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Muslim Lawyers Push Accreditation for Charities

Community News - Community News

Written by Muslim Link Staff

Friday, 26 February 2010 09:52

After the 9/11 attacks, Muslim Americans saw not only eroding civil rights, but also diminishing charitable rights.

Donors saw charities they supported on the front pages of newspapers – their offices raided, their assets frozen, and their names tarnished by post 9/11 fears of “terror financing”.

Almost 9 years later, many Muslim Americans are still afraid to donate. Some donate only in cash. In response to this fear, an organization of Muslim attorneys spent one year in research and developed an accreditation system for Muslim charities.

The reason for the program, said attorney Farhana Khera, President and Executive Director of Muslim Advocates, is to give donors “greater confidence”.

In 2005, Muslim Advocates grew out of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML), a professional association of approximately 500 Muslim lawyers, law students and other legal professionals. Based out of California, they serve the entire nation. Part of their stated mission is to “join hands with ... partners in the government, legal, nonprofit and community sectors to create sophisticated advocacy and educational campaigns aimed at ensuring [the] nation’s commitment to its founding principles.”

Launched in 2008, the Muslim Charities Accreditation Program has “organizations go beyond what the law requires”, said Khera. “There is greater accountability.”

The program encourages not only financial checks and balances, but also overall transparency in how an organization is run and how decisions are made. Muslim Advocates has its own IRS form 990 and an independently audited financial statement available on their website.

Several board members of masajid in the DC region were unaware of the program and unfamiliar with Muslim Advocates when asked by the Muslim Link. But, the group is working hard to change that.

Muslim Advocates holds whole day seminars to promote the accreditation program and to educate board members from Islamic organizations, bringing them together with lawyers, accountants, and representatives from the IRS. One such free seminar is taking place on March 6, 2010 at the New York School of Law.

The accreditation program raises the bar for Muslim organizations, challenging them to abide by standards of financial and overall management as defined by the Better Business Bureau.

Masajid run by a single Imam or founder would definitely not be accredited. “That goes to the issue of accountability and governance,” said Khera.

She declined to comment on any specific court cases involving Muslim charities.

“Generally, if you have an organization following good governance, good financial record keeping, and exercising due diligence in how funds are used, Holy Land type of cases are less likely to occur. We do have part of our education program on international charity.”

The Holy Land Foundation was the largest Muslim charity in the nation before the government shut it down in December 2001, alleging it used donation money to support “terrorists” in occupied Palestine. A protracted trial ended in a hung jury and zero guilty verdicts in October 2007. On November 24, 2008 a jury returned all guilty verdicts in a retrial.

Asked if she thinks the government should maintain a “white list” of accepted charities, Khera said its neither practical nor wise.

“It’s a bad idea. The government could infringe on our right to choose if we want to donate. Today [donating to a certain group] may be lawful, and tomorrow [the group] may be found amiss,” she said.

Led by Khera, the group made its views known to the White House.

“We believe [some of] the law is in-congruent with charitable principles and we made it clear to the President’s team.”

If donations of food and water pass through a black listed organization, donors could face legal action including fines or even imprisonment. Khera believes this is “inconsistent with international humanitarian principles”.

“I think that’s a separate battle that needs to be waged on the policy front. We believe everyone should follow the law,” she added.

Muslim Advocates conducts initial interviews with key figures in the organization seeking accreditation and helps it meet standards. The final stages of accreditation – approval of the accreditation application – are handled by the Better Business Bureau.

Organizations wishing to enter the Muslim Charities Accreditation Program must first fill out an application at muslimadvocates.org or call Muslim Advocates and provide information over the phone. The second phase involves providing detailed organizational data to Muslim Advocates including financial statements and bylaws. At this stage, one on one interviews take place as Muslim Advocates “addresses the areas which need to be addressed”.

Khera emphasized the accreditation process is not quick.

“It takes several months at a time. Many volunteer run organizations don’t have time to address the issues [we bring up],” she added. Applying to the accreditation program is free and is supported by donations made to Muslim Advocates specifically to run the program.

To date, three Muslim organizations are accredited: the Islamic Networks Group and the UMMA Community Clinic in California, and the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN) in Chicago. Over twenty other organizations are working towards accreditation.

For Khera, working with these organizations has been a charitable gift in itself.

“It’s really great to see [organizations doing] education, interfaith, health clinic, social organizations, international relief … it represents the diversity of Muslim American charitable giving,” she said.

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Comments (1)

2010-02-26 23:13:09 |98.204.46.xxx| AHMED ELMI - Chairman of Somali American Community Association

Asalaamu Alaikum brothers and sisters on ML. In my opinion, without ML our voices and actions are severed. I will be in touch with you to get tickets and help sell them, Insha Allaah. Can I get the tickets today, Saturday, February 27. There is an event I will attend this weekend and hope to sell some.
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