Guest Writer Dr. JP Sloane: Neel Kashkari & Islamic Finance 101

Recently California gubernatorial candidate, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, came under fire for some remarks he made concerning his opponent, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Neel Kashkari’s involvement with a Sharia Finance seminar in 2008.

On November 6, 2008, the Bush Administration held a seminar titled, “Islamic Finance 101.”  The seminar attendees were welcomed by then-Assistant Treasury Secretary of the Treasury, Neel Kashkari.

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy and columnist for The Washington Times.  On November 4, he responded to the implementation of the Bush Administration’s Islamic Finance 101 seminar to be led by Kashkari:

Concerns in this regard are only heightened by the prominent role Assistant Treasury Secretary Neel Kashkari will be playing in “Islamic Finance 101.”  Mr. Kashkari, the official charged with administering the TARP fund, will provide welcoming remarks to participants. Presumably, in the process, he will convey the enthusiasm about Shariah-Compliant Finance that appears to be the current party line at Treasury.

It seems that Donnelly’s justified concern revolves around the United States Constitution—the shiftaway from our U.S. Constitution and moving toward becoming a Sharia compliant nation.  A Donnelly campaign supporter is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as posting on Donnelly’s Facebook page:

“BREAKING: Neel Kashkari supported the United States submitting to the Islamic, Shariah banking code in 2008 when he ran” the taxpayer-funded federal bank bailout, a Donnelly campaign associate wrote on the candidate’s Facebook page Monday. “Shariah is ‘the seditious religious-political-legal code authoritative Islam seeks to impose worldwide under a global theocracy.’ This revelation is spreading fast, as people…refer to Mr. Kashkari’s support of Shariah an ‘October Surprise.’”

Donnelly’s astute observation sparked a vehement response by the Republican hierarchy.  One attack came from the Honorable Darrell Issa.  In an article written in the Los Angeles Times, Sheema Mehta wrote on May 12, 2014:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) issued a scathing denouncement on Thursday of gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly over the fellow Republican’s attempt to tie his main rival, Neel Kashkari, to fundamentalist Islamic law.

“There is no place in any public discussion for this type of hateful and ignorant garbage,” Issa said in a statement. “As far as I’m concerned, this type of stupidity disqualifies Tim Donnelly from being fit to hold any office, anywhere. Donnelly is no longer a viable option for California voters.”

Ms. Mehat continues to gleefully quote Congressman Issa when she concludes:

Issa, who endorsed Kashkari last week, is the most prominent Republican to denounce Donnelly’s comments. He said that he had faced similar “baseless charges” because of his Arab American background.

I was offended and outraged that someone who would run for the highest office in our state would resort to such hateful and disgusting rhetoric,” Issa said. “It is crap like this that gives Republicans a bad name and there is no place in the Republican Party or in this race for someone like Tim Donnelly.

• Since when is it considered attacking a person if they come out against a position with which we disagree?
• Since when is it wrong to be specific and not speak in generalities?
• Since when is it wrong to honestly confront someone rather than citing vague sources like the liberal/progressive media does?

Could you please explain that to me, Congressman?

In another Issa attack, the Congressman draws upon all of his intellectual acumen and command of the English language to savage Tim Donnelly as he pontificates,  “As far as I’m concerned, this type of stupidity disqualifies Tim Donnelly from being fit to hold any office, anywhere. Donnelly is no longer a viable option for California voters.”

Despite the additional $500,000 Kashkari personally donated to his own campaign a few days ago, Donnelly, the grass roots’ and Tea Party favorite, continues to outpace Kashakari in the polls.

To digress, Ms. Mehta, in her series of hit pieces on Donnelly in the Los Angeles Times, places her candidate in the warm glow of the intelligentsia and exploits her formidable candidate by quoting his condescending comment aimed those inferiors who would dare suggest that this luminary of all things financial—as well as the bastion of Sharia Law—should in nowise be challenged.  Regarding his participation of the Islamic based Sharia Compliant Financing, she continues:

Kashkari called the attack “absurd on its face.” He delivered introductory remarks at a 2008 forum called “Islamic Finance 101” that was sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury under President George W. Bush’s tenure and by Harvard Law School’s Islamic Finance Project. Kashkari was an assistant Treasury secretary at the time.

