Reform charity laws

Reform charity laws

Page 30 of 42: All charities, religious or not, should be held to the same standards.

Many religious charities do fantastic work.

But many others fail to provide a public benefit and some cause harm.

It's time to end religious privilege in charity law.

Charity work carried out by people of all faiths and none should be recognised and celebrated. Much of the work of religious charities, such as helping the poor, is secular in nature and beneficial to society.

But there are religious organisations which exploit the privileged status of religion in charity law to conduct activities that do not fulfil a genuine public benefit, and only serve to further religious ideology.

In the worst cases, religious charities may harm society and individuals.

Registered charities must serve a purpose recognised as "charitable". Charity laws specify a list of "charitable purposes," one of which is "the advancement of religion".

Charities must also demonstrate that they provide a genuine public benefit. But guidelines are vague on what constitutes a public benefit, particular in relation to religious activities. There is still an assumption in the charity system that religion is inherently beneficial. This view is not supported by evidence and implies those without a religion are somehow less moral or charitable.

The inclusion of the advancement of religion within charitable purposes gives religion a privileged position in the charity sector. It enables religious organisations to acquire all the benefits of charitable status, including tax relief, gift aid and public respectability, simply by "advancing religion".

It also includes religious organisations that cause harm to society. This includes charities which facilitate religious genital cutting, support the non-stun slaughter industry, and promote extremism, hatred and intolerance of other people.

The NSS believes all charities, religious or not, should be held to equally high standards. That's why we campaign for "the advancement of religion" to be removed from the list of charitable purposes, and for religious charities to be held to the same equality laws as all other charities.

Take action!

1. Write to your MP

Tell your MP it's time for "the advancement of religion" to be removed as a charitable purpose. Enter your postcode below to find your MP and send a letter to them.

2. Share your story

Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.

3. Join us

Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.

Latest updates

Stamford Hill

Jewish charity trustees accused of money laundering

Posted: Thu, 18 Apr 2019 13:48

The National Secular Society has called for scrutiny into charities within insular religious communities following an alleged money laundering scandal involving Orthodox Jewish charities.

Southwark crown court heard charities set up for "the advancement of Orthodox Jewish faith" had been used to launder more than £10m through illegal sales of Viagra and slimming pills, the Evening Standard reported on Wednesday.

Father and son Edward and David Cohen, who set up the charities, allegedly conducted "money laundering on a gigantic scale" through an international network of bank accounts and companies.

Investigators claim £10.2m of a total income of £18.7m made by the network between 2012 and 2014 can be identified as laundered money. The Cohens were said to be concealing the profits from illegally selling prescription drugs online across Europe.

The Cohens are trustees of the charity Chabad UK, and previous trustees of charities Mamosh Worldwide Limited, Ozer Dalim Limited and Havenpoint Worldwide. These charities all share the same address in Stamford Hill in Hackney, London.

The Cohens have been accused of falsely reporting to the Charity Commission that their charities have no income. They have denied the charges.

They also deny becoming concerned in criminal property, acquiring criminal property, and theft. David Cohen additionally denies committing benefit fraud.

Stamford Hill has the largest Hasidic Jewish community in Europe, with an estimated population of 30,000. Hasidism is a subgroup of Charedi ('ultra-Orthodox') Judaism.

The NSS, which campaigns to hold religious charities to account when they cause harm, is concerned there may be many other charities operating within the community that are being used to conduct or facilitate fraud.

In its recent report that challenges the advancement of religions as a charitable purpose, For the Public Benefit?, the NSS highlighted suspicious activities of Agudas Israel Community Services (AICS). AICS, which is registered in Stamford Hill, had given members of the community advice on how to commit benefit fraud, according to a 2018 BBC Radio 4 documentary. AICS has denied any law-breaking.

The BBC also said some charities in the Charedi community use a cheque scheme to facilitate benefit fraud, but did not indicate which charities are alleged to be involved.

The NSS also expressed concerns over Ezer V' Hatzalah Ltd, another charity registered in Stamford Hill, over its lack of transparency. It failed to disclose how £12 million it gave in grants in 2016 was used despite multiple requests.

Ezer V' Hatzalah Ltd is one of the wealthiest Orthodox Jewish charities in England, with a reported income of over £14 million in 2017.

There are 251 charities registered in Stamford Hill and other parts of Hackney that advance the Orthodox Jewish faith, according to the Charity Commission. Thirty-one of these have overdue financial documents.

Megan Manson, campaigns officer for the NSS, said: "Charities operating within insular religious communities are particularly vulnerable to abuse, because there is little incentive for transparency and because members of the community may be fearful about speaking out."

"Reports suggest fraud is rife within the Charedi community. Charity regulators need to take this seriously and investigate any charity suspected of illegal or harmful activities."

