http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/hidden-terror-in-europe?f=must_reads
Europe is in trouble.
Even as America and its European allies begin their war campaign against ISIS and its self-proclaimed Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, European Muslims are increasingly showing their support for Islamic terror groups and their jihad. With the number of Muslims heading to Syria to join ISIS and Al Nusra (the Syrian branch of Al Qaida) on the rise, those who remain behind in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands are now working to raise funds to support their families, and to defend other European Muslims accused of plotting terrorist attacks at home.
In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, “Europe is increasingly becoming a recruiting ground for jihadists heading [to Syria and Iraq] to join terrorist groups like Islamic State.” So far, the number of Europeans who have already joined the jihad in Syria is estimated to be between 2,500-3,000, with the largest number per capita coming from Belgium and from France.
But others, according to a recent article in Dutch national daily Trouw, are working for the jihad in different ways, largely through fundraising efforts. In the Netherlands, for instance, many in the Muslim community are now raising collections to assist the spouses and children of jihadists with cash, food, and other necessities. According to the jihadists, reports Perdiep Ramesar, who penned the article in Trouw, “the families need assistance because their welfare payments have been stopped, their assets frozen, and legal costs are too high.”
Funding jihad, or taking care of jihadists’ families is not really new. There’s a hadith calling for it:
It has been narrated on the authority of Zaid b. Kbalid al-Juhani that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Anybody who equips a warrior (going to fight) in the way of Allah (is like one who actually) fights. And anybody who looks well after his family in his absence (is also like one who actually) fights.
It was invoked in the United States 23 years ago during the Palestinian Intifada. Fawaz Damra, a Cleveland imam since deported, was raising money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, routing the money through a charity called the Islamic Committee for Palestine. Giving money, he told his audience, was as good as taking to the battlefield.