Saturday reading: Islamic NGOs finance militants

This overlooked article from September provides good detail on Islamic charities and nonprofits at work for jihad in Bangladesh.  An informative bit of recommended reading…

Bdnl.net : Islamic NGOs have been playing a major role in militant financing since the 90s but the situation turned critical in 2001 when many internal and foreign NGOs began to directly finance militants. Militant leaders held at different times informed during interrogation that the first organization ssto start militant activities in the country was ‘Islam Prochar Somitee’ which is headquartered in Katabon Mosque.

Agent: Hezbollah uses U.S. as cash cow

This video doesn’t even reference the separate, massive operation to funnel proceeds from drugs and used car sales to Hezbollah.  But it still makes the point about what a lucrative place the U.S. is for Hezbollah to do business in.  This news report was uploaded by the USOpenBorders channel on Dec. 24:

Meanwhile, the mainstream media still condemn Republican candidates for president like Michelle Bachmann who has pointed out the Islamic terrorists’ use of Latin America as a beachhead for illegal activity north of the Mexican border.  But she is absolutely right.

Kids collect cold hard cash during Ashura

This eye-catching photo taken earlier this month during an Ashura procession in India shows two boys collecting plates full of money from the crowds.  The poor white horse appears to have a few drops of blood on his head.

The full Getty caption reads:

NEW DELHI, INDIA – DECEMBER 06: Shi’ite Muslims walk a white horse through the streets as people donate money and food during the religious procession of Ashura on December 6, 2011 in New Delhi, India. Hundreds of Muslims in New Delhi and thousands around India took part in a procession to mark the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram when they remember the killing of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, who was martyred some at the Battle of Karbala, Iraq in 61AH. Shia men and women dressed in black crying and beating their chests participated in the capital’s processions to mark this important date in the Islamic calendar. On Muharram Muslims also undetake voluntary fasting, give to charity and pray in remembrance of Hussain.

Collecting money during Ashura seems to be a Shia tradition.  Morocco World News reported earlier this month that “On Ashura, children move from house to house, singing rhyming songs and collecting money and sweets.”

One mufti defended the practice this month in an online forum in response to a Muslim’s question:

Question:

I would like to know whether spending on one’s family on the 10th of Muharram is an authenticated practice. If this is so, is it recommended to spend specifically on food and drink or will general gifts suffice. Also could these gifts be bought in advance with the intention of spending on one’s family on the 10th of Muharram?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

There are two types of narrations related in this regard. The first concerning the virtue of giving general charity on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura), and the second concerning the virtue of spending specifically on one’s family on this day.

As far as general charity is concerned, it has been reported from the Companion Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, “Whoever fasts on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura), it is as though he has fasted the entire year. And whoever gives charity on this day, it is like the charity of an entire year.” (Recorded by Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in his Lata’if al-Ma’arif from Abu Musa al-Madini)

As for spending and being generous on one’s family, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) is reported to have said, “One who generously spends on his family on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura), Allah will be generous on him for the entire year.” (Recorded by Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in his Lata’if al-Ma’arif from Tabarani in his al-Awsat and Al-Bayhaqi in his Shu’ab al-Iman)

These and other narrations indicate that one should be generous on one’s family and dependants and spend more on them by providing more food and other items on this day as compared to other days. One may give cash, food and drink, or any other item of gift.

Although some scholars consider these narrations to be weak (dha’if), others like Imam Bayhaqi and Ibn Hibban have accepted them as reliable. Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali relates from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Allah have mercy on him) that he did consider some basis for them. He also quotes Sufyan ibn Uyayna (Allah have mercy on him) as saying, “I have practiced this [spending on the family] for fifty or sixty years, and have found nothing but good in it.” (Lata’if al-Ma’arif P 64)

Thus, unlike other Islamic taxes that are primarily intended to strengthen or expand Islam (zakat, jizya, etc.), money collected during Ashura seems to be retained by the families of the children who collect it.  In this sense it seems like a Shia version of Halloween, where the goodies are kept by the kids themselves and are not distributed as charity.

If this is incorrect, Money Jihad welcomes any Shiites with personal experience in this area to set the record straight.

