The American International Group better known as AIG is a massive insurance company that was considered “too big to fail” during the 2008 U.S. Financial Crisis. The U.S. government decided that if AIG declared bankruptcy, it would trigger the bankruptcy of many other financial institutions that had conducted business with the insurance giant. Beginning in September of 2008, the U.S. Government used more than $180 billion of taxpayer money to buy 79.9 % of American International Group (AIG) preferred shares in order to keep the company afloat.
AIG is considered a world leader in promoting shariah compliant financial products. Shariah compliant financing follows the dictates of Islamic law. 2.5% of the assets of a shariah compliant financial instrument (insurance, mortgage, investments, etc.) must be donated as “zakat”. Islamic scholars, serving on the advisory boards of shariah compliant companies determine how to distribute this money including giving the money for jihad.
In December of 2008, The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board. The lawsuit alleged that because the U.S. Government owned a majority portion of AIG, they were in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment clause since shariah compliant products promote Islam over other religions. The Establishment clause states, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.” The clause is typically interpreted to prohibit the establishment of a national religion and preference by the U.S. government of one religion over another.
The American Freedom Law Center reports additional information obtained during the discovery process for the lawsuit, which includes:
- AIG has five wholly owned subsidiaries that promote and practice shariah.
- The government places absolutely no controls on how its billions of taxpayer dollars are used by the shariah-compliant companies or to whom they support with their “zakat” (“charitable”) dollars. Moreover, these companies all accept the mandate of shariah law to support jihad with zakat as long as they abide by the authoritative rulings of the world’s leading shariah authorities.
- Over one billion taxpayer dollars have flowed through AIG’s headquarters into supporting AIG’s shariah businesses worldwide.
- The Treasury Department has published, edited, and updated articles about shariah-compliant finance, which essentially promote Islamic law uncritically.
- The Treasury Department has created and staffed a position called the Islamic Finance Scholar-in Residence. No other religious law is so honored.
- After the AIG bailout, in December, 2008 the Treasury Department co-sponsored a half-day conference called “Islamic Finance 101” for government policy makers, which was in effect a cheerleading program to promote shariah and shariah-compliant finance.
In January of 2011, a federal district court judge dismissed the constitutional challenge, and in June of 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the taxpayer who first brought the suit lacked standing to challenge the government’s use of taxpayer funds. The decision will be appealed.
PRAYER FOR BUSINESS:
- Pray the American taxpayers will awaken to the “creeping shariah” that is taking place in our large financial corporations.
- The subject of shariah-compliant finance is complicated. Pray that there will be a simplistic way for this to be explained to the average taxpayer so they will have wisdom and understanding to not become involved.
- Ask God to bring revelation to our government leaders of the dangers of shariah-compliant finance, especially when taxpayer funds are supporting this (as with AIG).