Al-Majalla

LONDON — Investigations by various Arab governments have shown that money donated to charities sometimes is diverted to terrorists. Those who donate are not to blame; they are fulfilling one of the five pillars of Islam.

Not many people ask for full and complete information on where their contributions are going. Governments are then left with no option but to block all sources which may benefit terrorists; at the same time, they must reorganize charitable frameworks to make sure that those who need help receive it. Charitable organizations, such as mosques that distribute money to the needy, are harmed when these steps are taken.

Arab countries only took the step after the United States mobilized its resources to track down the terrorists’ sources of supply. The US concentrated on charitable organizations in order to make sure that charitable donations did not end up in the hands of terrorists. This will naturally have an unfortunate impact on the poor and the innocent who genuinely need assistance. Al-Majalla researched the problem of how charities have reacted to present circumstances and how the needy and poor have been the first victims.

The last thing Saudi charities needed was a picture of weapons and grenades left by terrorists next to boxes labeled with the name of a charity. This TV picture shocked many Saudis who believed that their donations were for the poor inside the Kingdom. The Saudi government was forced to ban collecting donations in boxes placed in a number of places after it became clear that a terrorist organization was using some of the money to finance its operations.

This step, taken by the government for security reasons, confused and baffled more than 300 charitable organizations inside and outside the Kingdom. The organizations found themselves in dire straits as they attempted to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people whom they had earlier helped from donations. Some organizations had no choice but to curtail their operations when donations dried up. Many charities made extraordinary efforts to do what could be done on as little money as possible; they managed to operate on the proverbial shoestring.

Most officials of the charities refused to talk to the media about the decision and how it had affected their operations and those who benefited from them. Minutes after the decision was made, millions of donation boxes were sealed and taken away. Officials at Al-Haramain Charity, whose annual budget was SR150 million and most of whose work was done abroad, announced that it had stopped collecting money from boxes two years earlier after it found that people were impersonating the organization’s members and collecting money for their own personal use. At the same time, the management of a charitable project which helps people with wedding expenses held a meeting in Jeddah at which they decided, in light of the situation, to lower the amount of money given to young people from SR15,000 to SR10,000.

Yaseen Al-Jifri, an economics professor at King Abdul Aziz University, demanded that the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs change the process for giving permits to charity organizations in the Kingdom so that people can be sure where their contributions go. He said that charity needs a system of monitoring operations since it seems that people are using charitable donations for other purposes.

There must be an official agency to supervise charitable operations and give official permits. The agency, accountable to the government, must be sure how and where the money is spent, who benefits and the type of operation it supports.

Dr. Al-Jifri said that small donations were important because they showed the strong connection between members of society. Small donations can also keep people from begging. He pointed out that the amount collected from donation boxes is huge. There are many mosques in the Kingdom and the money used from small donations could be used for the benefit of society. He said that banning donations would be misunderstood and people would look at it as closing the door on charity. The easy way would be to give permits to charities and regulate their activities.

It is not easy for most Saudis to accept the fact that the donation boxes have disappeared; our society is religious and likes to help the needy. Saudis give to charity after being encouraged to help their brother Muslims all over the world. People are used to seeing the generosity of the Saudi people on TV in campaigns to help people in Palestine and Afghanistan. What they never saw were the donation boxes in shops, hospitals and markets. Mosques were another source of donations. Friday sermons often ended by encouraging people to donate money to the charity boxes outside the mosque.

The undersecretary at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Tawfeeq Al-Sudairi, contacted preachers and imams in an official letter. He asked them to stop collecting money from mosques and instead urge people to donate money through official channels provided in local banks by the government. He said that collecting money randomly in mosques would encourage criminals to represent themselves as officials and collect money for themselves.

Dr. Al-Jifri responded that there was no use donating money through banks since it becomes a long procedure. First of all, there are people who want to give a small amount and don’t want to bother with going to a bank. Also, donating money through a bank will reveal the identity of the donor who often wants to remain anonymous and get his reward from Allah.

The question is whether charities have alternative plans in place of the donation boxes. Khalid Al-Ouwd, a marketing researcher, said that charity organizations differed in relying on donation boxes. He said, “We realize from dealing with some charity organizations that approving a new system to increase income will take both effort and time.” He also felt that the present decision would reduce the activities of some charitable organizations.

- Arab News Opinion 21 September 2003