The government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have reached the framework for greater Muslim control over the southern Philippines. The framework grants the MILF the power to tax the locals (see here and here). To the layman, this may sound like a technical concession of little importance and limited risk.
But given the track record of militant groups that have used traditional Islamic tax policies such as zakat and jizya to fund jihad, this concession is very disturbing.
Consider:
- Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan impose mandatory zakat (a portion of which tax may be allocated to the mujahideen in accordance with sharia law).
- Pakistan struck a truce in 2009 that wound up allowing Islamic militants to collect jizya from Sikhs.
- Malaysia imposes mandatory zakat, a quasi-jizya through its bumiputra system, and has at least one Islamic political party that has proposed the reinstatement of the kharaj—an Islamic property tax that imposes higher rates on non-Muslims.
- According to the U.S. State Department’s 2009 report on international religious freedom in reference to the Philippines: “In July 2008 Catholic Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela, Basilan and other Catholics reportedly received letters from self-described ‘Muslim warriors’ possibly linked to the ASG [Abu Sayyaf Group], threatening harm if the Catholics did not convert to Islam or pay ‘Islamic taxes.’”
Given the pattern, would you really expect the MILF to apply modern, secular income and sales taxes with rates equally applied to Muslims and Catholics alike? Would you expect the revenues to be used for social services equitably delivered to all citizens regardless of religion? Unlikely.
