No matter how many Islamic leaders — both political leaders and clerics — actively stoke the jihad or are themselves involved, the West maintains its blind spot. No other religious ideology promotes violent expansionism and rewards people for waging war against other groups because they are different. And no other religion prescribes such actions in religious texts. Islam’s Sharia, however, mandates warfare against unbelievers. Historically, when Christians persecuted others, the offenders could never find one prescriptive religious text sanctioning such behavior. No such passage exists in the Christian texts. Until Islamic texts calling for warfare against infidels, the killing of apostates, and the spread the Sharia by the sword are publicly renounced by all mainstream Islamic leaders globally, many Muslims will continue to engage in violence against non-Muslims as well as Muslims deemed to be apostates. There have been 1400 years of jihad by the sword, and the jihad continues, supported by Islamic texts; their existence makes those who hold such doctrines resistant to change.
“Muslim cleric arrested over ties to Bali bombing group,” Jakarta Post, November 18, 2021:
A senior Muslim cleric has been arrested over allegations he raised funds for the Al-Qaeda-linked terror network behind the Bali nightclub bombings and other attacks, police said Wednesday.
Ahmad Zain An-Najah, a member of top Islamic organisation the Indonesian Ulema Council, and two associates were charged with setting up a charity organisation that diverted money to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
“This institution was created to obtain funding under the cover of social and educational purposes, and part of the funds collected was used to mobilise JI,” National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono told reporters Wednesday.
The cleric worked in the council’s fatwa division, which is in charge of issuing religious edicts, police said.
Terror groups in Indonesia, which has suffered a string of attacks since the 2002 Bali attacks, have used charities as a cover to raise funds to finance their operations, authorities have said previously.
In August, police arrested dozens of suspected extremists linked to JI and said the group had been planning a fresh attack during Indonesia’s independence day celebrations.
JI was nearly dismantled by authorities after bombs ripped through nightclubs on the holiday island of Bali, killing more than 200 people including scores of tourists in what remains Indonesia’s deadliest terror attack.
But the organisation has been rebuilding and its spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir was released from prison this year after serving time on terror-related charges.
The outlawed JI has ties with Al-Qaeda and has been implicated in other attacks over the past two decades. It has also sent jihadists to fight in conflict-wracked Syria and Iraq, authorities have said.
Muslim-majority Indonesia is home to dozens of extremist organisations, including some loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group……
Michael Copeland says
Islamic charities sending money to jihad – normal Islam.
abu taleb says
It is not only normal, but also commanded in Quran 9:60
Yusuf Ali: Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Truth); for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of Allah; and for the wayfarer: (thus is it) ordained by Allah, and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.
Notice that if the collectors are using the money for themselves, it is quite ok because Allah says so. And I believe most of the money goes to the collectors.