The Money Jihad blog has posted an article that looks at the Pakistani links of the US charity known as Helping Hands (note: see original article for may more links). According to the post:
Helping Hands
September 12, 2013 Charity Navigator, a leading evaluator of nonprofit groups in the U.S., has published 15 different ‘top 10’ lists to help donors assess charities. Among those lists is a list of 10 charities with low overhead costs that rely on private donations. Helping Hand for Relief and Development, a Michigan-based Islamic charity, ranks seventh on that list.
Charity Navigator does not appear to have factored in Helping Hand’s ongoing cooperation (see here and here) with the Al-Khidmat Foundation, a Pakistani charity which gave a 6 million rupee check to Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in 2006.
The Pakistani tie-in is even more alarming considering that the auditing firm that prepared Helping Hand’s financial statement for 2011, the most recent year available, divulged that ‘We did not audit the financial statements of the Organization’s operations in Pakistan which reflect total assets and revenues constituting 55 percent and 60 percent, respectively, of the related consolidated totals.’
It is also worth noting that Helping Hand reported having $7 million in medical supply and drug assets in their last tax return. The fair market valuation of drugs donated to and distributed by charities, especially deworming medication, has been an area of increased scrutiny. Helping Hand states that it uses current accounting standards to comply with IRS mandates in this area, but some analysts still believe that in-kind donations to charities are being overstated. This has the effect of exaggerating the net worth of some charities, and it makes administrative costs appear to be a small share relative to their size. Charity Navigator is well aware of this ongoing controversy, but how closely it examined drug valuations by charities on their top 10 lists is unclear.
The Charity Navigator rating is already being exploited by Helping Hand, which is running a banner across its homepage in large font and all capital letters with misleading phrases ‘TOP 10 HIGHLY RATED CHARITY’ and ‘DONATE WITH CONFIDENCE’ along with Helping Hand and Charity Navigator logos. Muslim news websites such as ABNA (hat tip to Creeping Sharia and Islamist Watch) have touted the rating as well.
The Pakistani and ICNA links of Helping Hands are not surprising given that according to the Helping Hand website, the chairman of the board of Trustees is Talat Sultan who’s biography says was originally from Pakistan and who came to the US in 1962 and received a Doctorate of Education from University of California, Los Angeles. The biography also lists four of Dr. Sultan’s affiliations which are closely tied to the Global Muslim Brotherhood:
In addition, a Hudson Institute report (authored by the GMBDW editor) identifies Dr. Sultan as one of the three original incorporators of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) which was founded in 1941 and is Pakistan’s oldest religious party. The party had it’s origins in the thoughts of Maulana Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (1903-79), the most important Islamist intellectual in the history of Southeast Asia. Maududi was also a major influence on the global Muslim Brotherhood with whom the JEI has long enjoyed close relations. In the United States, the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is generally considered to represent the JEI.
It should also be noted that Pakistani media refers to the Al-Khidmat Foundation as the charity wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.
