x Juliette Rossant | "Islamic Charity" in Daily Times of July 7, 2004
Juliette Rossant

Juliette Rossant

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Daily Times

West urged to understand Islamic charity concepts

July 7, 2004
Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: The West needs to understand that the anonymity of the donor is integral to the concept of charity in Islam, a meeting held here this week was told.

Ms Juliette Rossant, journalist and author who has researched a number of leading Islamic charities, told the meeting, organised by the Middle East Institute on Capitol Hill, that the charge thrown at Arab, especially Saudi Arabian charities, after 9/11 of failing to disclose who their donors were, was unfair. Islam exhorted its followers to give to the needy without claiming credit for the good deed done. She said Saudi and Arab donors did not contribute to charities to claim tax relief or a name for themselves but to earn merit in the eyes of God. She said she had been assigned to research major Saudi charities by the Forbes magazine.

She collected all the information that was required except that she was not able to obtain the names of the donors since they wished to remain anonymous. Forbes refused to use the research. The conclusion drawn by the anonymity factor was false, namely, that if a donor wishes to withhold his name, the money must have been given to support "terrorist" activity. She said there was an "unbridgeable gap" between the Western and the Islamic concepts of charity and it was essential that this be understood. She said Arab donors were not "hiding" their identities for some sinister reason, as alleged or suspected, but because such they believed was the divine command.

Ms Abeer Hashim Al-Fouti, director of education and development, Sultan bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, Riyadh, who had travelled especially to attend the meeting, told the audience that there were two forms of charity in Islam: zakat which was obligatory on all Muslims, and sadqa that was a desirable thing to do if one had the means. In Saudi Arabia, she said, zakat was paid to the Directorate of Zakat which was made up of 23 charitable organisations. She said in Islam, charity was viewed with great favour and no credit or public recognition was allowed to be claimed for it, something that was not understood in the West, which, in turn, had led to a great deal of misunderstanding. The concept of charity in Islam transcended race or religious belief. The only criterion laid down was need. Those most in need should be helped, she pointed out.

Hussein Ibish, journalist and an activist in Arab causes, told the meeting that after 9/11, Arab charities had suffered a backlash and the largest Arab charity in America, the Holy Land Foundation had had its assets worth $6 million frozen. It had been first informally ’Äì and through the media ’Äì been accused of being aligned with terrorism, a charge that had been vehemently denied.

Mr Ibish said the effect of these government actions against Arab and Muslim charities had been a fall in contributions, because no one wanted to make a donation and then be accused of having supported a terrorist outfit.

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