Whats Really Happening to Saudi Charities?

By Victor Comras

Reviewing some past research, I re-discovered a very reveiling recent news account published by Arab News regarding Saudi actions against charities. This article deserves special attention! Arab News, which is published simultaneously in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran, is one of the Middle East's leading English language newspapers. The story was published January 1, 2005 and was entitled "KINGDOM HAS NO PLANS TO CLOSE CHARITIES." According to the account, Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Saleh ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, told an audience in Jeddah that al Haramain was closed under US pressure and not because the Saudi government had any "suspicions surrounding its activities." It was closed, he said "to serve the general interest." The ministry, he said, was not aware of any misconduct from the Saudi charity and had not received any documented information to this effect from any side. He re-assured the audience that the Saudi government had no plans to act against any further charities, or to take any additional action against al Haramain employees. They would be free, he said, to find employment in other charities. In the meantime, al Haramain international operations and assets, he said, would be folded into a new body named the Saudi National Commission for Charitable Works Abroad. The full text of the article is included below:

Kingdom Has No Plans to Close Down Charities
Abdul Wahab Bashir, Arab News

JEDDAH, 1 January 2005 � Saudi Arabia has no plans to shut down any local charities, after Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation which had its offices closed down earlier in the year, a government minister has said.

The foundation has been accused by the United States of funding terrorism among several charity bodies in various parts of the world.

Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawa and Guidance, Saleh ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, said there are no plans for the closure of any charity and that no imams (prayer leaders) have been sacked this year for having ties with terror cells or helping terrorists.

Speaking in Jeddah after inaugurating a ministry program for educating Haj and Umrah pilgrims, Al-Sheikh said the closure of Al-Haramain Foundation was not because of any suspicions surrounding its activities, but the decision was intended to serve the general interest.

The ministry, he said, has not reported any misconduct from the part of the charity and did not receive any documented information to this effect from any side.

In February 2004 the Ministry of Islamic Affairs dissolved Al-Haramain Foundation and asked its management to close its doors and dismiss its personnel, who at one point numbered 5,000, most of them volunteers, working to assist the poor all over the world.

Al-Haramain figured among a number of Saudi charities accused by Washington of financing terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The foundation and other private groups that have been dissolved and their international operations and assets folded into a new body has been named the Saudi National Commission for Charitable Work Abroad.

The minister said the commission would be very active in charity outside the Kingdom. It would be subject to strict financial legal oversight, and will operate according to clear policies to ensure that charitable funds intended to help the needy are not misused.

Al-Haramain was said to have received between $45 and $50 million each year in donations and has spent some $300 million on humanitarian work overseas.

Minister of Social Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Namla said the foundation ex-employees could still work with local charity bodies in the Kingdom, denying reports of a ban on the employees to seek work with other charity societies.

Al-Sheikh said charity activity is not connected to individuals or organizations but an ongoing Islamic work that is closely related to religion.

Dhaifullah Al-Balawi, supervisor of charity organizations at the Ministry of Social Affairs, also denied a decision has been issued banning the ex-employees from working with local charity bodies.

Al-Sheikh said no imam or prayer leader has been sacked this year in connection with the terror cells or for having helped shelter terrorists. No imam in any mosque has ever been reported over the past year to have any such connection, he added.

The Kingdom fired 44 Friday preachers, 160 imams and 149 muazzins (prayer callers) for incompetence during the first half of 2004.

Another 1,357 religious officials were suspended from their duties and ordered them to undergo training. The suspensions included 517 imams, 90 Friday preachers and 750 muazzins.

They have been asked to undergo Islamic theological training to be able to work more efficiently at mosques as part of a ministry program to boost performance of mosque employees.

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