Critical Issues in Terrorism (the Hawala System)a

Midterm Essay
Arthur J Wilson III
CJ513: Critical Issues in Terrorism
Kaplan University
January 17, 2011

1. Describe the “hawala system.” What makes it successful among its users? Hawala , also known as hundi , is an IFT (informal money transfer system), based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers who are primarily located in the Muslim World, i.e. the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It is an ancient system that has existed for thousands of years and serves as a parallel system to the world’s financial networks. China also has such a system, known as chop, chits or flying money.
The essential components of this system are honor and trust, and without either it cannot work for the “hawalador” or agent and the person sending or receiving the money. Since this system keeps not records of transactions other than what is owed to the hawalador agents by other hawaladors its transactions are virtually untraceable. If an “agent” violates this trust he is removed from the system and is unable to act as a money transferor.
At first glance, the Hawala system would seem to be a western union style program setup to deliver money to individuals around the world. It is not, Hawala not only deals in cash transactions but it also makes use of goods and services. The system works like this, a person needing to send money to his family “back home” approaches a Hawala agent. This agent has a network of family, friends, business partners, or contacts in the location receiving the money. The person sending the money gives the “agent” the amount to send. The agent then contacts a hawalador on the receiving end, either through phone, fax, email, or text and issues instructions on the amount to be paid and to whom. The sending agent then records the debt owed to the receiving agent and within hours the family receives the money.
There are more things involved in this transaction that just the sending and receiving of money, but again the only recorded part of the process is how much and to whom (hawalador) is owed the debt.
As I said before, this is a system as old as any known system of banking and money transacting and as the world has moved to a uniform banking system on a global scale, Hawala has seen resurgence in use.
The main reasons anyone would use the Hawala system are cost effectiveness, reliability, efficiency, lack of bureaucracy, and total lack of a paper trail. As more and more banking regulations are put in place globally, the use of Hawala systems to transfer and or launder money used to finance illegal activities (including terrorism) increases. “A similar system, based solely on mutual trust and credibility between the two brokers without any further documentation and with third party guarantor, is implemented in the diamond trade all over the world where a hand shake and the exchange of the words “Mazal Vebracha” (in Hebrew Good Luck and Congratulations) are enough to ensure a multimillion diamond deal”. Global Jihad (2008) “There are many who strongly criticize the hawala system as dangerous because the hawala transactions are extremely private. Although there have been no conclusive findings that hawala transactions through hawaladars have contributed significantly to terrorism or organized crime, some argue that such hawala transactions are likely to occur”. Rounds, B. (2009). This argument rages due to the fear the IMF has of being unable to regulate the worlds money systems and ultimately eliminating cash as a viable currency in transactions and replacing it with electronic credits, thereby having total financial control of the worlds markets. Finding the money and stopping the cash flow is the number one objective of every law enforcement and counter terrorist organization in the world and as long as systems like Hawala exist, this will prove to be impossible.

2. Describe “martyrdom.” Does it go hand in hand with being a suicide bomber? Support your answer.
In order to understand and describe martyrdom we must first define what it means in the context of modern religions.
A Martyr is by definition is: 1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles. 2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle. 3. a. One who endures great suffering b. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy, or death that is imposed because of the person 's adherence of a religious faith or cause. So now that we can see what a martyr is, one willing to die for religious beliefs or faith, we can more fully address the question.
In modern day terrorism it has become increasingly popular to inflict pain and suffering via the use of bombs. Bombs strapped to people and detonated in a crowd to cause the most damage and instill fear. The people that do this are then referred to as martyrs by the people who sent them to do this. Are these people martyrs or just tools sacrificed by the leaders of these organizations?
The Holy Qur’an says, "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward." Qur 'an (4:74) and - "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur 'an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme." Qur 'an (9:111). These are but a few verses that are used to justify “suicide bombings” and they contain the translated words “to fight in the way of Allah”, The Arabic word for fight can also mean struggle and is often confused by the west. The word is Jihad “an Arabic word the root of which is Jahada, which means to strive for a better way of life. The nouns are Juhd, Mujahid, Jihad, and Ijtihad. The other meanings are: endeavor, strain, exertion, effort, diligence, fighting to defend one 's life, land, and religion. Jihad should not be confused with Holy War; the latter does not exist in Islam nor will Islam allow its followers to be involved in a Holy War Jihad. (n.d.). Islamic Glossary Home. but it is purposely misused by Muslims to promote their slant on Islam, The idea of Jihad to a Muslim is simple, we must always strive for a better way of life, But today’s terrorist distort this expression and use verses from the Qur’an to send young people to die claiming they will become martyrs. In short a distinction must be made, “Suicide is against Islam, Martyrdom is not”. The leaders of these terrorist organizations claim that cloud the minds of the youth with talk of martyrdom and Paradise as described in the Qur’an for those that sacrifice their lives for Allah, The killing of civilians and innocents is expressly forbidden in Islam, In fact “Not only in peace but also in war Islam prohibits terrorism, kidnapping, and hijacking, when carried against civilians. Whoever commits such violations is considered a murderer in Islam, and is to be punished by the Islamic state. during wars, Islam prohibits Muslim soldiers from harming civilians, women, children, elderly, and the religious men like priests and rabies. It also prohibits cutting down trees and destroying civilian constructions”. Jihad. (n.d.). Islamic Glossary Home. The bottom line is suicide in this context is nothing more than homicide and in Islam someone cannot become a martyr by killing innocent women, children and civilians, by blowing up themselves. The promise of martyrdom for these acts is a false one used to dupe desperate people that lack any hope of their situation ever improving. The so called leaders know this to be a false claim because they never commit suicide bombings themselves.
References
Global Jihad - Hawala System. (2008, November 10). Global Jihad - GLOBAL-JIHAD HOME PAGE. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.globaljihad.net/view_page.asp?id=1171
Jihad. (n.d.). Islamic Glossary Home. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/reference/glossary/term.JIHAD.html
Jost, P., & Sandhu, H. S. (2000, January 1). Money laundering - The hawala alternative remittance system. INTERPOL. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.interpol.int/public/financialcrime/moneylaundering/hawala/default.asp
Kleymeyer, J. (n.d.). Hawala Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www1.american.edu/ted/hawala.htm
Rounds, B. (2009, September 24). Hawala System – Hawala Banking- Hawala Transactions And Hawaladars. How To Vanish — Learn how to protect your personal and financial privacy.. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.howtovanish.com/2009/09/modern-hawala/
About WordNet - . (n.d.). About WordNet - WordNet - About WordNet. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://wordnet.princeton.edu/martyrdom

References: Global Jihad - Hawala System. (2008, November 10). Global Jihad - GLOBAL-JIHAD HOME PAGE. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.globaljihad.net/view_page.asp?id=1171 Jihad. (n.d.). Islamic Glossary Home. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/reference/glossary/term.JIHAD.html Jost, P., & Sandhu, H. S. (2000, January 1). Money laundering - The hawala alternative remittance system. INTERPOL. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.interpol.int/public/financialcrime/moneylaundering/hawala/default.asp Kleymeyer, J. (n.d.). Hawala Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www1.american.edu/ted/hawala.htm Rounds, B. (2009, September 24). Hawala System – Hawala Banking- Hawala Transactions And Hawaladars. How To Vanish — Learn how to protect your personal and financial privacy.. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://www.howtovanish.com/2009/09/modern-hawala/ About WordNet - . (n.d.). About WordNet - WordNet - About WordNet. Retrieved January 18, 2011, from http://wordnet.princeton.edu/martyrdom