments to improving educational materials. Twelve U.S. Senators, led by Sens. John Kyl (R-AZ) and Charles Schumer (D-NY), wrote a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice the same month, echoing the Commission’s call for closing the ISA until the official Saudi textbooks used at the school were made available for comprehensive public examination in the United States.

While neither the ISA nor the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia complied with the Commission’s requests to release the school’s books publicly, the Commission did obtain some Arabic-language books currently used in the twelfth grade and a random selection of texts currently used in middle and high school classes. The Commission’s review of these textbooks found that they did contain passages justifying violence toward, and even the killing of, apostates and so-called polytheists. The texts also include highly intolerant passages about non-Sunni Muslims, such as Shi’a, Ismailis, and Ahmadis, and non-Muslims, such as Jews and Baha’is. A list of the books reviewed is appended to this statement.

The ISA and Claims of Revisions

The ISA operates as an arm of the Saudi government. The ISA’s board is chaired by the Saudi ambassador to Washington, it is located on two properties, one of which is owned, the other leased, by the Saudi Embassy, and it shares the Embassy’s Internal Revenue Service employer tax number under the name of the “Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia.” It is part of a network of 19 international schools run by the government of Saudi Arabia. The ISA distributed some textbooks during a series of open houses held for selected reporters and congressional staffers after the Commission’s press conference, but it did not make available the texts with the most problematic passages—Tawhid (monotheism) and Tafsir (Koranic interpretation)—which the Commission obtained from other sources.

Last fall, after the Commission held a press conference, ISA personnel were quoted in the media as saying that they had already revised the Saudi Ministry of Education textbooks used at the school. However, the books reviewed by the Commission in the winter of 2007-2008 show evidence of truncation, omission, cutting and pasting, and the use of correction tape or fluid to cover over text—but not sufficient revision to remove all objectionable material, as evidenced by the passages cited above. They appear to be Saudi Ministry of Education textbooks, with some alterations but with identical wording in many sections of the texts.

Bilateral and International Commitments by the Saudi Government

The Saudi government is bound by more than just its 2006 confirmation of policies with the United States. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights not only guarantees religious freedom and bans discrimination and incitement to discrimination on a number of bases, including religion; it also provides specifically that education “shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups...” The UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief also bans such discrimination, which it calls “an affront to human dignity,” a “disavowal of the principles of the [UN] Charter,” a violation of international human rights law, and “an obstacle to friendly and peaceful relations between nations.” That Declaration, moreover, specifically provides that “[t]he child shall be protected from any form of discrimination on the ground of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, [and] respect for freedom of religion or belief of others. . . .” The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia is a party, contains similar provisions mandating non-discrimination and the teaching of tolerance in education. The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination also calls on States Parties, which include Saudi Arabia, “to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law” in the enjoyment of rights including “the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.”

Those provisions stand in stark contrast to the problematic passages that continue to appear in the ISA textbooks. It is deeply troubling that high school students at a foreign government-operated school in the United States are discussing when and under what circumstances killing an “unbeliever” would be acceptable. The U.S. government must ensure that the Saudi government thoroughly reviews and, as necessary, revises the books it has distributed globally. In both the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly, Saudi Arabia has co-sponsored and supported repeated resolutions urging UN member states to “take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination . . . of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement to racial and religious hatred, hostility or violence” and to “ensure that all public officials, including . . . educators, in the course of their official duties, respect different religions and beliefs and do not discriminate against persons on the grounds of their religion or belief.” The U.S. government should insist that the Saudi government meet these commitments fully as a member in good standing of the international community.

Recommendations for the U.S. Department of State

The Commission reiterates its recommendations that the State Department should:

make available all textbooks that it has received from the Saudi government, so that their content and compliance with international human rights standards can be assessed; and

promptly create a formal mechanism to monitor and encourage implementation of the Saudi government’s 2006 policies as part of every meeting of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Strategic Dialogue, and ensure that U.S. representatives to each relevant Working Group of the Strategic Dialogue, after each session, or at least every six months, report the group’s findings to Congress.
The Commission reaffirms that governments have a clear obligation to teach tolerance, not hatred. No government should be teaching children that it is justified to kill anyone on the basis of his or her religion or belief. The Commission is seriously concerned that the Saudi government is not abiding by the policies it confirmed in 2006 to promote greater religious freedom and tolerance, including by revising its school textbooks. The texts used at the ISA are only one example.


