A robust zakat system across territories occupied by the Islamic State (IS) is ensuring that oil and securing ransoms through kidnappings aren’t the only sources of money flowing into terrorists’ coffers, according to an investigative report by the Financial Times.
Although coalition airstrikes succeed in bringing down IS production of oil -- which nets the terror group an estimated $450m in revenues each year – a small army of zakat tax collectors is raking in nearly as much.
The militant group’s interpretation of zakat takes 2.5% of capital from wealthy residents and businesses, 5% of irrigated crops and 10% of rain-fed crops from farmers, and days of service from doctors, who are forced to volunteer once a week at area hospitals. The result is hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year, the investigation found.
IS even collected $23m in taxes on salaries the Iraqi government paid to officials in the city of Mosul for almost a year after it was taken over by the group.
“They leave no source of money untouched — this is their lifeblood,” Omar, a Syrian rebel commander who ran military operations with IS for a year before fleeing to Turkey, is quoted by the elite London-based newspaper.
Western intelligence officials, former IS fighters and Syrians and Iraqis within IS-held territory say the group’s zakat collection system, which is a form of almsgiving in Islam, is keeping its economy churning.
Zakat, which dates back to the days of the Prophet Muhammed, requires Muslims to hand over portions of their income and can be given to those who are fighting for a holy cause.
Estimates based on statistics provided by Iraqi officials and Syrian farmers reveal that $20m worth of zakat was collected on grain and cotton, while trucks traveling into IS territory were charged customs duties totaling up to about $140m a year.
As the group seized more land, it first relied on confiscations for income, looting banks, military bases and the homes of Iraqi officials. In each wilaya, or province, the jihadissm-inspired group set up and continues to operate a so-called ‘war spoils’ office that calculates the dollar value of loot and pays a fifth of it to the militants who ran the raid. Non-military goods are sold at local ‘loot markets’, fighters and locals say; IS members are allowed to buy at half price.
The group reaches into nearly every aspect of the economy in its territory, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Money from trade, agriculture, and remittances — even salaries paid by the governments that are fighting it — all flowing into the jihadis’ coffers.