Call the White House! Urge the President to Keep His Promise to Protect Zakat!

American Muslims Ask President to Keep Cairo Pledge, Reform Charitable Giving Laws & Secure Our Future

One year after President Obama pledged in Cairo, Egypt, to ease hurdles to charitable giving, American Muslims are asking President Obama to keep his promise and help them fulfill their religious obligation, while building bridges to Muslim nations for a more secure future.

In his Cairo speech, Obama made the following, important commitment to American Muslims:

"Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together. We must always examine the ways in which we protect it. For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That's why I'm committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat."

Muslim Advocates is urging Muslims across the country to call the White House (202.456.1111) and tell President Obama to keep his promise and reform the many federal laws complicating our ability to give zakat freely. Download a PDF of the Action Alert!

Here is a sample script for what you might say in your call:

Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm calling to ask President Obama to keep his promise made last year to remove hurdles to zakat, or charitable giving. As a [DONOR or NONPROFIT LEADER] many of these laws and policies have prevented me from giving charity. In particular, I am concerned about being investigated and prosecuted for giving in good faith.

• I ask the President to take measures to simplify the number of government lists I need to check in order to make a donation.

• I also ask the President to create legal protections to ensure that donors acting in good faith will not be investigated or prosecuted.

Thank you for your time. I will be keeping track of how the President honors his commitment to remove hurdles to zakat.

BACKGROUND
Under the Bush administration, new policies were created to prevent resources from reaching groups designated by the U.S. government as terrorist organizations. These policies remain in place under the Obama administration. Muslim Advocates describes these punitive policies in a recent essay on the thinkprogress.org website.

Unfortunately, legitimate charities doing good work, both here and abroad, have also suffered from these confusing regulations. Though donors are eager to provide for those in impoverished or disaster-struck nations such as Pakistan and Somalia, the unintended consequences of these laws make them fearful and apprehensive. They withhold money that could help so many.

This fear amongst donors and charities is widespread. In its April 2009 report, Unreasonable Intrusions, Muslim Advocates documents how American Muslim travelers are regularly asked highly personal questions about their charitable giving and associations with lawful U.S. charities by armed federal agents. The American Civil Liberties Union describes how this chill has affected Muslim charities in its June 2009 report, Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity.

Besides fulfilling a religious obligation for American Muslims, the ability to give charity, or zakat, freely helps stabilize families, villages and entire societies in other lands and builds bridges between America and people living in Muslim-majority nations. Polling research from the Center for Public Opinion in places like Pakistan and Indonesia reveals that charity plays an important role in changing perceptions about America. The many benefits of charitable giving create a more secure and peaceful world for our children and those in other parts of the world.

Muslim Advocates proposes several immediate measures that the President and Congress can take to make it easier for American Muslims to give zakat:

1. President Obama should take measures to simplify the number of government lists donors need to check in order to make a donation..

2. President Obama should create legal protections to ensure that donors acting in good faith will not be investigated or prosecuted.

TAKE ACTION!
Call the White House!!! (202.456.1111). Urge President Obama to keep his promise and reform laws affecting our ability to give zakat freely.

For more information please download our Action Alert!

Please forward this action alert to your family, friends and community listservs. Post it on Facebook and Twitter. Urge your network to be part of this national call-in day!