Oxfam condemns reluctance to fund terror

Earlier in December we learned that banks in Minnesota were ending money transfers on behalf of the local Somali community back to their home country in order to ensure that the cash wasn’t funding the al-Qaeda offshoot al-Shabaab.

Thanks to Creeping Sharia (on the Twitter side) for alerting us to the latest on this story, which is a misguided complaint by the anti-hunger charity Oxfam about the Minnesota banks’ policy.  An excerpt from the Ethiopian Review on Dec. 24:

The international aid organization Oxfam says thousands of Somali families could be cut off from much needed aid if a U.S. bank goes through with plans to discontinue its money-wiring services at the end of this month.

Last week, a small bank in the U.S. state of Minnesota announced it would stop wiring cash to “hawala” money transfer companies in Somalia because it feared the transfers risk violating U.S. counter-terrorism laws.  The laws seek to clamp down on the financing of terror groups.

Shannon Scribner, a humanitarian policy manager at Oxfam, says the support that comes from the bank is crucial and that it is one of the few still offering the service.

“Within Somalia about $100 million in remittances from the U.S. goes to Somalia every year,” said Scribner.  “And this money comes from diaspora members, who are Somalis themselves that are living in the United States, extended  families and local charities.”

The cut-off comes when more than a 250,000 Somalis are on the brink of starvation because of famine and political violence.  The al-Qaida linked terror group al-Shabab is in a deadly struggle with Somalia’s fragile transitional government.

Hawala money transfers rely on an informal system of merchants who send money, for a fee, from one location to another.  Because it is informal, the U.S. and other countries worry the hawala system can be used to funnel cash to terrorist or criminal groups.

First of all, the bank should be applauded, not condemned, for ensuring that depositors and other bank customers aren’t indirectly financing the reign of terror in East Africa by al-Shabaab.

Secondly, from a legal standpoint, the bank has a responsibility to know its customers and in whose behalf transactions are being made.   There is the bare minimum of complying with the minimal letter of federal anti-money laundering and terror finance laws, and the Minnesota bank in question has met that standard.  The bank has also surpassed that standard by gauging the spirit of the law and living up to the moral responsibility that financial institutions bear to avoid funding a culture of death and destruction by jihadists.

Also keep in mind banks like Lloyds and RBS which exercised insufficient controls to ensure that they didn’t service Iranian accounts.  Those banks got nailed with hundreds of millions of dollars in fines by the federal government for their deficiencies, and rightly so.  This Minnesota bank has every reason to believe that one day they will be assailed by the federal government for exercising insufficient controls on money transfers.  While it is unlikely that the current leadership of the Department of Justice or Treasury would go after any bank for hawala to radical Sunni-dominated territory, it is possible that a future administration would take a dimmer view of transferring money to the enemy.

Unfortunately for average Somalis, al-Shabaab is stealing the wealth of Somali citizens through Islamic-inspired taxes on everything from trade to breathing.  That is why Oxfam should direct its complaints toward al-Shabaab—the entity ultimately responsible for the humanitarian fiasco.  But if Oxfam still feels like attacking a mom & pop bank in Minnesota, it should offer constructive suggestions such as encouraging the bank to donate food aid to responsible international charities.

Considering the lack of know-your-customer practices endemic to hawala, no American bank should be forced to transfer money to hawala dealers anywhere on earth.

Saudis should be 9/11 defendants, say lawyers

Attorneys for the victims’ families and survivors of the Sept. 11 terror attacks filed documents on Dec. 22 in U.S. federal court for the Southern District of New York to have Saudi Arabia named again as a defendant in the case.

The Associated Press reported last week that “lawyers filed papers on Thursday to reinstate Saudi Arabia as a defendant.”

Saudi Arabia had been dismissed as a defendant in 2005 because Saudi Arabia had not been designated as a sponsor of terrorism by the executive branch.  Lawsuits continued going back and forth until 2009, when Pres. Obama’s Justice Department filed a brief in support of a final dismissal of Saudi Arabia as a defendant because of sovereign immunity.

Although Saudi Arabia has successfully been able to claim sovereign immunity, Iran has not received the same protection.  There is ample evidence that Iran was involved, but naming Iran and excluding Saudi Arabia demonstrates a double standard.