APPENDIX Islamic Saudi Academy Arabic-Language Textbooks Reviewed by the Commission

Monotheism (Tawhid), Twelfth Grade, Administrative, Social, Natural, and Technical Sciences Track

Monotheism (Tawhid), Twelfth Grade, Sharia and Arabic Sciences Track

Interpretation (Tafsir), Twelfth Grade, Sharia and Arabic Sciences Track

Interpretation (Tafsir), Twelfth Grade, Administrative, Social, Natural, and Technical Sciences Track


Hadith and Islamic Culture, Twelfth Grade, Administrative, Social, Natural, and Technical Sciences Track

Hadith and Islamic Culture, Twelfth Grade, Sharia and Arabic Sciences Track

Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Twelfth Grade, Natural Sciences Track

Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Twelfth Grade, Sharia and Arabic Sciences Track

The History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Twelfth Grade, Natural Sciences Track

Sociology, Twelfth Grade, Sharia and Arabic Sciences Track

Studies from the Islamic World, Twelfth Grade, Administrative, Social, Natural, and Technical Sciences Track

Hadith, Seventh Grade

Hadith, Ninth Grade

Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Ninth Grade

Jurisprudence (Fiqh), Tenth Grade

Aspects of Muslim Political and Cultural History, Eleventh Grade, Administrative and Social Track, Sharia and Arabic Track

History of the Prophets, the Prophet’s Biography, and the Spread of Islam, Tenth Grade

Yes, the above is a lot of information. But we might need it later for reference, particularly if the original information is hacked or otherwise disappears.

The Islamic Saudi Academy Seeks To Expand

Photo Credit: the Washington Post
I frequently blog about the Islamic Saudi Academy, owned by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia and situated in compound-like facilities in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Tonight, July 10, 2009 @ 6:00 PM, the school will go before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, in the final step of approval for expansion of the school's Popes Head Road location.

Yesterday, the following arrived in an email to me:

The Fairfax County government recently sent invitations to a free dinner presentation on Islam as a religion of “peace and harmony” to county churches and to some who have testified against the Academy’s planned expansion in the past. County government personnel and resources were used to distribute the e-mailed invitations.

“The Fairfax County government has been compromised and the Saudis and their radical cohorts are getting their money's worth out of all of their political contributions,” said James Lafferty, chairman of the Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force. “Churches and synagogues here can’t even get the government to talk to them, let alone help them proselytize.

“Fairfax County government is already following the first rule of Shariah law – Islam is the state religion and the only religion. While brave American men and women are dying to defeat terrorists – spineless Fairfax County politicians turn a deaf ear to terrorism in its midst.”

The email also cited this essay at Townhall.com.

Dhimmiwits at the local-government level!

Considering that at the last hearing, the Zoning Board didn't want to hear anything whatsover about ISA's ideology, curriculum, and well-documented issues of the recent past, I predict that the Board of Supervisors will roll over once again and submit to the Wahhabist school, located a few scant miles from our nation's capital.

Some of us here in Northern Virginia are knocking ourselves out in what seems to be a futile attempt to stem the tide of Wahhabism. What we face is a leadership who refuses to face the facts. In fact, on one occasion, a member of that leadership, one Gerry Connolly who was Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and has now been elected to the United States House of Representatives, referred to those testifying against the Islamic Saudi Academy as "slanderous bigots." Lovely, just lovely.

Mad for Madrassas

From Investor's Business Daily:

Islamofascism:

Saudi money buys a lot in Washington, even an extension of a lease to an
Islamic school that graduates terrorists and teaches its students it's OK to
kill non-Muslims.

A federal panel wants the Islamic Saudi Academy inside the Beltway
shut down for promoting hate, something we've urged for years. But remarkably,
this madrassa still has powerful backers — including the State
Department.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom last week
released the results of a probe of the academy, which is financed and operated
by the Saudi government. It found the school has failed to eliminate
violent and intolerant language in textbooks.

The texts used at its main campus, located just across
the Potomac in Alexandria, Va., contain passages that vilify Jews and
proclaim killing non-Muslims is sometimes permissible.

Despite the failing grade, local government officials renewed
the private school's lease in an old public high school building. The Democrat
county supervisor in charge of the lease doesn't see any problem with the school
or its texts.

In fact, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry
Connolly reportedly dismissed critics of the Saudi academy as "bigots" as he
accepted a check from the Saudi Embassy for another $2.2 million to extend its
lease.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Connolly is running as a Democrat for Congress.
He hopes to fill the local seat of retiring Republican Tom Davis, whose district
includes one of the fastest-growing Muslim populations in the country.

The commission that looked at the Saudi texts has turned to the
State Department to close the academy. State can do this because as
part of the Saudi government, the school is subject to the Foreign Missions Act.
But the Washington Times says State plans to let the madrassa continue
to operate. Why? The Saudis "told us they would revise the textbooks by the 2008
school year," a spokesman said.

How foolish. The Saudis have been promising to reform their
violent texts every year since 9/11.

Yet they just pump more petrodollars into spreading their hateful Wahhabi
propaganda here.
Within months of the attacks by 15 Saudi hijackers, the Washington Post reported the Saudi academy's 11th-grade textbooks,
for example, say one sign of the Day of Judgment will be that Muslims will fight
and kill Jews, who will hide behind trees.

The Post went on to quote several students who say they are
taught in Islamic studies that "it is better to shun and even to dislike
Christians, Jews and Shiite Muslims." One teen told the paper he's taught by
academy teachers that it's OK for Muslims to hurt or steal from such
"kafirs."

Go read the whole thing.

Approval Given For Expansion Of The Islamic Saudi Academy

At the madrassah's Popes Head Road location in southern Fairfax County. The site was previously that of Fairfax Christian School, which was always denied any requests for expansion and even for rebuilding a small structure which had burned to the ground.

Atlas Shrugs has the videos.

Jihad Watch also has coverage, and the comments section is quite lively. I contributed to the fray at Jihad Watch, of course.

