ROSEMONT, US, April 8, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Responding to the shutdown and restrictions on the Islamic charities and non-profit groups in the United States, US Muslims announced the formation of the National Council of American Muslims Non-Profits in an effort to develop a comprehensive oversight mechanism ensuring transparency and protection for the Muslim institutions in the country.

The formation of the Council, spearheaded by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), was declared during their joint American Muslims Policy Forum in Rosemont, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday, April 8.

The nascent council aims at promoting the ability of the Muslim minority in the United States for advocacy and encouraging the US government to engage with the American Muslims with full transparency, according to the MPAC Web site.

It also aims at making the American Muslims a critical component in providing protection for the Islamic institutions as well as empowering the community by instituting a culture of responsibility and self-governance, it added.

During the Policy Forum, a parliamentary taskforce on governance has been set up by a working session, moderated by ISNA Secretary General Dr. Sayyid Syeed and MPAC National Director Ahmed Younis, to survey existing models on providing protection to the Islamic charities.

“Now that an opportunity has been created by the community for a resolution to the assault upon our institutions, it is incumbent upon the institutions of the American Muslim community to define the scope and nature of this avenue through engagement and efforts,” said Younis.

“We are only looking for sustainable solutions that will increase the capacity of our institutions to protect the donor community in service of God.”

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department for Terrorist Financing Juan Zarate, who sat in on the working sessions, earlier hailed the council as a tool to empower the American Muslim and Arab communities to establish and implement a global standard of accountability and effectiveness in charitable giving.

“The creation of the national council is also a testament to the community taking ownership of this corrosive and difficult issue,” said Zarate in an essay in the Washington Times.

“At stake in the project to preserve the sanctity of charity is not only the confidence of the Muslim American donor community but also the compassionate voice and view of America in the Muslim world. The work of the members of the council -- which will now begin in earnest -- will shape how charities are protected, how Muslim American's dollars are spent at home and abroad, and how America is viewed in the Muslim world.”

Since the 9-11 attacks, the United States has been putting pressures on Muslim countries to clamp down on Islamic charities under the pretext that they were channeling funds to terrorists and extremists, a charge vehemently dismissed by many charities.

The charities have complained that restrictions were affecting their work to reach out to the Muslim poor and needy.