Dr. Tariq Ramadan is a Sufi Thinker who made a very valid point against the Muslim scholarship of RIS and ISNA. What role, if any, does Muslim scholarship play in the political discourse of the 21nd century?
Despite having guidance from Qur'an and hadith and a large conversion rate in North America, I think a majority of Muslims sport a herd mentality when it comes to religion and politics. We do what the scholars and the government say is right without thinking for ourself at all.
I think it is justified to say that normal, hard-working people hate paying taxes, but we pay taxes anyway. Not only is the tax paying process is ever-complicated; you have to fill out anywhere between 77 pages after reading 180 pages of appendix filled with instructions but it is also unfair. The wealthy don't pay their fair share of taxes. Cooperations either sport an effective lower tax rate than the general public or do not pay taxes at all. For example, in 2012 General Electric, Facebook and FedEx didn't pay their taxes. Taxes on national gains are lower than income tax: investors pay less than you do in income tax. Canada Tax and Revenue agency is so powerful it can revoke your passport and your citizenship; it can jail or deport you.
Each year, the government collects over $299 billion in taxes, of which $26.3 billion is spent on paying off its' oligarchy (Old Age Security program), $22.5 billion on federal agencies (including Bank of Canada and Royal Canadian Mint), $19.7 billion on the army, navy and air forces, $13.9 billion on international policing operations, $8.1 billion on RCMP, CISIS and border services.
The US collected $22.7 trillion in Tax revenue in 2013.
American Military Aid to Israel: Aiding and Abetting Israeli War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
Annual U.S. military aid to Israel: $3.6 Billion ($3.1B in direct military aid and $504 million in subsidies to Israeli military industries)
Daily U.S. military aid to Israel: $10 million
Amount of weapons and munitions US sent to Israel since its 2012 war on Gaza: $276 million not including exports of military transport equipment and high technologies
Amount of stockpile of ammunition the US military stores in Israel for that country’s use (called War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel): $1 Billion
Amount of rocket launchers, guided missiles, bombs, grenades and munitions of war US sent to Israel between January and May 2014: $37 million
Congressional Vote to give Israel $225 million in emergency military aid in early August 2014: House of Representatives: 395 to 8; Senate: 100 to 0.
Gaza: Indiscriminate Israeli War Crimes against Palestinians
Number of Gazans wounded by Israel: 9,886
Number of Houses Destroyed: 5,622; Damaged: at least 36,700
Number of Mosques Destroyed: 64; Damaged: 152
Number of Schools or Educational Facilities Destroyed or Damaged: 189
Number of Hospitals or Medical Facilities Destroyed or Damaged: 24
Number of Structures Destroyed including the only Electric Power Plant:More than 1500
Egypt: A Brutal Military Coup
Number of people killed by the coup regime from July 3, 2013 to January 31, 2014: at least
3248 (including 299 students with 289 males and 10 females; at least 80 died while in custody)
Number of people injured by the coup regime from July 3, 2013 to February 28, 2014: 18,535 (including at least 1400 students)
Number of people arrested by the coup regime from July 3, 2013 to May 31, 2014: 41,163 (By April 2014 only 9,220 have been tried with about1,260 receiving death sentences in mass trials)
Syria: a Bloody Civil War Fueled by Sectarianism and Foreign Interference
Number of detainees in the Syrian Civil War: as much as 53,700 (between 617 and 847 died under torture)
Number of Syrian Refugees and Displaced Persons according to the UN by end of July 2014: 2,951,423 (three fourths of which are women and children)
I think a democracy should not increase the gap between the very wealthy and very poor through taxation. A democracy taxes the working class into poverty. We bear the burden of financing the police and the military which in turn are used to subdue us into paying more to the government. This is sheer exploitation. Additionally, in a democracy I think the working class should have the right to decide how our tax dollars are used. A century of wars, degradation of human life and the environment is not why I work or why I pay my taxes.
Also, I am eternally thankful to the scholarship of ISNA and RIS for making Islamic knowledge available in the West. However, I think I reserve the right to criticize these scholars who are not speaking against the desecration of Muslim worldwide.
"The ISNA leadership is too often silent, as if paralyzed by fear...with respect to American foreign policy. Its silence over American support for the outlaw and inhuman policies of Israel cannot be justified, even less so after attending an iftar organized by the White House during which President Obama defended Israel while the Israeli ambassador tweeted his delight! We cannot be forever silent...[RIS] ... constitute visible support for the Gulf petro-monarchies or for despots such as al-Sissi in Egypt. This while dictators from Syria to Iraq by way of Egypt are imprisoning, torturing and killing innocents by the thousands" - Tariq Ramadan
We can't learn Islam and then timorously watch it being annihilated all around the world (see statistics above). Our dignity and sincerity as students and teachers of Islam demands that we critically dialogue with the authorities that oppose us and answer their attacks with justice.
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