How Muslim Americans meet charitable obligations: findings from new research

Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam, is an obligatory act of giving and among several distinct forms of Islamic charity. The Quran and hadiths, the words and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, prescribe what kind of charitable causes are eligible to receive these funds.

Although Muslims are expected to give away

2.5% of their wealth every year, there is no time of year officially designated for Zakat. Yet, many Muslim Americans fulfill this mandatory charitable obligation during Ramadan, a monthlong period of fasting and spiritual growth.

Muslim Americans gave US$1.8 billion in Zakat funds in 2021, we found in new research regarding how and where Muslim Americans give Zakat. We — three scholars of philanthropy — surveyed a representative sample of 1,005 Muslim Americans.

We estimate that Zakat accounts for around 40% of total U.S. Muslim giving, based on the results of an earlier related study completed in 2021. Here are key findings from our latest research about how Muslim Americans approach this charitable tradition today.

1. Zakat is both formal and informal

Muslims primarily support formal charities and government entities, but they also give informally. This generally happens either by dispatching money to loved ones in other countries, in payments known as remittances, or giving money directly to people in need.

Some 25.3% of the money U.S. Muslims give as Zakat goes to international organizations, 21.7% supports governments and 18.3% flows to domestic-focused U.S. nonprofits. In addition, 14.7% of the money is given informally to individual people, often relatives, while 12.7% is sent abroad as remittances. The rest, about 7%, supports miscellaneous other kinds of causes.

Finding that more than 1 in 4 Zakat dollars are given informally surprised us. That's because prior research had suggested that after 9/11, Muslims faced legal pressure to only fund certified charitable organizations.

The U.S. government claimed for years that some Muslim charities and funding networks were financially supporting extremist organizations. This presumption cultivated a climate of fear and suspicion and stoked heightened U.S. surveillance, as well as waves of fearmongering toward Muslim charities. Yet, despite these pressures to formalize charitable giving, we find that Zakat giving continues to operate significantly through informal means.

2. Zakat reflects the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of US Muslims

The nearly 3.5 million Muslim Americans comprise only 1.1% of the nation's population but are demographically diverse — including African Americans, Latinos, Arabs, Asians and whites, with no one ethnic group comprising a majority. Some 58% of U.S. Muslims were born in other countries.

Despite having the same level of education as the general population, U.S. Muslims are nevertheless disproportionately poor.

We found that white Muslims gave the most to charity as Zakat: a mean of $3,732. Asian Muslims were next, giving an average of $1,089. Arabs averaged $569 in gifts, and African Americans gave an average of $420. People of mixed ethnicity averaged $336.

U.S. Muslims in their 40s gave an average of $2,560 in Zakat annually, followed by $2,298 for those between the ages of 18 and 29. Muslim Americans who were in their 30s gave $1,799, those 65 and older $1,074. Interestingly, we found that those who were 50-64 years old gave the least: $474 on average.