The impact of recent world developments on the laws on Zakat was figured high at the conference

By Abul Rashid al-Khattib, IOL Correspondent

DOHA, December 31 (IslamOnline.net) – Recognizing mounting difficulties in the wake of the 9-11 attacks on Washington and New York, Islamic world charities and zakah (alms-giving) institutions repudiated claims of bankrolling "terrorism" and vowed to act in cohesion under an international body.

"A world establishment to coordinate the work of different zakah institutions should be created," read the final statement of the Sixth International Zakah Conference, which wrapped up Tuesday, December 30.

The three-day meeting called on the Kuwaiti Zakah Fund to complete setting up a data base system and circulating it among all other zakah institutions in an effort to work "under one administrative, financial and technical framework".

Most of the participants, including prominent scholar Youssef Al-Qaradawi and Kuwaiti and Qatari waqfs (endowment) ministers, underlined the need for "institutionalizing" zakah to face rising challenges, including crackdown on charities and allegedly linking them to terrorist groups.

They called for activating collection of zakah, one of the five pillars of Islam, and shedding light on its role in guarantying social security and stability by redistributing wealth and incomes.

The impact of recent world developments on zakah laws came high on the agenda of the conference, and several participants cited the experience of zakah institutions in Qatar, Sudan and Europe.

"The experience in Sudan proved that people stick to the religious obligation of giving zakah, which greatly contributes to helping the poor and combating poverty in Sudan and other Muslim countries as well," said Sudanese Finance Minister Ahmed Magzoub.

The conference urged charities in Muslim countries to help zakah and waqfs institutions in Africa under a program earlier launched by the Islamic Bank for Development and the Kuwaiti waqfs ministry.

No Terror Fundraising

The conference – bringing together 38 researchers and intellectuals – flatly rejected alleged accusations of fundraising terrorist groups.

It underlined, on the contrary, the role of zakah collection institutions in serving efforts to guarantee social justice and welfare.

"So any attempt to put an end to collecting or giving charities would be doomed", since it is a religious – as well as humanitarian – obligation towards the poor, said Abdel-Aziz Hamadi of the Qatari Zakat Found.

In Qatar, zakah revenues has doubled from 20 to 40 million riyals, Hamadi told Al-Jazeera television.

"The zakah authority in Qatar is an independent body working with full transparency," he enthused.

Qaradawi also dismissed as "calumnies" claims of associating Islamic charities with terrorism.

"Charity has everything to do with feeding the hunger and serving the community," Qaradawi, who heads the European Council for Fatwa and Research, said at the opening session on Sunday, December 28.

"Those who make such accusations do not understand that we pursue noble goals required by our religion," he said.

Since the 9-11 attacks, the U.S. has put pressure on Muslim countries to clamp down on Islamic charities under the pretext that they were channeling funds to terrorists and extremists.

In August, thousands of Palestinian orphans and destitute families took to the streets of Palestinian cities to protest freezing the bank accounts of 18 charities suspected of having links with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

The move came hard on the heels of a White House decision to freeze the assets of six Hamas leaders and five pro-Palestinians charities in Europe and Lebanon.