The ‘silent’ Arab money
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was the first Arab backer of The Giving Pledge, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The Saudi prince said last year he hoped other wealthy Arabs and Muslims would sign up to the commitment to give away most of what they own.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The month of Ramadan is not only the month of fasting but the month of fitrah, zakat and sedekah (or charity, for short, in English). And Muslims believe you must not tell the left hand the charity that the right hand is doing. Hence only you and the recipient must be aware of what charity you do, if not it would diminish in value.
Since the founding of the Saudi Arabian kingdom in 1932 (and since Aramco was founded the following year in 1933) trillions in donations have flowed out of Arab countries to individuals, organisations, movements and other countries. World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), set up in 1972 (and which I visited in 1982), is one such arm of Saudi Arabia and Malaysian movements such as ABIM have benefited immensely from Arab money (Anwar Ibrahim can tell you about the millions that ABIM plus organisations such as IIIT have received).
Probably the western view of ‘charity’ may diifer slightly to the Muslim view. For example, the western view of charity is ‘needy people’ while the Muslim view is not just needy people but good causes as well, in this case the Islamic cause. So, the Arabs have no problems giving ‘charity’ money to the rich United States if it is to train and arm the Mujahideens to fight the Russian occupiers of Afghanistan.
Anyway, the news reports below can probably shed more light on the matter.
WAMY backs ABIM and many Islamic organisations all over the world
***********************************************************
Arabs give billions to charity. It might be better spent
(CNN, 25 May 2017) – In the oil-rich Gulf, public displays of private wealth are everywhere. The prosperous buy expensive license plates for supercars and gold-plated iPhones.
But when it comes to giving money away, rich Arabs prefer to do so quietly, in keeping with Islamic tradition.
“Often the motivation behind giving money away is driven by religion, history or origin and that is very true of the Middle East,” said John Canady, CEO of the National Philanthropic Trust U.K., a charity that advises donors.
“Under certain religious obligations, it’s important to be private and not boastful about your philanthropy,” he said.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was the first Arab backer of The Giving Pledge, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The Saudi prince said last year he hoped other wealthy Arabs and Muslims would sign up to the commitment to give away most of what they own.
Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi, Anwar Ibrahim’s backer
***********************************************************
Saudi Arabia donated US$115 billion to help 90 countries
(Arab News, 5 Oct 2015) – Faisal bin Hassan Trad, the permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Office in Geneva, said the Kingdom has been the most generous country in the world in the field of development and humanitarian aid over the past four decades.
“Saudi Arabia donated, during this period, more than US$115 billion to more than 90 countries all over the world,” said the Saudi ambassador to the UN during a symposium at the Geneva Press Club in the Swiss capital, which was managed by the Swiss Foreign Ministry. The symposium was attended by officials from King Salman Humanitarian and Relief Center (Ksrelief).
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
***********************************************************
Arab nations’ donations swell coffers of Clinton Foundation
(Miami Herald, 6 Apr 2015) – Four oil-rich Arab nations, all with histories of philanthropy to United Nations and Middle Eastern causes, have donated vastly more money to the Clinton Foundation than they have to most other large private charities involved in the kinds of global work championed by the Clinton family.
Since 2001, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates gave as much as $40 million to the Clinton Foundation. In contrast, six similar non-governmental global charities collected no money from those same four Middle Eastern countries; the International Committee of the Red Cross was given $6.82 million. Since 2001, these global foundations have raised a staggering $40 billion to $50 billion to fund their humanitarian work.
ABIM was behind the founding of Parti Keadilan Nasional in April 1999
***********************************************************
These Arab Billionaires Made Headlines With Major Donations And Pledges
(Forbes, 14 Apr 2017) – One of the most generous men in the world, 89-year-old billionaire Sulaiman Al Rajhi decided to part with his money while alive. Back in 2011, when he announced his intentions, Forbes had estimated his net worth at more than $7 billion.
The Saudi founder of Al Rajhi Bank has since transferred his bank shares (worth recently $3.7 billion), his poultry farm, one of the biggest in the Gulf, and other assets to a charitable endowment that bears his name. It funds anti-hunger efforts and education in Saudi Arabia.
Although no other Arab billionaire has matched Al Rajhi’s largesse so far, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal plans to give away $32 billion to charity.