The government of Saudi Arabia and individual princes and princesses helped fund the 9/11 attacks through intermediaries, fronts, and charities including the Saudi Red Crescent Society.  Saudi Arabia also enabled the rise of radical Islam globally by using its oil-related wealth to fund Wahhabism around the world through entities such as the World Muslim League.

Vast non-sharia oil field discovered

In terms of reducing terrorist financing, the growth of Western Hemisphere energy production has been one of the best stories of 2011.  More energy produced by countries like Canada and the U.S. means less reliance on Arab oil.

A major new North Sea oil discovery also suggests hope for marginally less reliance on oil sold by fundamentalist Muslims in the Middle East.  Countries like Norway can help make up the difference if Europe is willing to stop buying Iranian energy and substitute it with sources of their own.

This good news comes from the Oil Drum at Business Insider on Dec. 24 with a hat tip to import-export lawyer Lexia Krown:

A Monster from the Deep

With relatively little fanfare on the international stage, Lundin Petroleum and Statoil (and partners) have just recently jointly discovered one of the largest oil fields ever found in the North Sea. The Aldous Major South – Avaldsnes discovery on the Utsira High structure is currently estimated to contain 1.7 to 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The astonishing thing about this discovery is that it has lain undiscovered in a mature oil province for so long providing ample encouragement for explorers to go on exploring.

The recoverable resource estimates have grown with every well drilled and with a new delineation well spudded on 28th November, further news on the size of this giant is expected in early January.

Oil fields can often be imagined as subterranean hills draped in mudstone (the seal) and partially filled with oil-saturated sandstone. This 3D image shows the Avaldsnes and Aldous Major South discoveries are in all likelihood part of the same giant field.

The Aldous Major South – Avaldsnes story has been a year in the making. The 16/2-6 discovery well was announced in September 2010, but the story only gained traction on 30th September 2011 when the recoverable resource estimate was substantially increased following evaluation of data from the 16/2-7a sidetrack well. Prior to then recoverable resource estimates for Avaldsnes were in the range 100-400 million barrels – not enough to get overly excited about. The 16/2-7a well extended the area of proved hydrocarbons but also “proved” that Avaldsnes and Aldous Major South were part of the same gigantic structure. Avaldsnes is now estimated to hold 0.8 to 1.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil and promises to be a giant field in its own right…

Shortly after, Statoil announced the results from the 16/2-10 delineation well on Aldous Major South on 21st October, which prior to then was estimated to contain 0.4 to 0.8 billion barrels recoverable resource. The 16/2-10 well proved a much bigger resource that is now estimated in the range 0.9 to 1.5 billion recoverable barrels.

Thus the combined Aldous Major South – Avaldsnes structure is now estimated to contain between 1.7 and 3.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The 16/5-2S well currently drilling represents a significant step out from the existing wells towards the south of the field. Success is not to be taken for granted. For example, the mapped structure is dependent upon accurate interpretation of seismic and the occurrence of oil is dependent on the presence of the reservoir sandstone in this part of the field. Should the well fail to find oil, then the resource estimate may settle toward the lower end of the current range; however, should it be successful then ever larger numbers are to be expected…

The fastest way to send money (& kill infidels)

The amounts may not seem large to us.  Muslim Somali women in Minnesota send a few thousand to al-Shabaab.  Muslim used car dealers in Ohio send a few thousand to Hezbollah.  Major Nidal Hassan wired money to Lashkar-e-Taiba before he opened fire at U.S. troops at Ft. Hood.  A Muslim lady in California sends a few thousand through Western Union (whose slogan used to be “the fastest way to send money”) to Pakistan to target U.S. personnel in this latest case.

The small amounts reduce the chance that a money service business (MSB) such as Western Union would file a suspicious transaction report on the customer.  MSBs are subject to the same compliance standards as banks including know-your-customer requirements, so Western Union presumably inspected the California Muslim woman’s ID at the time she sent the wires.  She used an alias twice, which suggests that in addition to supporting terrorism, she possessed a fake ID.

