Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 03-09-2010 Regular — reading text

individual." This obligation reaches the extent that a woman should go out for jihad even without the permission of her husband, and the son without the consent of his parents," 24 Shariah, Law and `Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? On Beating of Women Beating is not suitable for every wife; it is suitable for certain wives and for other wives it is not. There is a woman who cannot agree to being beaten, and sees this as humiliation, while some women enjoy the beating and for them, only beating to cause them sorrow is suitable... Publications Sheikh Qaradawi is a prolific author with over 100 books published, many of which have been translated into several languages. Some of these books —for example, Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase ( 1990) —are widely viewed as action plans for the Islamist move- ment in its struggle against Israel and the West. Other popular books include Towards a Sound Awakening, The Status of Women in Islam, Islamic Awakening between Rejection and Extremism, The Lawful and Prohibited in Islam, Diversion and Arts in Islam etc. Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani Mufti Taqi Usmani is one of the most prominent living theoreticians of Sunni Islam and perhaps the best known current exponent of the Deobandi school of Islamism. He is also one of the half -a -dozen most authoritative and sought after Shariah experts in the world of Islamic finance today. Background Taqi Usmani was born in 1943 in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh, India. Taqi Usmani is the son of the late Mufti Muhammad Shafi, a prominent Deobandi scholar, founder of the leading Deobandi madrassa Darul Uloom Karachi ( also known as Jamia Darul Uloom Karachi) and mufti of Pakistan. His older brother, Muhammad Rafi Usmani is the president of Darul Uloom Karachi and the chief Deobandi mufti in Pakistan currently, and a well -known Islamist in his own right. Taqi Usmani' s son, Muhammad Imran Ashraf Usmani, holds a PhD in Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic finance and also teaches at Darul Uloom Karachi. Like his father, the son sits on the Shariah boards of numerous Islamic banks. Education Usmani obtained `Alimiyyah' and `Takhassus' ( PhD -equivalent) religious degrees in Islamic Fiqh and Fatwa from Darul Uloom Karachi in 1961. For 25 The Shariah Advisors his secular education, he received a B.A. from Karachi University in 1964, a Law Degree ( LLB) from Karachi University, 1967, and a Master's degree in Arabic literature, Punjab University, 1970 Usmani' s professional affiliations include experience as a Professor of Islamic Law, Fiqh and Hadith and vice president of Darul Uloom Karachi, 1980s to present. He was also a Judge, Shariah Appellate Bench, Supreme Court of Pakistan, 1982 -2002, and also a Judge, Federal Shariah Court of Pakistan, 1980 -1982. Usmani' s affiliations with Islamist Organizations include Shariah- and Jihad -centered educational institutions: Usmani is the Vice -President and professor of Islamic studies at Darul Uloom Karachi, one of the largest and best known Deobandi madrassas in Pakistan. It is a modern and financially well- endowed madrassa with some 4000 students teaching a Shariah- centered Islamist curriculum mixed with occasional secular subjects, such as science and comput- ers. It is one of the few madrassas in Pakistan that prepare students in Islamic economics and banking, alongside the usual Islamic curriculum. Darul Uloom also encourages and subsidizes students to go on proselytizing missions, such as those of Tablighi Jamaat. While it does not openly promote jihad and violence, the madrassa has produced and continues to produce thousands of Islamic jihadists active in Pakistan and elsewhere. In the words of a recent study of madrassas in Karachi by the presti- gious European human rights think tank, International Crisis Group: While the madrassa, on the surface, appears a model for less educa- tionally endowed seminaries, Darul Uloom also plays a role in promot- ing violent jihad. Both Usmani brothers have given practical help to jiha- di organizations, which are allowed to preach and collect donations from the madrassa' s mosques and branches." According to one of Darul Uloom' s teacher' s, " Students are not allowed to participate in jihad while they are studying, though they can do so after completing their studies." Other educational affiliations include Permanent Member and Deputy Chairman for the Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jedda, Saudi Arabia. He is also a Member, Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Muslim World League ( MWL), Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 26 Shariah, Law and ` Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? Usmani' s affiliations with Islamist Organizations also include other political and legal institutions: Member, European Council of Fatwa and Research ( ECFR), Dublin, Ireland Member —Muttahida Majlis a -Amal ( MMA) fatwa committee Member —Delegation of Deobandi clerics to Taliban, Sept 2001. Mufti Usmani was a member of a small delegation of prominent Deobandi ulema ( i. e., recognized Shariah authorities) known as sympathizers of the Taliban sent to meet with Mullah Omar under the auspices of the Pakistani Inter -Services Intelligence ( ISI) shortly after September 11, 2001. The ostensible purpose of the visit, according to Pakistani govern- ment sources, was to encourage Mullah Omar to turn over Osama bin Laden to the Americans. Information leaked later by some of the clerics present, such as the jihadist Mufti Shamzai, indicates that the delegation may have, in fact, tried to stiffen the Taliban' s will to resist. Member —Delegation of Deobandi clerics to Lal Masjid /Jamia Hafsa. Taqi Usmani was part of a group of senior Deobandi clerics that visited the besieged Lal Masjid in Islamabad hoping to persuade the jihadists to give up, after the Pakistani government threatened to end the violent standoff with the jihadists by force. Mufti Usmani was evidently a former teacher and spiritual and religious leader of the jihadist Lal Masjid imam Ghazi Abdul Aziz. The mission was unsuccessful and in the aftermath of the bloody suppression of the insurrection in July 2007, Usmani leveled heavy criticism against the government for its actions. Editor —Tagi Usmani is the editor of two Islamist publications: Albalagh and Albalagh International, published by Darul Uloom Karachi. Both of them promote the Islamist agenda and are popular in South Asia and internationally. The U. S. -based Albalagh. net also functions as an online bookstore for Shariah and Jihad literature based in Garden Grove, California. Usmani is a leader in the major Shariah Finance -Sponsoring Organizations: Chairman —International Shariah Standards Council, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions ( AAOIFI), Bahrain. Member —Commission for the Islamization of the Economy, govern- ment of Pakistan Chairman Shariah Board, Islamic Financial Services Board ( IFSB) Chairman Shariah Board, International Islamic Rating Agency ( IIRA) Chairman Shariah Board, Bahrain Monetary Agency, Bahrain Chairman Center for Islamic Economics, Pakistan 27 The Shariah Advisors Usmani typically runs most of the Shariah -Compliant Banks and Institutions with which he is affiliated: Chairman -- Shariah Supervisory Board, Dow Jones Islamic Fund, New York ( recently resigned or terminated). Chairman -- Shariah Supervisory Board, HSBC Amanah Finance, Dubai Chairman -- Shariah Supervisory Board, Guidance Financial Group and Guidance Residential, USA Chairman -- Shariah Board, Abu Dhabi Islamic bank, UAE Chairman -- Shariah Board, Islamic House of Britain PLC. London Chairman -- Shariah Board, Meezan Bank, Pakistan Chairman -- Shariah Supervisory Board, Saudi American Bank, Jedda, Saudi Arabia Chairman -- Shariah Supervisory Board, Citi Islamic Investment Bank, Bahrain Chairman —Shariah Board, Amana Investments LTD., Sri Lanka Chairman -- Shariah Supervisory Board, Bank Islami Pakistan Ltd., Pakistan Chairman -- Shariah Board, Robert Fleming Oasis Fund, Luxembourg Member -- Shariah Board, Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector, Islamic Development Bank ( IDB), Jedda Member —Shariah Supervisory Board, Dallah al- Barakah Group, Jedda, Saudi Arabia Member —Shariah Supervisory Board, First Islamic Investment Bank, Bahrain Member —Shariah Supervisory Board, Islamic Finance Unit, United Bank of Kuwait Publications Taqi Usmani is a prolific writer in Urdu, Arabic and English and has pub- lished several dozen books and countless articles. Most of his writing focuses on religious subjects, but there are a number of books that are clearly political in nature and characterized by the author' s Islamist Shariah -laden views. Among those available in English is a vitriolic attack on Christianity ( "What is Christianity "), a broadside against the West and modernity ( "Islam and Modernism ") and an exposition of the Islamist interpretation of the Muslim faith ( "Discourse on Islamic Way of Life "). Usmani is also the author of two books in English on Islamic finance: An Introduction to Islamic Finance" and " Historic Judgment on Interest." Both are considered authoritative by advocates of Shariah -compliant finance. 28 Sharjah, Law and `Financial Jihad': How Should America Respond? Ideology and Views On Jihad and Violence Against non -Muslims Mufti Taqi Usmani is well -known for his uncompromising views on the mandatory nature of conducting offensive jihad against non -Muslims " in order to establish the supremacy of Islam" worldwide. His views on the subject are grounded in traditional and authoritative Shariah and he pro- vides solid legal sources for his fatwas that offensive jihad is a necessity even when a non -Muslim land provides all the conditions for the free practice and spread of Islam. According to Usmani, the key question is not whether a country allows the free preaching of Islam or not, but "whether aggressive battle is by itself commendable or not ?" If it is, he answers, " why should the Muslims stop simply because territorial expansion in these days is regarded as bad? And if it is not commendable but deplorable, why did Islam not stop in the past ?" The answer, Usmani argues, is rather obvious, " Even in those days... aggressive jihads were waged... because it was truly commendable for establishing the grandeur of the religion of Allah." Indeed, aggressive jihad against unbelievers is an Islamic obligation, according to Usmani and, as such, does not need any justification as evident from the following exchange with a Muslim inquirer: Questioner. " Subjugating them ( non -Muslims) to a Muslim government can- not achieve this change of heart and mind because in such a condition the subject people will be conscious of their subjugation and they will hardly have the inclination to hear about Islam with an attentive ear." Usmani: " I understand from what you have written that jihad is not necessary when a non -Muslim country permits Muslim missionary work to be conduct- ed in it. If this is your opinion, I cannot agree with it. Obstacles in the way of missionary work are not only legal ones. For a non -Muslim state to have more pomp and glory than a Muslim state is itself an obstacle.... Therefore, to shatter this grandeur is among the greater objectives of jihad.... Another point to consider is whether during the time of the Prophet peace be upon him) or of the companions there is any