Things should get interesting at Harvard tomorrow, just one day before the start of Harvard’s Eighth Forum on Islamic Financing, sponsored by the Harvard Islamic Finance Project. The Center for Security Policy (CSP)is hosting a lunchtime panel discussion tomorrow to expose the risks of shariah-compliant finance. Ought to be a lively scene! It’s about time someone questioned Harvard’s love affair with all things shariah. From the CSP’s press release:
“the Islamic Finance Project of the Harvard University Law School’s Islamic Legal Studies Program will present the Eighth Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance in Boston, MA. The Center for Security Policy has challenged Harvard on the grounds that this Forum will provide NO information about the serious risks that Shariah-Compliant Finance (SCF) poses for U.S. financial institutions, ordinary post-9/11 investors and the national security of the United States of America.”
“To counter this silence on the true nature of Shariah, and to expose the risks of Shariah-Compliant Finance, the Center for Security Policy will present a lunchtime panel discussion on Thursday, April 17 from 12:00 – 1:00PM in Pound Hall, Room 107, Harvard University, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. Media is invited to attend. Sandwiches and drinks will be provided.”
Speakers at the panel discussion will include Frank Gaffney, President of the Center for Security Policy, Manda Ervin of the Alliance of Iranian Women, members of the Harvard community and others. It will also feature an audio statement recorded for the event by psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan, a courageous opponent of Shariah law and Islamist extremism. Dr. Sultan has been forced into hiding in America due to threats against her made by Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi, head of the European Council on Fatwa and Research and a driving force behind the 20th Century invention of Shariah-Compliant Finance. A written copy of her statement will also be available at the event.
“The Center has also requested that the Islamic Finance Project provide an opportunity on April 19th or 20th for the Center to present a more complete and critical analysis of Shariah-Compliant Finance to the entire group of Forum participants. Copies of the Center’s legal memorandum on Shariah-Compliant Finance risks and a request to present at the Forum, have also been sent to the Harvard seven-member governing board, and to the thirty-member Board of Overseers. Harvard has yet to respond to the Center’s request.”
“According to Center President Frank Gaffney, Harvard’s Islamic Finance Project has been the primary U.S. academic institution for over a decade lending legitimacy and even legality to Shariah-Compliant Finance, without disclosing material facts about the authoritarian law of Shariah.”
“Over the last two months, the Center for Security Policy has briefed officials at the U.S. Treasury, Members of Congress and their staff, the Securities and Exchange Commission, law enforcement personnel, and finance industry executives on their in-depth legal analysis of Shariah Compliant Finance using the aforementioned legal memorandum entitled: “Civil Liability and Criminal Exposure for U.S. Financial Institutions and Businesses Engaged in Shariah-Compliant Finance” (a shorter version of which will be published in the Utah Law Review in Sept 2008). This memorandum shows U.S. businesses may have criminal and civil exposure on the grounds of: securities fraud, consumer fraud, racketeering, antitrust violations, material support for terrorism and aiding and abetting sedition.”
“Accordingly, the Center for Security Policy intends to announce the launch of a national campaign intended to educate and awaken Americans to the real dangers associated with Shariah law and Shariah-Compliant Finance. This campaign will also promote alternative approaches.”
As I’ve said before, “It seems to me that Western secular societies have no business promoting a religious-based financial system. Why would we go there? It’s contrary to the very core of our society, the separation of church and state.
Hope you can make it to Harvard Square tomorrow!