Since we don’t want to be unfair to Mr. Kashkari and his assessment of the so-called “Islamic Finance 101,” let us consult an expert on Islam and Shari Law, Marine and former FBI Special Agent and counterterrorism expert, John Guandolo.  Mr. Guandolo explains the far reaching tentacles of the Muslim Brotherhood and the teachers Neel Kashkari sat under in “Islamic Finance 101,”  and the implementation of Sharia Law.

Mr. Kashkari, we will take a closer look at Sharia Compliant Financing which, thanks to you in part, is a financial mechanism that has now been implemented in our country. 

I attended a recent event where Mr. Guandolo was on Skype and was asked to comment on the Donnelly/Kashkari exchange.  You can click on the video and/or read the paraphrased transcript that follows.

We are able to see Sharia Compliant Financing (SCF) on the New York Stock Exchanges and operating within Citi Corp, Bank of America, and other banks that currently have Sharia compliant mechanisms in place.  Guandolo drives home the fact that if one is involved with Sharia financing…it means that money that is earned through that mechanism, necessarily goes to fund Jihad; because that is what Sharia Law requires.

It is important to know who these mentors are who Kashkari sat under at the Department of the Treasury.  We learn from Guandolo that the two men who were key leaders to get Sharia Finance implemented with the Department of Treasury under the Bush Administration are, Yusef Al-Qaradawi, the senior Islamic legal scholar in the entire world (aside from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was the second in charge of Al-Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden).  He is also the senior legal scholar for the Muslim Brotherhood and was involved in the assassination of the late President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat (assassinated on October 6, 1981) because he signed a peace agreement with Israel.

It would be beneficial for us, at this juncture, to review the official motto of the Muslim Brotherhood:

·         Allah Is Our Objective

·         The Prophet Is Our Leader

·          Qur’An Is Our Law  (The Qur’an contains Sharia Law.)

·         Jihad is Our Way

·          Dying in the Way of Allah Is Our Highest Hope

Guandolo also reveals that Ayman al-Zawahiri…has called for the killing of American soldiers and any contract workers inside Iraq because its mandated by Sharia—which it is—so he’s not misquoting Islamic Law.

The other Muslim involved with instituting Sharia finance was (Mufti Muhammad Maulana) Taqi Usmani, a former Pakistan Supreme Court Justice who was instrumental in establishing Islamic economics and Islamic banking in Pakistan…and according to Wikipedia…also held a number of positions on the Shariah Boards of prestigious Islamic institutions, and is one of the most influential Islamic authors outside the Middle East.  

Regarding Taqi Usmani, Guandolo warns, “…he also calls for the killing of all non-Muslims who do not convert to Islam or pay the jizya (a ransom/tax paid by non-Muslims) because that is, of course, what Sharia commands.  But these are the two men that brought Sharia compliant finance to Wall Street to the department of the Treasury …then literally organized and ran or set up the organizations that ran the training that the Department of the Treasury made mandatory for these people who helped implement Sharia compliant finance.”  

These two men are in the top one percent of Islamic and Sharia scholars in the entire world.  

The problem with any area of Sharia Law is that it is totally incompatible with the United States Constitution.

Consider:  Sharia is encapsulated in the Quran which is the founding document of Islam.  Islam means “submission” and Sharia Law cannot be parceled to enable anyone to choose specific parts of Sharia Law one wishes to accept or reject; otherwise, it would be like sampling goodies at a smorgasbord.  When you submit (Islam), you must submit totally if not all at once, then by subterfuge, a little at a time, until the unwary initiate (or country) realizes too late what is going on.

Sharia Law is like many parts of a camel.  The camel has a tail, a hump, four legs, a long neck, eyes, a mouth and a nose.  To reflect upon an old Arab proverb, look out once the “camel has its nose under the tent!”  Why is this old saying important?  Once the camel has its nose under the tent, it won’t be long before the rest of the camel follows. Islam by its very definition is not a democracy but a theocracy—it’s all or nothing and “nothing” for a Muslim is not an option.