What is the connection between Islamic taxation and terrorist financing?
The Koran stipulates that the zakat shall be spent on several purposes, the most important here being “for the cause of Allah,” ie, holy war (9:60). Other Islamic taxes described in the Koran and Hadith may be used for the same purposes as the zakat. Given that paying the zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam, and that Muhammad promised that non-payers will “taste the burning” of hell, Muslims have powerful incentives to pay the tax. A great deal of the zakat revenues end up, either knowingly or unknowingly, in the hands of Islamic charities that funnel the money to terrorists.
