Let me get one thing straight before I begin, I'm not a christian or a muslim but I'm interested by this topic. Charity. I know that there are thousands of christian charities that feed the starved and clothe the naked. Christians who dedicate there lives to helping others. My question is posed to muslims, is there any muslim organisations that do the same? Or is there any muslims out there that do the same?
Yes there are charities but they have recieved bad press for funding terrorist. Muslims are required to give a certain amount to the poor I think.
It is interest what is considered a problem . Charity is as an Islamic concept quite complex and has multiple forms , Infaq , Ihsan , Ma'un , Sadaqah and Zakat , the one Okinrus is talking about . Zakat is conventionally considered as a pillar of Islam , but it goes very closely together with another pillar that forms around Salat (considered prayer) . It has sort of a theory-practice relation . Yes there are Islamic organizations that provide assistance and care . And indeed some of them are demonized for having a militant wing (thus terrorist) , such as Hamas .
I don't know of any muslim charities that extend help to non-muslims barring some sufi charities and some individuals (zakat) in non-muslim countries. I know some of the christian charities that tend to take as many non-christian souls as possible to transform them into christian souls thro' charity.! While some of the christian charities really do some commendable service to the poor.
I found Zagat interesting, particularly its reference to "Fisabillillah" as one of the eight focuses of charity. It's also interesting, in my opinion, to consider the etymological differences between Christian "charity" and Jewish "zedakah". The former derives from 'affection' while zedakah means 'justice'. As with zagat, zedakah is a duty, demonstrating the function of religion as critically important cultural institution in these early theocracies.
