by Cathy Lynn Grossman USA Today Do you follow the rules of your religion? All of them? Here's why I ask. Last week I wrote about the Islamic injunction to give zakat, translated as charity, to the poor and needy, a faithful mandate that often peaks during Ramadan, the month of prayer and fasting that began last weekend. Now Raymond Ibrahim, the Middle East Forum scholar, … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2009
Critic questions the aims and ends of Islamic charity
by Cathy Lynn Grossman USA Today Zakat, a mandate to be charitable, is one of the five pillars of Islam, and who doesn't think that's a good thing? Raymond Ibrahim, for one. The scholar at the Middle East Forum unloads on The Dark Side of Zakat: Muslim "Charity" in Context at the forum's website. While he acknowledges there are eight categories where faithful Muslims might … [Read more...]
As Ramadan nears, Muslims plan to donate
by Cathy Lynn Grossman USA Today Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, begins at sunset Saturday, and many believers are already planning a key observance: zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam. Often translated as "charity," it requires believers to give 2.5% of their cash assets (even including the value of their jewelry or stocks) to the Muslim needy and … [Read more...]
Il lato oscuro della Zakat
La "beneficenza" musulmana nel suo contesto Pezzo in lingua originale inglese: The Dark Side of Zakat Sia riguardo a ciò che viene insegnato agli scolari Americani dai loro insegnanti, che riguardo a ciò che viene raccontato agli Americani dai loro Presidenti, oggi concetti specifici unicamente dell'islàm sono quasi sempre "occidentalizzati". Che sia il risultato di … [Read more...]
The Dark Side of Zakat
Muslim "Charity" in Context Italian From what American schoolchildren are being taught by their teachers to what Americans are being told by their presidents, concepts unique to Islam are nowadays almost always "Westernized." Whether the product of naivety, arrogance, or downright disingenuousness, this phenomenon has resulted in epistemic (and thus endemic) failures, … [Read more...]