ISLAMIC CHARITIES: Weighing up some websites

The websites below show some ways that Muslims can give zakah. What kinds of charities can Muslims in Britain choose to support? Choose three sites to find out more, and weigh up. Note your answers to the following questions.

For the three websites you chose:
Make a table to record your answers (on screen or on paper)

Does the charity operate:

• in Britain - locally or across the whole country?
• in one or more Muslim majority countries overseas? If so, which ones?
• in most parts of the world where there are needy people?

Does the charity provide:

• poverty relief?
• natural disaster relief?
• help in war zones?
• ongoing development work (e.g. water supplies, education, medical aid)?
• support for particular groups (e.g. children, old people, people in difficult personal situations)?

Does the website say anything about the religious obligations of Muslims by giving:

• references to payment of zakah?
• quotations from the Qur'an or hadith?

Choose 3 of these:

Islamic Relief - www.islamic-relief.com
Muslim Youth Helpline - www.myh.org.uk
Human Relief Foundation - www.hrf.co.uk
Orphans Relief Fund and Charitable Trust - www.orfact.co.uk
Muslim Hands - www.muslimhands.org
Muslim Aid - www.muslimaid.org
Convoy of Mercy - www.convoyofmercy.org.uk

Key question:   Many Muslims feel they are members of a worldwide Islamic community, or ummah. How might paying zakah strengthen a Muslim person's sense of ummah?

• List your ideas on this question.
• Recall everything else you know about Islam. Produce a spider diagram with the word ummah in the centre, then write round it (with arrows pointing to the middle) all the other aspects of Muslim religious life that contribute to a sense of worldwide Muslim community.
• Give each of the sites a star - rating for clarity, usefulness and inspiration: Which was clearest? Which would be most useful to Muslims? Which might inspire people to give generously?