Charity can only flourish in freedom
Every year on this date, the world celebrates the International Day of Charity, which was decided by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 67/105 of December 17, 2012.
Charity is a value that has been inherent in human beings since time immemorial and is enjoined by all religions and civilizations. Contrary to what some people think, charity goes beyond relief work and encompasses many areas, including helping the oppressed, defending human dignity, enjoining good and forbidding evil, making peace, and protecting all creatures, including the environment. Charity thus contributes to the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals and represents a comprehensive approach to human security.
In the Arab and Islamic world, charity is an ancient practice that has endured for centuries through the availability of zakat and alms and the institution of endowments, which was the first thing the Western colonizers tried to destroy in the countries they occupied.
Today, while charitable organizations in the West thrive in an atmosphere of freedom, including those with a religious reference - in 2023, charitable organizations in the United States alone received nearly $560 billion -, governments in Arab countries monopolize charity and oppose individual and collective initiatives in this field. These regimes, most of which lack legitimacy, see any charitable initiative as a challenge to them, an attempt to legitimize entities independent of them, and a competition to serve society that threatens their existence.
To make matters worse, in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the war on terrorism, U.S. government agencies and some Arab governments imposed severe restrictions on charitable organizations in the Arab world, freezing their assets, dismantling their structures, persecuting their members, prosecuting them, and defaming them in the media.
In this context, Alkarama recalls its action against the repressive practices and arbitrary arrests launched by the United States and its allies after the events of September 11, 2001, when many Arab charity and relief workers in Pakistan and elsewhere were taken to the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention center.
In the Gulf region, once known for its abundance of charitable organizations and projects, most governments have adopted policies that restrict charitable work to a few organizations that are affiliated with the government or under its near-total control. The consequences of these policies have been disastrous for this vital sector, undermining the fulfillment of a religious and humanitarian duty and placing large segments of the population in many Arab countries in the clutches of a vulnerability that the governments of these countries are unable to eliminate.
It is certain that Arab and Islamic societies cannot achieve sustainable development and true prosperity without activating individual and collective charitable work that is independent of the control of political regimes, and this can only be done in an atmosphere of freedom, away from the constraints of authoritarian rule.