The problem isn’t just Saudi millionaires writing huge donation checks–it’s little businessmen, charity workers, grocery clerks, and pharmacists like this throughout the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, sending their zakat and sadaqa overseas in thousand dollar increments for the cause of Allah.  It adds up…

From Complinet:

Los Angeles-area pharmacist wired funds to Pakistan to finance ‘terrorist’ attacks, prosecutors say

Dec 22 2011 Brett Wolf recommended

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Wednesday indicted a Turkish national on terrorism-support charges for allegedly wiring money to Pakistan to help fund attacks against American military personnel. Oytun Ayse Mihalik, 39, of La Palma, California, a permanent resident of the United States, used Western Union to wire more than $2,000 from a grocery store in Buena Park to a person in Pakistan, prosecutors say. They also say she knew that the money “would be used to prepare for and carry out attacks that would kill United States military personnel and other persons overseas.”

Court documents state that Mihalik, a pharmacist who worked at CVS, made three wire transfers – $750, $600, and $700 – to Pakistan in December 2010 and January 2011. They add that the first wire was made in her name, but the latter two were made using the alias “Cindy Palmer.” Names and numbers While Mihalik printed the name “Cindy Palmer” as the sender of the final two wires, Western Union receipts reveal.

Oh, and any chance that Pakistani authorities will arrest the recipient of the transfers?  Heh.  If California prosecutors know that she intended to harm U.S. personnel by funding a Pakistani group, that means her money was probably intended for the Haqqani network, which exists under Pakistani protection and largesse.

Zakat to Kerala spreads terror throughout India

Charities and other non-governmental entities are falling under increased suspicion in India for funding terrorism.  The article below mentions donations from Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia, so it is obviously referring to Islamic zakat that is being transferred to India to fund the activities of militant jihadist groups there (probably including the Indian Mujahideen or the Student Islamic Movement of India).

For American readers, note that “under scanner” in the article means “under scrutiny” and naxals are Marxist guerrillas.  From Rediff News (h/t to Twitter user @naveenks):

Govt puts NGOs under scanner for terror financing

Non Governmental Organisations will have to watch their transactions in the coming days as the government has proposed to put them under the scanner owing to a huge security risk.

The government believes that some NGOs in the country have been aiding terror groups with funds and hence it is important that a watch be kept over these organisations. Senior government officials pointed out that the task ahead is tough.

“We believe that a large number of NGOs in the country have been sympathetic towards the cause of terrorists, and also the naxals and are indirectly raising funds for them,” said an official.

Intelligence agencies would be looking into states such as Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal where it has been found that terror groups and Naxals are using NGOs as a mean to raise funds for their operations.

Kerala, where the inflow of money from foreign countries is high, tops the list.

Saudi royals fund Wahhabi news in Spanish

¡Ay, caramba!  The Saudi royal family is backing the launch of a new Wahhabi-themed satellite television channel in Spain and South America.  It’s disturbing enough that Wahhabi sheikh Abdulaziz al Fawzan has found a way to disseminate Islam’s radical views, but the fact that the channel will be available in the New World also suggests that the drive behind Islamism in Latin America and the Caribbean is on the rise.

Perhaps the Sunnis have realized that they’ve fallen behind Shia Iran and its Hezbollah agents in South and Central America, and they’re trying to catch up now.  Hat tip to Gates of Vienna:

Spain: Iran and S. Arabia Launch 2 TV Channels in Spanish

(ANSAmed) — MADRID, DECEMBER 20 — Two Islamic television channels in the Spanish language arrive around Christmas in Spain. The first, an Iranian channel, will start broadcasting on December 21, the second, a Saudi channel, on January 1. Both will use the Hispasat satellites for broadcasts in Spain and South America.

According to sources in the audiovisual sector quoted today by El Pais, Hispan TV has started counting down to the day of tomorrow, when it will start broadcasting from Tehran. Its programmes are aimed at the a Spanish-speaking audience and can count on collaboration with Spanish journalists. The channel will start with 16 hours of television per day, which will be extended to 24 hours by the end of this winter. Its schedule includes information services, news, television series made in Iran and dubbed into Spanish, discussions on film, literature and religion. The programme ‘Debate abierto’ (Open debate) will focus on spreading the Shiite Islam, the dominant religion in Iran.

“This new television network in Spanish will play a crucial role in reflecting the ideological legitimation of our system in the world,” Ezotollah Zarqami explained in October to the media. Zarqami is president of Irib, the organisation that groups Iranian public television channels, and Hispan TV will also join this organisation.

