 A top Gulf charity official yesterday charged that Muslim charity organisations were being "crushed" by Western countries to "prevent" unity and solidarity among Muslim nations. Dr Ajeel Al Nashmi, head of the Kuwait-based International Commission of Zakat (Alms) Issues, said that Jews were behind the global campaign to connect Muslim charities with terrorism.
| Aren't they behind everything? |
The commission conducts research related to Zakat, and issues fatwas (edicts) also related to alms. "The efforts of charity groups have had a big role in helping poor communities all over the Muslim world. Therefore, they attracted the attention of our enemies who don't want Islam to spread and Muslim nations to unite," he said.
| "Those poor folks need arms and ammunition, too, you know!" |
| Firepower to the people, habibi. |
He was speaking at the opening session of the 14th Zakat Issue Forum, hosted this year by Bahrain. The forum is attended by senior officials representing government-sponsored charity funds from the six GCC states. Zakat is a certain fixed proportion of the wealth and all kinds of property on which a Muslim is liable to give alms yearly for the benefit of the poor in the community. Alms is one of the five-pillars of Islam. Al Nashmi, a Kuwaiti university professor, said Western powers "realised that Zakat was a key element in the rise of Islam and they don't like it". Therefore, these powers, particularly the Jews, "are trying their utmost to tighten the grip on all sources of Zakat and charity by claiming charity organisations are financing terrorism". |