Image: © Sunil060902 [CC BY-SA 3.0]

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Mosque

NSS refers Islamic charities promoting extremism to regulator

Posted: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 13:55

The charity regulator has said it will investigate three Islamic charities which have linked to extremist content, after concerns were raised by the National Secular Society.

The NSS, which campaigns to hold religious charities to account when they cause harm, wrote to the Charity Commission for England and Wales to highlight three registered Islamic charities, IslamBradford, Bolton Central Islamic Society, and The Preston Muslim Cultural Centre.

The NSS submitted a dossier of evidence to the Charity Commission that the charities were linking to content endorsing marital rape and execution for homosexuality and 'apostasy' on their websites.

In response, the Charity Commission told the NSS on Wednesday that they plan to "engage with the charities in question" and "seek explanations to the concerns as raised".

IslamBradford, which runs a mosque and madrasah (Islamic supplementary school), linked to a website called 'Islam Question & Answer' on its ' Resources' page.

The latter website says men who have sex with other men are "to be executed" and calls homosexuality "a great and abhorrent evil" which is "off-putting to those of sound human nature".

It adds that the "need" for women to cover themselves in front of a gay man "is even more emphasised" because he is an "immoral evildoer".

Those lines come in response to the question "Is it obligatory for a Muslim woman to cover her face in the presence of a gay man (homosexual)?".

In answer to the question "What is the punishment for homosexuality?" Islam Question & Answer says homosexuality is "one of the greatest of crimes".

It then outlines a number of punishments for homosexuals, including being "burned with fire", "thrown down from a high place" and "stoned to death".

The website also answers a question on why Muslims who leave Islam "should be killed" by comparing leaving a religion with treason, and says that Muslims who do not "repent" (i.e. rejoin Islam) "will be killed".

Islam Question & Answer says female genital mutilation (FGM) "is neither a bad practice or harmful, if it is done within moderation". It says Islam regards people of other religions as "sinners" who will "abide forever in the Fire of Hell".

IslamBradford also included a link to a website called 'New Muslim Guide' on its 'Accepting Islam' page. New Muslim Guide says a Muslim woman "must be attentive to her husband's sexual needs" and that a woman who rejects her husband's "legitimate sexual advances" is committing "a monstrous sin".

IslamBradford describes its activities on the Charity Commission website as "to invite to and educate non-Muslims about the true teachings of Islam" and "to engage and contribute to the wider community in which we live in Bradford".

The NSS was initially alerted to the link on IslamBradford by a concerned local resident. The resident told the NSS: "I am utterly astonished that a charity could promote such hatred towards others, going as far as advocating death, promoting FGM and encouraging separation based on religious belief."

The findings on the IslamBradford website promoted the NSS to investigate the websites of other Islamic charities.

Bolton Central Islamic Society, which runs the Taiyabah Masjid mosque and a madrasah, linked to PirGhulamHabib.com.

The latter website says gay men "are to be killed by the sword, according to the soundest opinion". It also implies that wives cannot unconditionally refuse sex with their husbands: "If a man calls his wife to his bed, let her respond, even if she is riding on the back of a camel".

It also linked to a website called Ask Imam, which answers a question posed by a Muslim teenage girl in the UK about homosexuality by condoning the death penalty for gay men.

Ask Imam says: "Today their [non-Muslims'] objection against Islam is regarding the permissibility of execution of gays and tomorrow they will object against the execution of adulterers".

It also condones the execution of those who leave Islam.

The Preston Muslim Cultural Centre, which also runs a mosque and a madrasah, included a books section with links to 1,330 titles that could be downloaded for free.

Among the books was one entitled 'Prohibitions that are taken too lightly'. This book says homosexuals are "to be killed by the sword" and a wife "should hasten to respond to her husband's call if he wants her", meaning she must not refuse him sex.

The three charities removed the links from their websites after being contacted by the NSS.

NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "It's alarming that registered charities that are supposed to be providing a public benefit are so brazenly promoting extremist views.

"Allowing regressive fundamentalist attitudes to fester and become normalised within segregated religious communities will undermine the rights of women, LGBT people and religious dissenters and harm efforts to promote integration and cohesion. We can't allow that to happen."

Last month the NSS found that over 12,000 charities exist solely to promote religion and some of them use public money to promote harmful practices in its report For The Public Benefit?. The report made the case for removing 'the advancement of religion' as a charitable purpose.

The NSS wrote to the Charity Commission to highlight the findings of its report when it was published.

In response to the latest developments the Charity Commission told The Sunday Times: "The public would rightly be concerned about views that are shared or expressed by a charity that promote violence or hatred."

Imam Masood of IslamBradford told the paper: "We do not endorse or teach any extremist views." He said it had been "unaware of the presence of content which could raise serious concerns".

Bolton Central Islamic Society did not respond to The Sunday Times's requests for comment.

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