Chris Holton: Shariah Compliant Finance and Financial Jihad: What America Needs to Know

According to Chris Holton, Shariah compliant finance was created by Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), an Egyptian poet, literary critic and Muslim Brother. Today, Iran largely dominates Shariah finance. Another important center of Shariah finance is Qatar, with the Qatar Islamic Bank and the Qatar International Islamic Bank leading the way. Shariah finance makes it a duty for the faithful to pay the zakkat, a donation to islamic charities. More than 80 islamic charities actively finance militarized Jihad. And as Wall Street tries to recuperate a part of the vast petro-dollar empire of the Middle East, it tends to look the other way when investors from that part of the world participate in financing western institutions.