c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) When Qurat Mir, a Kansas City, Mo., teacher and observant Muslim, wanted to help victims of hurricane Katrina, she says, she donated money to the American Red Cross “because it was one of the first organizations working on the ground.”

But when a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Kashmir region straddling Pakistan and India, an area her parents once called home, Mir gave money through Islamic charities based in the United States.

“It wasn’t an emotional decision _ it was a practical one,” said Mir, 30. The Muslim charities had a long history of involvement in the region and would be quick to disburse aid.

Across the country, Muslim charities have been leveraging their perceived competence in South Asia and pulling in donations as fast, and sometimes faster, than much larger non-Muslim relief organizations. Charity leaders say they hope their success will help lift the pall of suspicion that has hung over Muslim nonprofits since 9/11.

As of Wednesday (Oct. 19), Islamic Relief USA, the largest Muslim international aid agency in the United States, had received $3 million in donations for earthquake relief. In comparison, the American Red Cross had raised $1.2 million in donations by Wednesday, in addition to a $2 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

A spokesman for Islamic Relief USA said although the organization would like to receive grants from the U.S. government, it has not received any.

Donations from American Muslims have been immediate and generous, reflecting the relatively high economic status of Muslim immigrants, according to Islamic community leaders around the nation.

But Muslims have also been careful about where they send their money.

On Oct. 12, worshippers gathered for Ramadan evening prayers at a San Francisco mosque raised $152,000 for earthquake relief in 15 minutes, according to Laiq Chughtai, general secretary of the Muslim Community Association, one of the Bay area’s largest mosques.

The money will be divided up among four or five Muslim charities with offices in the United States, said Chughtai.

“Our key concern was: Do the organizations already have a real ground presence?” he said. “If there were no effective Muslim organizations, we would give the money to someone else.”

Tariq Jangda, manager of the Islamic Society of Greater Richmond (Va.), said he will probably give donations from his mosque to a local Pakistani doctor, who is planning to deliver aid personally to the affected region. For Jangda, it’s a decision that stems in part from lingering uncertainty about the status of Muslim charities.

“Many Muslims were expecting the government to release a list of organizations that were free from terrorist ties or criminal investigations,” said Jangda. Despite repeated requests from Muslims nationwide, the U.S. government has not provided such a list.

Following 9/11, federal authorities froze the assets of three large Muslim charities in the United States because of alleged links to terrorist groups. But none of the legal cases have come to conclusion, and the 9/11 Commission cited “substantial civil liberty concerns” in the government’s actions against two of the charities.

Muslim leaders are now making renewed calls to the Bush administration to recognize the contributions and legitimacy of Muslim charities.

A letter asking President Bush to set up a committee on earthquake relief _ which would include Muslim charities _ was personally delivered to the president at Monday night’s (Oct. 17) White House “iftar,” or Ramadan fast-breaking meal, according to Ahmed Younis, national director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Younis said that Muslim organizations want to work more closely with the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development on earthquake relief.

“When the government works with organizations, it endows them with a certain legitimacy, and these organizations have earned it,” said Younis, pointing to the increased professionalism of many Muslim charities.

Timur Kuran, a professor of economics at the University of Southern California who has written about Islamic charitable institutions around the world, agreed that many Muslim charities have become more sophisticated in the last few years.

“This is part of their Americanization process,” said Kuran, noting that historically the Muslim world has produced few non-governmental charities. “As they learn to raise money and create publicity domestically, these charities are using the same techniques as the Red Cross or the Republican National Committee.”

Greater financial and legal transparency may be the “silver lining” to the post-9/11 crisis for Muslim charities, said Aamer Rehman, a management consultant who has studied the Muslim non-profit sector in the United States.

“Islamic Relief in particular has attracted a lot of donor confidence,” said Rehman. The charity, with international headquarters in Great Britain, has earned the highest rating _ four stars _ from Charity Navigator, the United States’ largest independent charity evaluator. Its United States branch, Islamic Relief USA, is based in Burbank, Calif.

Mohamed Abul-Magd, general manager of Islamic Relief USA, said in spite of his organization’s success, it is rarely listed alongside other charities in media reports of “how to help” during a disaster.

The Web site of the U.S. State Department recommends that those wishing to help earthquake victims contact the American Red Cross or the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

In March this year, a host of Muslim charities set up the National Council of American Muslim Non-Profits, which aims to create a certification process for charities _ though the Treasury Department has not said it would recognize such a seal of approval.

Instead, the Treasury Department has issued voluntary “best practice” guidelines for charities to follow to “protect donors and organizations from being corrupted by terrorist organizations,” according to Molly Millerwise, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department.

Some charity leaders and philanthropy experts, however, have criticized the guidelines as overly burdensome.

“Even if we followed every guideline to a `T’ _ which would be impossible _ the federal government still could not guarantee that donors and organizations will not be prosecuted,” said Jihad Smaili, a board member and attorney for Kind Hearts, a Muslim charity based in Toledo, Ohio.

Millerwise said the guidelines were being revised, taking into account some criticisms and suggestions from charities. But she rejected the idea that the treasury could provide a “white list” of government-approved organizations.

“Giving a seal of approval to any charity would be difficult, because we could not guarantee that a charity would remain” free from terrorist financing, said Millerwise. “Our stance is that it would cause the government to play favorites.”

MO/RB END RNS

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