At least the vote for approval wasn't unanimous this time. And a couple of the Board members did go on record with their objections. Previous approvals at the local-government level have always been unanimous.

Last week, Radio Free Dar Al Harb dedicated this edition of the radio show on BTR to discussion of the Islamic Saudi Academy. Yeah, I was there as one of the interviewees.

Regular readers of my posts know that I've been watching the Islamic Saudi Academy for years. In fact, this April 2005 bus accident caused by ISA bus driver Abdelrazeg Abdalla is one of the reaons I jumped into the blogosphere with both feet.

Yet Another Update On The Islamic Saudi Academy (Link to videos addesd)

Photo Credit: the Washington Post
Background HERE - and plenty of it.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hasn't yet made a decision about the school's expansion. The decision will be made on August 13.

But on this morning's news I heard that the Board will base its decision strictly on zoning regulations - not on the school's curriculum, which has been shown to be Wahhabist in orientation.

Indeed, barely anyone at the governmental level want to do a damn thing about the school's curriculum. Not the state, not the Virginia Department of education, not the county, not the State Department. Each of those wants to pass the ball to someone else. Consequently, the Islamic Saudi Academy continues to operate with impunity.

The exception: U.S. Representative Frank Wolf. See this posting of September 28, 2008, over at Northern Virginiastan.

I do note this morning that FNC is covering the story. FNC interviewed Frank Gaffney about the Islamic Saudi Academy (aka "Terror High"). Mr. Gaffney recently wrote an essay about the school. The essay is entitled "Welcome to Faisal County." Read the essay HERE.

Must-see videos over at Atlas Shrugs.

Radio Discussion Of The Islamic Saudi Academy

Listen to the June 13 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show by CLICKING HERE.

On the air during the first half hour of the show, I brought out some of the problems with the Islamic Saudi Academy. I went back some three years to call to listeners' attention the ISA's cover-up of a driving accident involving an ISA school bus. The driver didn't even have a license to be behind the wheel!

Over the years, ISA has had several problems. Yet, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors refuses to reconsider the school's lease. Excerpt from this source:

Fairfax County supervisors said Wednesday’s report has not made them rethink their decision to renew the lease.

“We are not in a position to determine what is going to go on in a classroom there,” said Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross. “What we were asked to do was consider leasing the land and school to the Islamic Saudi Academy, and that’s what we did.”

Um, Ms. Gross? You did a lot worse than that! You played and continued to play the dhimmi. Or should I say "dhimmi wit"?

I TOLD YOU GERRY CONNOLLY SMELLED LIKE MONEY

Gerry Connolly, the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors called citizens who attended a Board meeting to speak out against the Islamic Saudi Academy "bigots."

I told you at the time he smells like money to me. I guess one of the reasons he smells like money is because he appears to have collected quite a sum of real money from Islamist donors, like CAIR

Atlas has the story:

TREASONOUS DEMOCRAT CONNOLLY TOOK CAIR'S RADICAL ISLAM $$$

Gerry Connolly, Democrat rep for the Jihad is on the take for CAIR's.

Gerry Connolly, who is the Democratic nominee for Congress in Virginia's 11th District -- offered a strong defense of the school and accused the school's critics of slander during the meeting in which the lease was approved. Connelly is runningfor Congress. In that post I wrote,

Who would vote for this jihad lover, whatever your party affiliation? Accusing great Americans of slander, it is he who is slanderous. I would love to read his list of donors, I betcha it is chuck full of Saudi blood money.

And lest we not forget, the: Saudis Gave 50 Million to CAIR. If there is an Atlas reader who has the time to comb his list of contributions, do it!

The Traditional Values Coaltion has discovered dirty contribution from the Radical Islamic lobby (only in America). YOUR PUBLIC SERVANTS AT WORK!

TVC TELLS CONNOLLY: RETURN CONTRIBUTION FROM RADICAL ISLAMIC LOBBY
Connolly Contributor Uses Aliases and Has Links to Hamas

Washington, DC – The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) has called on Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald Connolly to return a contribution his Congressional campaign received from a radical Islamic official and reopen the supervisors’ lease renewal of the Islamic Saudi Academy.

A Federal Election Commission report lists “Nehad Hammad” as the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and reports that he donated $500 to the Congressional primary campaign of Gerald Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Law enforcement officials note that Hammad is an alias used by Nihad Awad who is the founder of CAIR and is listed on the group’s website as its Executive Director. Before founding CAIR, Awad served as spokesman for the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) which the Federal Bureau of Investigation officials have identified as a front-group for the violent terrorist organization Hamas.

According to several sources, Awad uses the name Nehad Hammad on some official forms such as IRS documents instead of the name Nihad Awad he uses publicly as a top official at CAIR. One former federal official refers to CAIR as “Terrorists R Us” and points to a long list of CAIR staff who have been convicted of financing terrorist activities.

“Mr. Connolly should return the check he received from Awad, Hammad or whatever his name is today,” said James Lafferty, a spokesman for the Traditional Values Coalition.

