How much do Muslim Charities pay the top people?
Charity is way of doing good deeds, the good that people cannot do it themselves but pay to get it done.
The article below is about the people who run charities, and get paid well, and they should, without them, the funds would not be raised. A friend of mine argues, that he hates to go to fund raising dinners, as the fund raiser gets a cut from the funds, he would rather give it himself un-asked.
My point is people do want to pay, but unless you goad them, they will not open the check book. People simply do not walk up to a Mosque, and say, here, take this big check. I seriously doubt people would voluntarily write more than a $500 check. If people paid on their own voluntarily- every Mosque will be rich Mosque – nearly 70% of Muslims who visit Mosques don’t even pay the membersship dues of $50 or even $100 in some cases. Your Mosque, the Islamic School and other good things you take it for granted would not have been there without the efforts of these executives. Who can pull a Millions Dollars in one night.
People do pay charity, but these executives are able to get more funds to serve
the people, and they deserve the income they earn. Boy Scouts guy gets paid over
1.5 Million, without him, those funds would not be raised.
I was going to write a full essay, but my friends have short-circuited me, they wrote it very well. I appreciate Iqbal Kazmi and Aurangzeb Khan for making the points in favor of good pay. Everyone should get paid well, that is how the economy thrives.
The only problem I have is the exaggerated claims of a place in the middle of the Jannah. I don’t know how much of a truth is involved in it when they say, your house will be build close to Allah – as if Allah is a being and lives next door. We need to test, how many fall to usage of Arabic language v. Just plain English.
Mike Ghouse
www.MikeGhouse.net
Salaries at Muslim Charities
How much do Muslim Charities pay the top people. Following is a list of 5 charities and the compensation for the tax year ending 2011. This information is available to public. Islamic Relief among the five pays over 1.2 Million Dollars in compensation a year to 9 top people. It will be interesting to find what compensation is paid to the average individual in these organizations.
Muslim Charities Compensation Information Top People
Organization /Year 2011
Islamic Relief USA
Abbd Ayub $167,568
Anwar Khan $155,123
Khalid Falah $141,586
Tariq Osman $136,252
Adnan Ansari $124,218
Hebah Reed $121,815
Beverly Ferel $123,343
Azhar Azeez $133,286
Omar Shahin $132,990
Total $1,236,181
Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
Muhammad Usman $38,743
Maqsood Ahmad $54,000
Mohammad Arif $79,990
Mohammad Ansari $28,200
Total $200,933
Helping Hand For Relief And Development, Inc.
Shahid Hayat $62,237
Raza Farrukh $33,000
Saqib Attique $47,590
Total $142,827
Mercy-USA
Umar al-Qadi $81,437
Anas alhaidar $74,276
Total $155,713
Life For Relief and Development, Inc.
Total $351,561
BY IQBAL KAZMI, DALLAS
Assalamu Alaikum!
Good observation about Muslim Charity executive compensation. It is good information to raise a question but it fails to show the production of these executives. No comparison has been made with Non-Muslim American Charities either. I feel that the e-mail author sincerely believes that we are paying too much to these executives. I want to show that he is probably missing some data from his equation. Following is the data I am talking about:
Look at big Non-Muslim American charities and you will find that these Muslim Charity executives are getting peanuts compared to their peers.
Some of the people identified, I have listened to, are highly motivational and help collect millions in charities. They work 80 to 100 hours week, are on the road most of the time. Assuming a person making $130,000/yr is working 80 hrs weekly then hi s actual compensation when compared with 40 hr worker is basically $65,000 /yr. A fresh engineering graduate makes that money when he starts working right after college.
We are not living in the time of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (Radi Allah Unho) who was initially working as Kahilfah by earning his livelihood and working for free as Kahlifah of Muslim Ummah. Upon insistence by some Suhabah Karam he started taking a small compensation and devoted his full time to working as Kahlifah of the Ummah. We are living in twenty first century and our needs are different. It is unreasonable for us to live in a tent and not send our children to a school or college. These workers need reasonable compensation for their hard work.
We don’t have Abdul Sattar Edhi in our ranks either. If we will wait for persons Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (Radi Allah Unho) we will have very few charities operating in a professional style as they are operating now.
We can always hire someone at $10 an hour and chances are we will get what you paid for. In some cases we will get lucky and we will find some good people but chances are little.
Many of these executives have worked for free in the beginning for a long time then they moved full time by saying goodbye to their respective career.
These charities are working on national and international level and need very capablepeople. I feel that compensation for these executives is hardly enough for the work they are doing. Many of them have come from private sectors and were earning similar salaries for their 40 hr work in their professional field and were able to spend good amount of time with their families. Now they work 80 to 100 hrs week and are away from their families for a good amount of time.
If a charity is spending more than 10% of its income on operating expenses then one may complain otherwise we must support the hard work these charities are doing. A few decades ago we did not have Muslim charities in USA and we had nowhere to go in the time of need. Alhamdulillah, some of us sacrificed their careers and easy family life and have taken a full time position with these charities.
We should be thankful for these individuals whose hard work has expanded these charities nationally and internationally and are taking care of the needs of Muslim Ummah. I am proud of the work these charities are doing nationally and internationally.
Iqbal Kazmi
DFW area, TX
BY AURANGZEB KHAN
Even if we believe or trust you for these figures, and with your only faceless introduction through this forum, it is a Big IF, what is the problem?
Firstly, these salaries are not that big. United Way is known for many times higher salaries.
Is us illegal to pay midrange salaries to your Charity executives? Is it even Haraam? Are these salaries outrageous. I think not.
Success for any organization lies in its decision makers. Islamic Charities are no exception. Muslims must pay good salaries to have right executives in their organizations. Muslim Organizations executives should not be expected to live hand to mouth, worried about the future of their families.
BY MOAZAM SYED
If we want to survive as a community, we need to nurture it too.I have been associated with Muslim community activities in various capacities over the past so many years.
I can tell you, even with these numbers, we are still not there.There are a number of volunteers who do not get a dime. Our institutions struggle for fundings.
I wish somebody would compile that data also, and see how many are not getting what they deserve. The numbers posted indicate that barring a few, we are still below the datum.
Some of the people quoted, I know how hard they work and what they can make in open market, had they stayed with their professions.
Free market enterprise would get them lot more than what they are making with these associations. Not to mention the demands and the unspoken career vulnerabilities.
Our growth as a community, in numbers, is phenomenal. Whereas, in stature and standing in this society and around the globe, we are still among the”Masakeen”.
It is is not because we are a poor community.
It is just that our commitment is not where our community is.
I am rather surprised that such a posting is made.
The numbers without the full story leave a very bad impression and indicate a questionable motive.
If any of the names posted are not doing their jobs, that should be taken up and reported to the organization for corrective measures.
I work at a Nuclear Power plant as a consulting engineer.
I will be very unhappy if anyone posts my salary like this.
I will be very happy to advice that the person reporting this data establishes an organization to survey / oversee all Muslim charitable organizations comparing them with other charitable organizations on equal footing (based on their service value) and publish the data for community use.
I feel that would be a great service. This peicemeal information may be counter productive.
Think about it.
Moazam Syed
Fort Worth