Don't tick off the tax collector.
It seems that some Australian imams are suggesting to the faithful that they renege on their Income taxes as these are supposed to violate Sharia. Should be fun to see the fallout in a couple months.
From the
Sydney Morning Herald:
Muslim leaders warn of tax cheats
Muslim leaders have warned that hardline clerics are encouraging their followers to cheat the tax system because they consider paying income tax contrary to Sharia law.
Sydney-based Islamic leader Fadi Rahman says extremist Muslim clerics who were preaching messages against paying income taxes were also staunchly opposed to western ideologies, The Australian reports.
Mr Rahman said he had heard Friday sermons delivered by hardline clerics in Sydney which highlighted the importance of cheating the tax system.
"I mean, just like how you've got clerics (with) extreme views who are telling the Muslims in the western world to declare war against the very country that they live in and the very country that is paying for their day to day life, you'll find that these are the clerics that are telling them to dodge the tax system," Mr Rahman told News Limited.
The youth leader and president of the Independent Centre for Research Australia said tax itself was not allowed in Islam.
"So they (clerics) encourage them that if there's any way that you can dodge paying the tax, then you should do it."
Clerics pushing for the tax evasion espoused a fundamentalist form of Islam called Wahabbism, News Ltd reported.
Ahhh - our old friend Wahabbism again -- exported from Saudi Arabia, the most virulent fundamentalist version of Islam there is... And these people are supposed to be our allies???
And I don't know about the folks at Australia's tax system but if they are anything like our Internal Revenue System, those muslims are in for a bit of a culture clash.
Posted by DaveH at March 12, 2007 6:12 PM