JEDDAH, 24 October — Saudi charitable organizations contribute significantly to the country’s social services. The organizations strengthen the social, economic and political links between the Kingdom and the Muslim world.
Numerous Islamic NGOs are active in the Kingdom; they provide humanitarian relief as well as essential social services. Many of them construct and staff schools, hospitals and mosques both in the Kingdom and abroad.
The principal Saudi charities — the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), the Muslim World League and Al-Haramain Charitable Foundation — support and run numerous schools, health centers and hospitals around the world.
A significant proportion of funding for the Kingdom’s Islamic charities comes from contributions by private businessmen. The charities collect zakah (compulsory alms) to finance projects for the benefit of refugees, the displaced and the needy all over the world.
Some Western media have reported that Islamic charities have ties with groups accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks. Last year, the US alleged that Al-Haramain Foundation had financial ties to Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. Washington accused it of funding terrorist organizations — including Al-Qaeda and its alleged cells in Bosnia and Somalia. Al-Haramain denied the allegations.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, opened a three-day forum for Islamic charities in the Kingdom in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The forum will discuss problems facing the charities, ways to regulate their work, coordination and long-term investments, organizers said.
The annual income of the Kingdom’s 264 charitable organizations and societies is estimated at more than SR1.2 billion. They have assets worth SR2.6 billion.
To gain some information into charitable activities, Arab News spoke to some of their beneficiaries.
Hawa Salahuddin, an Eritrean mother of eleven, said that the charities help her family every academic year. She said the groups paid her children’s school fees.
"My husband earns a small salary and we cannot afford fees. Seven of my children are in government schools but three of them who are in private schools need SR11,000 every year. We submitted letters to charity groups and businessmen and a local businessman paid my children’s school fees."
Salim Ahmed, a Yemeni aged 46, said that his mother underwent an operation last year. "A private hospital estimated the cost of the operation at SR7,000 which I could not afford. A friend of mine told me of various charitable organizations which provide help in such cases. I went to one of their offices and submitted a medical report from a private hospital. In just two days, the charity had agreed to pay for the operation and sent a letter saying so to the hospital. My mother was operated on because of help from a charitable organization.
Dr. Saed, a Canadian orthopedic consultant at Abu Zinadah Hospital in Jeddah, said that most private hospitals could not afford to cover the cost of certain operations. "The hospitals give poor patients medical reports which are sent to charities or individual philanthropists. After investigating, the charity groups frequently agree to pay for the medical requirements." Asked the average amount that charitable organizations contribute to help those who in need, Dr. Saed answered, "Sometimes the organizations pay hundreds of thousands riyals for a single operation. This kind of donation is one of the Kingdom’s significant charitable services."
Hadgi Abdou, a Chadian aged 52 and the father of eight, said that he had relied on help from charities for the last two years. "I was seriously injured in a car accident two years ago. My company gives me a small monthly allowance but it does not cover my family’s expenses. Thanks to help from a local official and the imam of a neighborhood mosque, a charity pays my electricity and telephone bills and provides enough food and medicine for my family. The activities of charitable groups in this country clearly demonstrate the generosity of Islam."
