More definitive proof of zakat funding jihad

One of the most popular web sites among American Muslims is Islam Online, founded by Sheikh Yussef al-Qaradawi, a man we have written about extensively on Shariah Finace Watch. (The man Qaradawi is pictured with is the ruler of Saudi Arabia.)

Qaradawi is perhaps best known in the Western world for being banned from travel to the USA and the UK because of his ties to Jihadist terrorist organizations.Qaradawi also served as the chair of the Shariah Advisory Board for Bank al-Taqwa, a bank shut down by the US Treasury Department several years ago because it was funneling millions of dollars to several Jihadist terrorist groups.

In 2008, Qaradawi called for Islamic finance and economics to replace capitalism.

Despite all this baggage, Qaradawi is considered the most prominent Sunni Shariah scholar in the world and one of the ideological leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the political wing of the global Jihadist insurgency.

At Shariah Finance Watch, we customarily call Qaradawi “Creepy Qaradawi” for his ties to terrorism and for his vile statements on how it is not always okay to beat your wife because some women “enjoy” being beaten.

This week, in the forum section of IslamOnline, a member from Egypt asked a direct question:

“Is a Muslim allowed to spend some of the money of Zakah on his journey to take part in Jihad in the cause of Allah?"

The response, from Qaradawi himself:

The meaning of Jihad in our present time particularly refers to striving to liberate Muslim lands from the grip of the disbelievers who usurped them and imposed on them their own laws in lieu of the Divine Law. Those disbelievers may be Jews, Christians or both or even pagans, who follow no particular religion at all. Disbelievers are all alike.

Capitalists, Communists, Westerners, Easterners, People of the Book and pagans are by no means different from one other. They should all be fiercely fought if they attempt to occupy any part of the Muslim land. This duty falls on those closest to the occupied land, who should be aided by those closest to them, who, in turn, ought to be aided by those closest to them, till it becomes incumbent on all Muslims to take part in Jihad.

Muslims have never been more severely afflicted than they are nowadays. Many of their lands have been captured by the disbelievers, on top of which is Palestine that has fallen victim to corrupt Jews. Similarly, Kashmir has been dominated by pagan Hindus. Chechnya and other Islamic states have fallen in the grip of pagan tyrannical communism.

Retrieving these lands, freeing them from the clutches of atheists and their twisted laws is the joint responsibility of all Muslims. Declaring Jihad to save our land is an Islamic obligation.

If war is waged anywhere to achieve this goal, namely to free the occupied lands of the laws and the tyranny of disbelievers, it is undoubtedly a case of Jihad for the sake of Allah. It thus needs to be financed from the money of Zakah, the amount of which is to be decided based on the total sum of the charity, the requirements of Jihad as well as the degree of the need of other potential recipients of charity. This is all to be decided by reliable scholars, if they are to be found.”