The Daily Tell

In his internationally-televised speech from Cairo earlier this month, President Obama pledged to work with American Muslim groups to help them fulfill their religious obligation “Zakat,” by which Muslims must donate at least 2.5 percent of their income to charity.

Obama’s remarks were welcomed by Muslim organizations who have said federal rules intended to prevent financing of terrorist activities have put a chill on charitable giving to the Muslim world. This week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a report stating that those laws unjustly target Muslims.

“Government actions are creating a climate of fear that’s chilling American Muslims’ exercise of their religion through charitable giving called Zakat,” said Jennifer Turner, a human rights researcher with the ACLU and the report’s author, according to Religion News Service.

But the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service say they are reaching out to help Muslim charities in the U.S. to comply with the rules.

In Chicago this week, the IRS, the MacArthur Foundation, the Better Business Bureau and a legal education group called Muslim Advocates led a training session on how Muslim groups can report the collection of foreign funds and keep bookkeeping transparent, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Last August, Muslim Advocates and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance launched the initiative to assist American-Muslim charitable organizations and nonprofits meet the standards of legal compliance, financial accountability and good governance, through a series of trainings and educational support.

“Charitable giving is not only an American tradition, but a religious obligation for many people of faith,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, when the initiative was announced.

Another organization launched in November, the Charity and Security Network, aims to remove barriers to legitimate charitable work found in current counterterrorism measures.