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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (95341)	4/21/2003 12:33:51 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Respond to of 281500

> I thought the zakat was 2.5%. If the above ideal is actually realized, one has to wonder about the poverty, lack of health care, etc. in much of the Muslim world. Zakat is 10% of your net income and is meant only for the poor. Khoms is 20% of your net income and is payable only to your religious leader who is then expected to spend it on charitable causes. These two are the basis of taxation in Islam. In modern days, given that people pay taxes to the government and also given that many people do not strictly fallow religion, these are not always fallowed. In addition to these two basic endowments, you are also expected to take part in charitable causes according to how much you feel you've been liable to inadvertently done wrong to others. In modern times those who wish to fallow these edicts typically add up their payment and make it to their chosen Ayatollah or Imam or in some cases some other trusted organization. It is also not unusual for businesses to take part in the process. For example, a bakery may choose to support the local madressa by selling them bread at cost. I have also seen some Shia businesses who hang a sign declaring their partnership with their chosen saint. This means that they donate the declared percentage of their business income to a cause under the name of that saint. The system is far from perfect. Prior to fundamentalism inheriting the mantel of resistance from all the failed "isms", there were more scornful jokes and remarks about Muslim clerics as there are about Catholic priests here. In general the top tier Ayatollahs and their aids are decent. Most live very humble lives and despite the massive amount of money that comes their way they typically die bankrupt. However the local priesthood is often corrupt. Many in Islamic world become a cleric for the same reasons that most people who want to become politician choose to go to law school first. So spirituality is not often the main deciding factor. As to the roots of poverty, lack of health care, and so on, it is a complex issue but let's just say that those who come from outside have some advantages over those who've never seen alternatives. BTW, I know about home missions. Some of them even do a lot good and respectable job here. But I don't see why such great effort should be spent outside when there is so much to be done at home. ST