Islamic Saudi Academy Again Under Scrutiny

It remains to be seen whether or not anything will come of the recommendation of a federal panel. From this source, October 18, 2007:

McLEAN, Va. (AP) - A private Islamic school supported by the Saudi government should be shut down until the U.S. government can ensure the school is not fostering radical Islam, a federal panel recommends.

In a report released Thursday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom broadly criticized what it calls a lack of religious freedom in Saudi society and promotion of religious extremism at Saudi schools.

Particular criticism is leveled at the Islamic Saudi Academy, a private school serving nearly 1,000 students in grades K-12 at two campuses in northern Virginia's Fairfax County....

Read the rest at Always On Watch.

Storm Track Infiltration: Saudi Academy Still Teaching Radical Islam

Yesterday I wrote a post about how Saudi Arabia was forced into bed with radical Islam. Here’s what we see today as the fallout of that marriage made in hell.

The Saudi Academy opened in 1984. It’s K-12 school with campuses in Alexandria and Fairfax, Virginia, that is owned by the Saudi embassy and accused of promoting Islamic extremism.

Most recently, the religious freedom commission--an independent federal agency created by Congress--issued its report, saying it was rebuffed in its efforts to obtain textbooks to verify claims they had been reformed.

The commission recommended that the academy be shut down until it could review the textbooks to ensure they do not promote intolerance.

Since the commission's report, the academy has given copies of its books to the Saudi embassy, which then provided them to the State Department. The commission is waiting to get the books from the State Department.

On Nov. 15, a dozen U.S. senators, including Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., wrote a letter to the State Department urging it to act on the commission's recommendations. And on Tuesday, Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Steve Israel, D-N.Y., introduced legislation to write the commission's recommendations regarding the academy into law.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Academy has stated that they have ‘cleaned up’ their textbooks. But that is not the case.

Read the rest at The Gathering Storm.

Ahmed Abu Ali May Sue

He really wants those books by BHO.

From this source:

There are a couple of signs pointing to the idea that Abu Ali might sue. He already has a lawyer, who spoke to the AP briefly about this episode. Abu Ali also filed a handwritten prison complaint form, saying the Obama book rejections “violate my 1st Amend. rights.”

The above article begins with this:

Back in 2007, the Bureau of Prisons directed its chaplains to purge the prisons of all religious texts. That policy shift, which stemmed from a governmental fear that prisoners might read religious texts and become Islamic extremists after 9/11, sparked huge response.

Many thought the move was unconstitutional, and a pair of inmates, citing the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to free religion, sued over the matter.

As I said in my post today at my site:

No wonder that Ahmed Abu Ali, terrorist graduate from Terror High (aka the Islamic Saudi Academy) wants to check out BHO's books, even though Abu Ali is of Arab descent and not black. By reading BHO's books, Abu Ali can continue to feed his perpetual attitude of victimhood because the words "The West" could be easily substituted for "white folks," "white people," "white" anything. Or perhaps Abu Ali wants to reinforce his anti-American views by reading BHO's books.

Ahmed Abu Ali, valedictorian graduate from Terror High (aka the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County, Virginia) and convicted terrorist, is an Arab. Arab racism toward blacks is well documented. In addition, Abu Ali requested those books before BHO was elected and gave his dhimmi Cairo Speech. I find it hard to believe that Abu Ali wants to read books by The Great Satan's first African-American President because Abu Ali wants to be a good citizen.

And if Abu Ali indeed has an attorney, who is paying for that attorney or which attorney is serving pro bono?

Abu Ali is presently serving a 30-year sentence. Hey, maybe he's planning to try for early release by volunteering at SERVE.gov.

Eurabia And Amerabia: Two Videos

Meanwhile, closer to home, even as Brits in Luton plan to demonstrate against Al Qaeda on March 28, Fairfax County, Virginia, is considering allowing the expansion of the Islamic Saudi Academy, owned by the Royal Embassy of Saud Arabia. In the video below, you'll note the black bag walking around starting at time marker 1:29, the Islamic prayer session inside the Fairfax County Government Center, commonly referred to by us county residents as "The Taj Mahal," and all the kaffiyehs, symbols of Pseudostinian solidarity:



Some reading: article about Fairfax County's preferential treatment of the Islamic Saudi Academy. A must read!

A Slap On The Wrist For The Islamic Saudi Academy

From this July 30, 2008 article in the Washington Post:

The director general of a controversial private Islamic school in Fairfax County has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report child abuse and was fined $500.

Abdalla I.M. Al-Shabnan, head of the Islamic Saudi Academy on Route 1 in the Mount Vernon area, was arrested last month by Fairfax police after allegedly being informed of the possible sexual abuse of a 5-year-old student at the school. School authorities are required by law to report alleged child abuse within 72 hours.

Al-Shabnan was charged with misdemeanor counts of failing to report child abuse and obstruction of justice. In a plea agreement, Al-Shabnan pleaded guilty July 24 to the failure to report charge and Fairfax prosecutors agreed to dismiss the obstruction charge, according to court records.

Al-Shabnan did not return a phone message today seeking comment. His attorney, Robert C. Whitestone, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Whitestone is one of the premier defense attorneys in Fairfax County. As a local here in Northern Virginia, I well know the reputation of that particular legal firm. They are masters of plea bargaining and the attorneys' attorneys! And their fees match their skills, too.

