A Response from American International Group Inc

This is and e-mail received from AIG in response to my concerns about ‘Sharia Finance’ and AIG’s connection to Takaful an Islamic Company in the Kingdom of Bahrain (in Arabic: مملكة البحرين‎, translation: Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn,

By de Andrea

The letter from AIG

Re: Your concern about AIG/Takaful Insurance products
November 23, 2008

Dear Mr. de Andrea,

“We received your email expressing your concern over our announcement that we would begin marketing Takaful insurance products in the United States.

AIG operates around the world and endeavors to provide products that meet the diverse needs of its 74 million customers living in 130 countries and jurisdictions.

Marketing to specific ethnic constituencies is not new or unique to AIG. For instance, AIG businesses have tailored programs for a range of religious organizations, including Methodist churches and synagogues. The concept of Takaful is similar the concept of reciprocal exchange, or mutual insurance. What makes the structure somewhat different is that premiums are held in non-interest-bearing accounts, and any excess profit is distributed back to the policyholders or given to charity. While the Takaful structure is desirable to those whose religious convictions preclude them from engaging in traditional interest-bearing structures, Takaful is also increasingly popular among non-Muslims who feel that the excess charitable aspect is a socially responsible mechanism for the purchase of insurance. In the United States, AIG plans to direct excess profits to U.S. based charitable organizations. These policies are standard homeowners’ policies and are guided by U.S. law. The funds for these policies are held in Shariah-compliant, non-interest bearing accounts at HSBC.

We hope this addresses your concerns.”
Edward M. Liddy, AIG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
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While I am sure this is not from Mr. Liddy, it is likely a form response from one of his many public relations people. The AIG response is a fairly typical one that companies provide when asked about Shariah-compliant products. They usually compare Shariah-compliant products to special products offered to other religious groups, and they almost always characterize the Shariah-compliant product as “socially responsible.” Note the comparison of Muslims to “Methodist churches and synagogues” and the phrase “socially responsible mechanism.” This is certainly ‘politically correct’ and also complies with the religious philosophy of ‘Multiculturalism’.
My response back to Mr. Liddy

November 26, 2008
To AIG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Re: your e-mail response dated November 23, 2008
Subject: Sharia compliant products:

Dear Mr. Liddy,
There are several problems with your response. First the comparison of Islam to “Methodist churches and synagogues” is a faulty comparison. Methodist churches and synagogues do not require financial products that advance religious law and oppress women or have at its core the call to violent jihad against its “non-religious” neighbors, as Shariah-compliant products do. “Shariah-compliant” is just that – in compliance with Islamic Shariah law. The tenets of Shariah Islamic law include forced child marriages, the beating, and or murder of disobedient women, death sentences for Muslims who choose to convert away from Islam, and the obligation to wage offensive military Jihad if necessary against non-Muslims for the purpose of advancing the agenda of Islamic subjugation of all countries and all people. By offering Shariah-compliant products Mr. Liddy, AIG, whether knowingly or not, is legitimizing, enabling, and endorsing Shariah law and the agenda of Islam to over throw the current American Government and Constitutional law.

Think of it this way Mr. Liddy, would AIG offer a product that was “apartheid compliant, or Communist compliant or Nazi compliant? Of course not, because AIG would know that in doing so, it would legitimize those philosophies and social agendas. To argue that a company can offer a product that is “compliant” with Shariah law, but is not legitimizing Shariah law, is disingenuous at the very least, and or ignorant. So I repeat, AIG is either knowingly or ignorantly legitimizing a religious tyrannical law system that oppresses women, moreover is supremacist, and is in fact the enemy of America.

The Muslim advisory board for AIG’s Shariah-compliant insurance includes a Muslim terrorist named Muhammed Imran Usmani, who is a “who’s who” in the Islamist world and is an outspoken proponent of aggressive jihad and terrorism against the United States. For example, he has issued numerous fatwa’s (religious rulings) that provide material support for terrorism. What “socially responsible mechanism” does AIG provide to “Methodist churches and synagogues” that has an advisory board which includes the disciple of an internationally-known advocate for terrorism?

Muslim “Charities” is a code word for terrorist organizations

In your last response you said, and I quote, “In the United States, AIG plans to direct excess profits to U.S. based charitable organizations.” As if that is a good thing. Shariah-compliant finance requires such charitable giving to go to Muslim charities not just any charity. Do you know that the word benevolence or charity does not appear in the Quran? Charity in Islam is a word deceptively borrowed from western culture. Just think about who directs where the money goes. The Shariah-compliant advisory board does, which in this case includes Muhammed Imran Usmani a disciple of an organization that is an internationally-renowned advocate of terrorism.

Mr. Liddy, currently over two dozen major Muslim so-called “Charities” have been identified by the U.S. government as having links to terrorist organizations. How many other Muslim charities do you think have links to terrorist organizations and have not yet been identified? If it looks, walks, and talks, like a duck Mr. Liddy… The recent Federal convictions in the Brotherhood/Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing trial, illustrates the complex web that Muslim charities have created to funnel their charitable contributions to terrorist organizations. And as I said, Islam does not teach love and charity, it teaches hate, oppression, slavery, and murder.

What AIG is essentially doing, is offering a financial instrument that will in fact wind up as a conduit for funds to terrorist organizations. Even if you don’t believe that this would ever occur, why would an American company want to put itself in such a precarious position? Why would an American company want to entangle itself with an advocate for terrorism? Why would a company such as yours even take the chance that the financial product it offers could possibly end up funding terrorist organizations? How is this “socially responsible again”? What’s more Mr. Liddy, doesn’t AIG recognize that, if funds from its Shariah-compliant product was found to be going to terrorist organizations, it could be facing, at best, a public relations nightmare, and at worst, lawsuits alleging negligence, and even criminal investigations or Treason?

Should you wish to advise your legal department of the possible legal ramifications of this dangerous and un-American business venture, here is a link to a rather lengthy legal article written by David Yerushalmi, a legal expert on the issue of Shariah law, spelling out the potential civil and criminal liabilities for companies such as yours that engage in Shariah-compliant finance. Titled: SHARI’AH’S “BLACK BOX”: CIVIL LIABILITY AND CRIMINAL EXPOSURE SURROUNDING SHARI’AH-COMPLIANT FINANCE
By David Yerushalmi, Esq.∗

Thank you Mr. Liddy for your response and I hope you will reconsider your decision.

Sincerely, de Andréa
Op-ed writer and editor for ‘THE BOTTOM LINE’

THE BOTTOM LINE: I sincerely hope that this letter does in fact get to the desk of Edward M. Liddy, and as result, he takes a long look at the moral issues regarding the direction of his company as well as the un-American and legal issues surrounding his involvement in Islamic Sharia Finance not to mention the fact that this contributes to the infiltration of Islam into the culture of America. This really typifies the ignorance of not only the ordinary American citizen, who tax dollars are going to bail out AIG, but big business as well as our own governments ignorant involvement in supporting the worst enemy the world has ever known. ‘The Terrorist Nation of Islam’

Something to think about…

de Andrea