Conference on burdens the Islamic charities suffer due to September 11 incidents

Economists from several Islamic countries have expressed their concern over the pressures the Islamic charity work is exposed to following the incidents of September 11 in the USA. They stressed that these pressures cannot much affect the process of charity activity especially al-Zakat ( endowment ).

Several participants in the world conference for al-Zakat, which concluded its deliberation in Qatar on Wednesday, considered that certain campaigns which are launched against the Islamic charities work, is part of a position that stands against Islam itself, reflecting an ignorance in the Islamic values.

Most of the participants in the conference, which was held for the first time after September 11, 2001 incidents, agreed that transparency is a must, not only for withstanding the western campaigns of doubts on the Islamic charity works, and al-Zakaat, in particular, rather because transparency is originally part of the mechanism in which organizations raise money.

To this effect, the chairman of the Islamic organizations in Europe, Ahmad al-Rawi, said that despite the rising negative impressions inflicted on Islamic charities due to American and western pressures, there are positive aspects that resulted from these pressures.

In a press statement, al-Rawi said that the federation enhanced the process of legal work and auditing control, and worked for strengthening the relation with the foundations of the European civil society with the aim to block the road against any attempt to limit Islamic charity work in the west. He added that efforts were made to develop the resources of the Islamic community in the west. He added that efforts were made to develop the resources of the Islamic community, such as expanding Islamic trusts establishments, and embarking on self efforts and limiting dependence on Islamic donations.