Continuing now with the WaPo article:

Cultural differences may have led to the episode which resulted in Al-Shabnan's arrest.

[...]

Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway said the plea agreement "was satisfactory to all the people involved in the case."

Rodway used to be a defense attorney - and a formidable one, at that. Still, I wonder how he would explain those aforementioned "cultural differences."

The case of Abdulla Al-Shabnan was supposed to come before the court on August 1. That won't happen now, of course.

(Crossposted to Northern Virginiastan)

More Problems For The Islamic Saudi Academy

Previous Always On Watch postings about the Islamic Saudi Academy are HERE and HERE.

The problems with the school just keep adding up!

Photo Credit: the Washington Post
From this June 27, 2008 article by Patrick Poole at Pajamas Media (via Jihad Watch):

The controversial school funded by the Saudi Embassy had its corporate charter revoked in 2004 and has never filed required tax forms with the IRS....

Read the rest at Always On Watch.

RICO - The Beginning of the End of Radical Islam In America - The Feds Are Claiming A "Criminal Conspiracy"

Yesterday, Imam Abdullah was shot dead by Federal Authorities, after he opened fire on those who were attempting to arrest him.

Normally, that would be enough cause for celebration.

But, in this case, we have even more cause for celebration. I have been scanning the horizon of Internet news, for over a year now, waiting to find the Magic Words; "Criminal Conspiracy".

Why?

Because I am, and have been convinced, that we already have laws on the books which can bring Radical Islam to it's knees here in America.

The most important of these laws are the Smith Act (Sedition), and the RICO Statutes (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act). For today, we will just concentrate on RICO, because that is what we have before us in the, apparent, Federal Prosecution which is brewing against the ten people who were sought yesterday in the raid which ended with Abdullah dead.

First, let's look at some of the text from the original New York Times article:

"Federal authorities say a leader of what they describe as a nationwide radical Sunni Islam group ... at a Dearborn warehouse on charges that included conspiracy to sell stolen goods and illegal possession and sale of firearms. Authorities also conducted raids elsewhere to try to round up 10 followers named in a federal complaint."

Now, let's look at what is covered by the RICO Act:

Under RICO, a person who is a member of an enterprise that has committed any two of 35 crimes—27 federal crimes and 8 state crimes—within a 10-year period can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $250,000 and/or sentenced to 20 years in prison per racketeering count. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of "racketeering activity." RICO also permits a private individual harmed by the actions of such an enterprise to file a civil suit; if successful, the individual can collect treble damages.

Under the law, racketeering activity means:

• Any violation of state statutes against gambling, murder, kidnapping, extortion, arson, robbery, bribery, dealing in obscene matter, or dealing in a controlled substance or listed chemical (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act);
• Any act of bribery, counterfeiting, theft, embezzlement, fraud, dealing in obscene matter, obstruction of justice, slavery, racketeering, gambling, money laundering, commission of murder-for-hire, and several other offenses covered under the Federal criminal code (Title 18);
• Embezzlement of union funds;
• Bankruptcy fraud or securities fraud;
• Drug trafficking;
• Money laundering and related offenses;
• Bringing in, aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country (if the action was for financial gain);
• Acts of terrorism.

And now, let's look at how RICO has been used in past years:

While its intended use was to prosecute the Mafia as well as others who were actively engaged in organized crime, its application has been more widespread.

Famous cases

Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

In 1979, the United States federal government went after Sonny Barger and several members and associates of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels using RICO. In United States v. Barger, the prosecution team attempted to demonstrate a pattern of behavior to convict Barger and other members of the club of RICO offenses related to guns and illegal drugs.

Major League Baseball

In 2002, the former minority owners of the Montreal Expos baseball team filed charges under the RICO Act against Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria, claiming that Selig and Loria deliberately conspired to devalue the team for personal benefit in preparation for a move.^[11] If found liable, Major League Baseball could have been found liable for up to $300 million in punitive damages. The case lasted for two years, successfully stalling the Expos' move to Washington or contraction during that time. It was eventually sent to arbitration where the arbiters ruled in favor of Major League Baseball,^[12] permitting the move to Washington to take place.

Key West PD

In June 1984, the Key West Police Department in Monroe County, Florida was declared a criminal enterprise under the Federal RICO statutes after a lengthy United States Department of Justice investigation. Several high-ranking officers of the department, including Deputy Police Chief Raymond Cassamayor, were arrested on federal charges of running a protection racket for illegal cocaine smugglers. ^[8] At trial, a witness testified he routinely delivered bags of cocaine to the Deputy Chief's office at City Hall. ^[9]

So, we see there is a history of RICO being used to go after larger corporations, police departments, and gangs, not ordinarily thought of as Organized Criminal Organizations. RICO has also been used to prosecute the Gambino Crime Family, the Chicago Outfit, and Mohawk Industries. Most interestingly, RICO Statutes were cited in the Civil Suit NOW v. Scheidler, which sought damages and an injunction against pro-life activists who physically block access to abortion clinics.

This demonstrates that RICO can be used against organizations of all types, and may be used to prosecute anyone who participates knowingly in a Criminal Conspiracy which involves, as has already been pointed out, just two of a list of thirty-five total crimes.

