Raids on charities make Muslims wary of Ramadan giving

PATERSON, N.J. -- As Muslims prepare for the holy month of Ramadan, a period in which they are supposed to donate to charity, many are finding themselves torn between their faith and their fear of being accused of terrorist ties.

Over the past three years, federal authorities have raided and shut down four Islamic charities, and many American Muslims say the crackdown has them worried that writing a donation check could bring the FBI to their doors.

''Everyone is scared to death," said Hassan Mahmoud of Westfield, a retired import company manager. ''There is a lot of indecisiveness."

Ramadan starts either today or tomorrow, depending on when the crescent moon is visible.

The Holy Land Foundation in Paterson was one of the charities raided by the federal government, which says the groups were aiding terrorism. On Wednesday, authorities froze the assets of a Sudan-based charity with an office in Columbia, Mo., and accused five of its officials of helping finance Osama bin Laden and other terrorists.

Islam has a two-pronged requirement on giving to charity. The first, the ''zakat," requires believers to give 2.5 percent of their savings each year to the poor. The second, ''sadaqah," is voluntary and depends on a person's ability to give.

Amaney Jamal, a professor at Princeton University who recently completed a survey of the Arab-American community in Dearborn, Mich., said the uncertainty is one of the most distressing problems for Muslims feel these days.

''If someone says to me, 'Do you want to support an orphan for $30 a month?' I say, 'Sure, that's a noble cause.' And then later someone comes and knocks on my door and says, 'Her father was a suicide bomber,' " Jamal said. ''Charity giving to the Arab world has become a big no-no."

One result has been an increase in untraceable cash donations to local mosques or religious institutions. ''They don't want to write checks or use credit cards," Jamal said.

John Conway, an FBI agent in Newark, said law-abiding Muslims who donate to legitimate charities have nothing to fear. But he said that an organization in good standing today might not be several years from now.

''It's perfectly understandable that people would have concerns," he said. ''If it's a group that gives money to suicide bombers or to Hamas, then . . . there's a possibility their name may come up."

Conway said he did not know whether anyone has been arrested as a result of a donation to a charity that was later raided.

So why not give to an unaffiliated charity, such as the Red Cross or the United Way? Islamic scholars say there are differing schools of thought on whether the primary beneficiaries of the charity must be Muslims to fulfill the religious obligation.

Yaser El-Menshawy, chairman of the Majlis Ash-Shura of New Jersey, the state's council of mosques, said the recipients of zakat must be Muslims, while sadaqah recipients can be of any faith.