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Many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims will observe and celebrate being part of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Ramadan, which will start early this month and end in early April, is the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar. During Ramadan, Muslims are required to fast from food, drink and sexual activity from dawn to dusk. While this month places demands on Muslims physically, its spiritual and communal nature leads many Muslims to welcome it each year and miss it once it has passed.
It is also a time for Muslims to renew their faith and remind themselves of the best they can be by performing acts of compassion. For many Muslims, Ramadan is centered around helping the poor.
According to prior research on Muslim philanthropic practices by the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, U.S. Muslims make efforts to alleviate poverty in America a high priority when giving to Muslim charities.
When it comes to giving to non-Muslim charities, Muslims likewise spent more on groups that deal with poverty within the United States than in other countries.
Civil rights organizations ranked below foreign and domestic anti-poverty efforts even as Muslims face a rising tide of Islamophobia. According to research by the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding, Muslims in the United States are feeling marginalized or at risk of hostility and dealing with greater levels of Islamophobia.
Despite these challenges to their and their families’ civil rights, they are still prioritizing the needs of others. In fact, this research shows that they are just as likely to give to causes outside their faith as those within, and of all faiths, are the most likely to give to poverty causes outside their religion.
Muslims tend to give their “zakat”—obligatory annual charitable payments—during Ramadan. In the United States, this has traditionally meant fundraising “iftars”—the evening meal to break daily Ramadan fasts—or congregational fundraising at community prayers or volunteering.
Zakat requires Muslims to give 2.5% of their surplus wealth to eight distinct causes. Prior research from the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy shows that Muslims give zakat to Muslim- and non-Muslim-led not-for-profits.
New empirical research from the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative (“Ramadan, U.S. Muslims and Zakat”) sheds further light on the importance of Ramadan to Muslims who give zakat. For most not-for-profits, December is the most important month for fundraising, due to the end of the tax year. This new empirical research on U.S. Muslims suggests that Ramadan is highly significant compared with any other time of the year, including Hajj and year end, for purposes of zakat.
This is particularly true for people ages 30-39, married couples, people of higher incomes and people registered to vote. However, the study showed no difference in gender, level of education and other demographic factors studied.
Muslim-led not-for-profits in the United States spend a significant number of resources to raise money through Ramadan. Some Muslim-led not-for-profits receive close to 90% of their gifts or pledges during Ramadan. The “Ramadan, U.S. Muslims and Zakat” study allows Muslim-led not-for-profits to understand segments of the population (especially people ages 30-39) that they might be overlooking.
For organizations that are not considered Muslim-led, if they don’t do outreach to Muslims during Ramadan, they are less likely to raise money effectively from a small but generous population.•
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Siddiqui is assistant professor and director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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