So I’d never heard of khums, an Islamic tax system separate to zakat (which I had heard of). (Lots of good stuff in opendemocracy, by the way.) The article argues that cutting off funding through Lebanon will not cut off funding for Hizbollah, as they could be funded through khums. Well worth reading the longer article on khums. I find this mix of religion, scriptural analysis and economics terribly hard to read; I guess believers must find our economic papers soulless and heartless in a similar way.