Now, here is a case of a bust, from earlier this year, which demonstrates how closely many Mosques may be tied to large Criminal Conspiracies:

May 15, 2009 · From Fairfax Gov and Silent Majority. Fairfax County Police led a massive bust near the popular and growing radical Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, VA Fairfax County, home to Falls Church, one of the major frontlines of Islamist aggression. We have:

• The Dar al-Hijrah Wahabbi corridor which is a massive Islamist enclave built up around the mosque
• Tax payer subsidized K-B.A. in Jihad via the Islamic Saudi Academy and George Mason (ISA is not taxed and Mason is public)that has already produced one convicted terrorist
• Gitmo trials and Gitmo prisoners coming And our first pro-jihad candidate

On Wednesday, May 6, over 135 law enforcement personnel participated in concluding a year-long undercover investigation. Operation Build America
was launched in May 2008 to better understand the criminal activity
taking place in and around the Build America Shopping Center. The
shopping center is nestled in the Skyline community in the 3800 block
of South George Mason Drive. Community concerns of illegal activities
in the shopping center coupled with indicators that crime was in the
upswing sprung the operation into motion.

The investigation successfully infiltrated several criminal
organizations and businesses operating around the center. Undercover
police officers identified nearly 40 people suspected of criminal
activity that ranges from property crimes to crimes of violence. The
undercover operation successfully recovered stolen firearms and illegal
narcotics including cocaine and marijuana.

Collectively, 143 criminal arrest warrants and 15 search warrants were issued in this undercover operation.

If it could be proven that money from those criminal enterprises was donated at Zakat (Islamic Charity) to the local Mosque or Islamic Saudi Academy, and that the authorities within those Mosques knowingly accepted that money gained from criminal activity, then RICO could be used to bring down the entire structure of what is here called the Dar al-Hijrah Wahabbi corridor.Think about it, with all these criminal businesses, run by Muslim men, operating right in the neighborhood surrouding the Mosque and the ISA, do you really believe the Imams and the directors of ISA are completely ignorant of what is going on right under their noses. (Have the Feds even thought to look into the Imams and the Zakat payments?)
Futhermore, if my sources are correct, nearly 80% of the Mosques in the United States are funded, at least in part, by Saudi Arabia. (Here's some information on the Saudi-funding of Wahabbist education and Mosques in the United States.)

So, what's the point? Why do I bring up the Saudi-funding of Mosques? What does this have to do with using RICO to prosecute Radical Islamists?

Simply this, I believe it is possible that one could show Criminal Conspiracy involving whole groups of Saudi-funded Mosques. Once again, this depends on whether one can prove that Imams and Directors of Mosques knowingly accept money gained from Organized Criminal Activity as Zakat. It would also help if one could prove that some of that Zakat was then used to promote terrorist organizations (such as the Holy Land Foundation), or for aiding or assisting aliens in illegally entering the country.

Does that sound far-fetched? Perhaps. Imams knowingly involved in Criminal Activity?

What do you think?

Have we not seen examples already, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here?

And, most of all, what about THIS?


UPDATE: There is precedence for Western governments going after religions as, essentially, Racketeering Organizations. Check out this article on how France is handling Scientology:

The German domestic intelligence service keeps the Church of Scientology under surveillance as a potential threat to democracy. Belgian prosecutors have been building a blackmail case against it for 11 years.

Now the French have taken a more forceful step.

In a decision that could reverberate across Europe, a court in Paris Tuesday convicted the French branch of the church of “organized fraud” and said it had systematically tricked recruits out of their savings.

The two flagship Scientology outposts in Paris, a bookstore and an information centre, were ordered to pay €600,000 in fines. The head of the church in France was given a two-year suspended sentence for fraud and fined €30,000.

However, the court allowed the church to keep operating in France. In May, when the trial began, prosecutors asked that it be shut down as a criminal enterprise, only to discover that the law that might have allowed its banishment had just been deleted as part of an overhaul of the penal code.

The judges said they did not order the church offices closed because they did not want to drive Scientologists underground, where they could not be monitored.

They also said a paid notice of the church's conviction would be published in Time magazine and the International Herald Tribune so that news of the church's conviction would spread beyond France.

“The court told the Scientologists, in essence, to be very, very careful, because if you continue to use the same methods of harassment, you won't escape next time,” said Olivier Morice, the lawyer for the civil plaintiffs in the case.

Storm Track Infiltration: What Muslims Are Teaching Kids

From The Gathering Storm

While the 12 jihadists arrested in Canada a month or so ago caught the attention of the news hounds, another news story was pretty much ignored in the press that shows a more insidious side to the jihadist plans to create more of the ‘few’. Jihad Watch reports that a Maryland 3rd grade teacher lent support to Pakistani terror group. A third-grade teacher at a Muslim school in Maryland traveled to Pakistan shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, trained with a terrorist organization there and later served as chauffeur for one of that group’s leaders during his US travels, prosecutors said.

But this is not the first case of jihadist infiltration of Islamic schools that promote anti-Semitism or other aspects of the Islamist agenda. Inquiries into Islamic schools repeatedly discover just such a radical Islamic outlook. Daniel Pipes lists examples in a column on the Teach Kids Peace web site.