The second new channel, Cordoba Television, will start its satellite broadcasts on January 1. It is managed by a Saudi foundation and can be received in Spain and South America. Its programmes, in Spanish, focus on the Islamic doctrine of Wahabism. Cordoba Television has its headquarters in the industrial centre of San Sebastian de los Reyes, in Madrid, and is part of the Foundation for the Message of the Islam, chaired by sheikh and theologian Abdulaziz al Fawzan — member of Saudi the council of wise men — and is backed by the Saudi royal family.

Its schedule will initially include eight hours of television per day, in blocks that are repeated three times per day, mainly documentaries and debates on religion. The network has hired converted Spanish citizens and the sheikh can count on around fifty reporters from private national television networks Antena 3 and Telecinco.

The second part of the sheikh’s plan includes, according to sources quoted by newspaper ABC some time ago, broadcasts of Cordoba TV in France, the UK and China as well. “This way Saleh Al Fawzan” according to the conservative newspaper, “not only fulfils one of the precepts of his doctrine, spreading this doctrine outside Saudi borders, but also makes his project part of the offensive of Islamic fundamentalism for the ‘recovery of Al Andalus’, which Muslims see as a lost paradise that has been occupied by the Spanish.”

University professor of Islamic theology Imam Mohamed Ibn Saud is mentor of Cordoba TV and member of the Sharia (the Islamic legal system used in Saudi Arabia) Supervisory Board and of the Human Rights Committee, an organisation at the service of the Saudi government. “Sheikh Al Fawzan,” El Pais points out, “has been dedicated to spreading Wahabism, the ultra-conservative form of Islam that reigns in Saudi Arabia, for years. He preaches inflammatory sermons on Saudi television channel Al Ikhtariya and UAE channel Al Majd, in which he underlines the need to profess ‘a positive hate’ towards Christians and justifies the marginalisation of women in his country.”

According to anti-terrorism experts, Cordoba TV could become a dangerous instrument of proselytism of radical Islam, destabilising the resident Muslim community in Spain. The name ‘Cordoba’ was not picked randomly: it was the capital of the Caliphate, in the tenths and eleventh century, established in the Iberian Peninsula by the Arab domination. It represents the climax of Islamic religion according to Muslim theologians.

Paragraph breaks have been added to the article above for clarity.

Obama’s flawed sanctions chief ends Arab trip

David S. Cohen, a former Clinton lawyer who Pres. Obama entrusted with a sanctions regime that is supposed to provide for the nuclear containment of Iran, is wrapping up a four-day trip to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The State Department says that Mr. Cohen was conferring with officials in those countries about sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran and against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

Surprisingly, although Bahrain shockingly has no legal means of freezing assets in its own country, there is no indication that Mr. Cohen addressed this shortcoming with officials in Manama.

Mr. Cohen has consistently misled the American public about the level of Saudi cooperation in combating terrorist financing.  Consequently, it will be difficult to judge the truthfulness of whatever statements are released at the conclusion of this trip.

Moreover, after Mr. Cohen back-stabbed U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) during backdoor negotiations on Iran sanctions, one wonders what would make Arab officials trust Mr. Cohen.

Seeking cooperation on sanctions is a good objective, but sending a flawed messenger indicates Pres. Obama’s lack of seriousness about sanctions against Syria and Iran.

Irony: Muslim wives told not to squander money

This irony alert comes from the religion that Muhammad founded using money from rich woman he married, Khadija.  Islam very well might not have gotten off the ground or waged its earliest wars if it weren’t for the capital Khadija provided.

Granted, Abu Bakr‘s wealth from the family cloth merchant business helped too, but Muhammad only met Abu Bakr through Khadija, because both Khadija and Abu Bakr owned homes in the same ritzy neighborhood of Mecca.

Yet now, Muslim women are being told that they should not be wasteful or squander their husband‘s wealth.  This bit of ungrateful advice comes in this slide from a presentation entitled “The Duties of the Wife in Islam” uploaded to Slideshare a few weeks ago:

If I were a Muslim woman, I’d be so offended that I’d take off my trash bag and drive away in a car.  And if Khadija were alive in Saudi Arabia today, she’d be killed for it.