Chicago, Feb 23, 2006 - The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago
(CIOGC) today said that the freezing of assets belonging to KindHearts, a Toledo, Ohio based Muslim Charity, makes all Muslim giving seem suspect. CIOGC denounced the closure of KindHearts which had been cleared of any wrong doing along with 25 other Muslim charities, following a 2 year congressional investigation. No public statement to this effect was ever released by the government.
CIOGC was a key advocate of the Charity Without Fear resolution (SR 178) which was passed in June 2005 by both houses in Illinois. According to the resolution, individuals are free to donate to Muslim charities without fear of repercussion. Concerns are that while Muslims may give in good faith to a charity that is later shut down, they will themselves be retroactively prosecuted or deported. Since the attacks of September 11, many Muslim charities have been shut down and the American Muslim community has been frightened to fulfill a vital Islamic duty – to give in Charity. The Charity without Fear resolution is the first step in restoring the rights of all Americans to donate to charities freely. It was supported by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and United Power for Action and Justice, amongst others.
Board members of KindHearts, refuting all allegations, say the government has no proof. They were not informed of the decision either and learned of it only when their office premises were padlocked. The charity does not send money but instead focuses on sending food, school supplies and clothing to its branch offices in Palestine, Lebanon and Pakistan.
Interviews available with CIOGC Chairman, Mr. Malik Mujahid. He can be reached at Malik@ciogc.org and (312) 804-1962
The Council represents 50 mosques, Islamic Organizations and a cross-section of over 400,000 Muslim Americans in the Greater Chicago area.
Source: CIOGC
Printed from the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago website (www.ciogc.org).
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