New York City:

An investigation by the New York Daily News in 2003 found that books used in the city's Muslim schools "are rife with inaccuracies, sweeping condemnations of Jews and Christians, and triumphalist declarations of Islam's supremacy."

Los Angeles: The Omar Ibn Khattab Foundation donated 300 copies of the Koran (titled The Meaning of the Holy Quran) to the city school district in 2001 that had to be pulled from school libraries within months because of its anti-Semitic commentaries. One footnote reads: "The Jews in their arrogance claimed that all wisdom and all knowledge of Allah was enclosed in their hearts... Their claim was not only arrogance but blasphemy."

Ajax, Ontario, 50 kilometers east of Toronto: The Institute of Islamic Learning is a Canadian emulation of the extremist Deobandi madrassas of Pakistan... Former students complained about the school's cult-like devotion to its head, Abdul Majid Khan, and complained that it "twisted religion and used it to its own benefit."

Then there are four leading Islamic schools in the Washington, D.C. area:

The Muslim Community School in Potomac, Maryland, imbues in its students a sense of alienation from their own country. Seventh-grader Miriam told a Washington Post reporter in 2001, "Being American is just being born in this country." Eighth-grader Ibrahim announced that "Being an American means nothing to me."

A textbook used at the Islamic Saudi Academy of Alexandria, Virginia, in 2004, authored and published by the Saudi Ministry of Education, teaches first-graders that "all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews [and] Christians." An ISA class valedictorian, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was recently indicted for plotting to assassinate President Bush.

The US government revoked the visas in 2004 of 16 people affiliated with the Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, of Fairfax, Virginia. In the words of the Washington Post,

The Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences of Ashburn, Virginia, referred to as a "purported" educational institution in an affidavit justifying a raid on the school, had its financial records seized in 2002 on suspicions of links to terrorism.

Coming full circle, the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, Mohamed Elmasry, who has asked for calm after the Canadian arrest of the 12 jihadist, publicly endorsed the murder of all Israelis over the age of 18.

I don’t know how long the citizens of the free world can stay clam as the activities of the Islamist marches on. This from the website of the new movie releasing this summer called ‘Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West’.

“The Islamists have pursued their battle on a variety of fronts, from sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt , to subway bombings in Paris , to attacks in Russia . The following timeline gives a limited idea of some of the events around the world, over the last few decades.”

70s: 1977 1979
80s: 1981 1983 1984 1985 1988 1989
90s: 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
00s: 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

How long will it take to understand the Islamist infiltration and disinformation of our civilization?

Afghanistan Opening First Shariah-Based Banks - Is The Taliban Setting Itself Up To Control All Banking And Zakat In Afghanistan?

From the Astute Bloggers:

Earlier this week, we reported that Afghanis were making a run on the Kabul Bank, pulling large amounts of cash out of their accounts, as if they expected the bank to collapse. President Karzai's brother, a major shareholder in the Kabul Bank, asked the United States to shore up the bank, infusing it with cash.

Could it be an ascendent Taliban has ordered Afghani Muslims to pull their cash, and deposit it into Sharia-compliant banks?

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan plans to issue licenses for three Islamic banks, the first to offer a range of services that comply with religious law in a country where 99 percent of the population is Muslim.

Afghan United Bank, Ghazanfar Bank and Maiwand Bank are seeking permission to provide products that meet Shariah principles, said Aimal Hashoor, a central bank spokesman in Kabul. Now, seven local banks can offer Islamic services through dedicated tellers at branches, he said. The products are limited to Islamic loans, said Sayed Mahmood-ul-Hassan, chief executive officer of Afghan United Bank.

The government wants to expand Islamic finance to draw more assets into the financial system and help reduce the nation’s reliance on overseas aid for reconstruction following 30 years of war and insurgency, according to Hashoor. The country has received more than $32 billion in international aid since U.S.- led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, he said.

“Afghanistan is a Muslim society and many people don’t want to use conventional banking,” Hashoor said in an interview on Aug. 15. “We want to bring all of the money that we have in businesses and with individuals into the economic cycle.”

Think about those words carefully? "We want to bring all of the money that we have in businesses and with individuals into the economic cycle."

To what economic cycle is he referring? Given the context of the article, he could only be referring to the Sharia-compliant cycle.

At the same time, we find the BBC reporting that Karzai has "suddenly" set up a "council for peace talks with the Taliban":

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has formed a committee to seek peace talks with the Taliban, his office has said.

It follows the endorsement by tribal leaders in June of a plan to engage militants in a reconciliation process.

The Taliban, who were ousted from power in 2001, have been fighting to overthrow the US-backed government and expel foreign troops from Afghanistan.

The formation of the High Peace Council was "a significant step towards peace talks", Mr Karzai's office said.

But previous attempts to negotiate with the Taliban have failed, partly over their insistence that foreign troops leave the country first.

Could it be that Taliban participation in the "peace process" is contingent upon deposit of monies in Sharia-compliant banks?

As they say, FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Remember, Islamic Charity is an integral part of Sharia-banking:

From Corporate Governance in Islamic Banks, at al-Bab:

Principles of Islamic banking
An Islamic bank is based on the Islamic faith and must stay within the limits of Islamic Law or the sharia in all of its actions and deeds. The original meaning of the Arabic word sharia was 'the way to the source of life' and it is now used to refer to legal system in keeping with the code of behaviour called for by the Holly Qur'an (Koran). Four rules govern investment behaviour:

1. the absence of interest-based (riba) transactions;
2. the avoidance of economic activities involving speculation (ghirar);
3. the introduction of an Islamic tax, zakat;
4. the discouragement of the production of goods and services which contradict the value pattern of Islamic (haram)

Zakat

A mechanism for the redistribution of income and wealth is inherent is Islam, so that every Muslim is guaranteed a fair standard of living, nisab. An Islamic tax, Zakat (a term derived from the Arabic zaka, meaning "pure") is the most important instrument for the redistribution of wealth. This tax is a compulsory levy, one of the five basic tenets of Islam and the generally accepted amount of the zakat is one fortieth (2.5 per cent) of Muslim's annual income in cash or kind from all forms of assessed wealth exceeding nisab.

Every Islamic bank has to establish a zakat fund for collecting the tax and distributing it exclusively to the poor directly or through other religious institutions. This tax is imposed on the initial capital of the bank, on the reserves, and on the profits as described in the Handbook of Islamic Banking.

One of the most important principles of Islamic banking is that the Sharia-compliance of the bank is overseen by a Sharia Advisory Council:

Who are these “Shariah Authorities” who sit on bank boards directing where and how Middle East oil wealth is invested?

Here are four of the most sought-after “Shari’a Authorities” in the industry, all of whom are highly paid to sit on individual corporate bank Shariah Advisory Boards. Each also sits on the AAOIFI (Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions) Board, an international body that parallels western regulatory agencies. Incredibly, the SEC embraced the legitimacy and members of the AAOIFI.

13. Who is Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi?

Boards: AAOIFI; Bank Al-Taqwa (shut down 2001 by U.S. TSY for terror funding)

• Considered one of the most respected Shariah Authorities and Shariah Finance experts
• Terrorist banned from US (1999) and UK (2008)
• Supports suicide bombings, no rights for women, Islamic supremacy, and Jihad
• De facto leader of the Muslim Brotherhood
• Urged replacing western capitalism with Shariah Finance, Oct. 2008
• Described Shariah Finance as "Jihad with Money," BBC, 2006
• Referred to 6 times during a Feb. 26, '09 Fordham Law School Continued Education Credit Conference on Islamic Finance

Quotable Quotes: "Allah Almighty is just; through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak a weapon the strong do not have, and that is their ability to turn their bodies into bombs as Palestinians do."

“The most important form of jihad today….is to rebuild Islamic society and state….in the political, cultural and economic domains. This is certainly most deserving of Zakat.”

14. Who is Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani?

Boards: Chairman of AAOIFI; HSBC, Dow Jones, Citigroup, Guidance Financial

• The single most influential Shariah authority on Shariah finance in the world
• Founder and Director of Jamia Uloom madrassa, 2nd largest in Pakistan, which "boasts close ties to the Taliban" according to International Crisis Human Rights Group
• Deobandi Cleric to the Taliban, 2001
• Calls for western Muslims to wage violent Jihad against non-Muslims, whether or not Western countries allow Islam to be freely practiced

Quotable Quote: Usmani writes “Killing is to continue until the unbelievers pay jiziah (a subjugation tax) after they are humbled or overpowered.” (Islam and Modernism, 2006)

15. Who is Imran Ashraf Usmani?

Boards: AAOIFI; AIG, HSBC, Citigroup

• Educated at and currently teaches at Jamia Uloom Madrassa, a well-known Jihadist school, with this father, Muhammad Taqi Usmani
• Banks are replacing Taqi Usmani with his son, Imran, as Dad's Jihadist background is publicized

16. Who is Yusef Talal De Lorenzo?
Boards: AAOIFI; IFSB, Barclays Capital, Shariah Capital, Dow Jones, Guidance International

• American convert to Islam
• Dropped out of Cornell and educated at Darul Uloom Madrassa in Pakistan, the same madrassa founded by Sheik Usmani
• Advisor to Pakistan President Zia al-Haq 1981–1984 during creation of Taliban
• Director of Education for the Islamic Saudi Academy, which is condemned for its hate curricula by the Congress-appointed U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom
• Secretary of FCNA, where fellow Trustee and President of FCNA is in prison for funding al-Qaeda and/or co-conspirator in terrorism trial
• Coined the term "ethical" as a better description than "Shari’a" for Western bankers to understand

It is highly likely that THE TALIBAN IS SETTING ITSELF UP TO BE THE SHARIA ADVISORY BOARD FOR THE MAJOR SHARIA-BASED BANKS IN AFGHANISTAN.

IF SO,

THE TALIBAN WILL HAVE CONTROL OVER THE COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ZAKAT.

Imagine that. The Taliban will receive 2.5% of every dollar which runs through the banks in Afghanistan.

Now, let's return again to the words quoted above:

“We want to bring all of the money that we have in businesses and with individuals into the economic cycle.”