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Foreign Financing of Islamic Institutions in the Netherlands a Study to Assess the Feasibility of Conducting a Comprehensive Analysis

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Foreign financing of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands A study to assess the feasibility of conducting a comprehensive analysis Stijn Hoorens, Joachim Krapels, Magda Long, Tom Keatinge, Nicole van der Meulen, Kristy Kruithof, Jacopo Bellasio, Anna Psiaki and Gursel Aliyev For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/rr992 Cover image shared by Raymond Klaassen via Flickr; CC BY-ND 2.0. Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif., and Cambridge, UK R® is a registered trademark. © 2015 WODC, Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie. All rights reserved. The RAND Corporation is a research organisation that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is not-for-profit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. RAND® is a registered trademark. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the sponsor. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org www.rand.org/randeurope Preface As specified in the Motie Segers, the Dutch Parliament formulated a need to provide an overview of the size and scope of foreign financial support to Islamic institutions in the Netherlands, as well as the potential influence that foreign actors may exert (partly) as a consequence of this funding. In the face of the complexity of this delicate undertaking, the Research and Documentation Centre (Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum, WODC) decided that a staged approach would be best suited, commencing with an assessment of the feasibility of a comprehensive estimate of foreign funding to Islamic institutions (Phase 1). Depending on the results, Phase 1 would be followed by a detailed and comprehensive estimate in Phase 2 and an assessment of influence in Phase 3. On the 1st of June 2014 RAND Europe was commissioned to undertake Phase 1 of this staged approach. In this document, we report on the methodology, results and findings under Phase 1. The report explains the legal, cultural and historical context of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands and provides a generic overview of the basics of funding in Islam. The study team has taken a systematic and thorough approach to surveying the data available on these types of institutions in the Netherlands and in potential source countries. Information is often inconsistent, not always reliable, hard to find or confidential, but this report includes exhaustive reporting of such data, or lack thereof, as transparently and systematically as possible. Finally, we draw conclusions about the feasibility of a comprehensive assessment regarding the size, scope and conditions of foreign funding of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands. In addition, we make several final recommendations. RAND Europe is an independent not-for-profit policy research organisation that aims to improve policy and decision-making in the public interest through research and analysis. This report has been peer- reviewed in accordance with RAND’s quality assurance standards. For more information about RAND Europe or this document, please contact: RAND Europe RAND Europe Rue de la Loi 82 Westbrook Centre, Milton Road Brussels 1040 Cambridge CB4 1YG Belgium United Kingdom Tel. +32 2669 2400 Tel. +44 1223 353 329 iii Table of Contents Preface ......................................................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................................... v Table of Boxes .......................................................................................................................................... ix Tables of Tables........................................................................................................................................ xi Samenvatting .......................................................................................................................................... xiii Summary .............................................................................................................................................. xxiii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... xxxi 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. The political context of this study ................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Aim and scope of the study ........................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Research Questions ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Structure of this document ........................................................................................................... 4 2. Islam in the Netherlands ......................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Muslims and mosques in the Netherlands ..................................................................................... 5 2.2. Different Muslim communities in the Netherlands ....................................................................... 6 2.3. Legal and organisational context of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands ................................... 9 2.4. Foreign funding of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands ......................................................... 15 3. Islam and Finance ................................................................................................................. 19 3.1. The principles regulating finance in Islam ................................................................................... 19 3.2. Muslim aid organisations ............................................................................................................ 22 4. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 25 4.1. Scoping the available data: interviews and document review ....................................................... 26 4.2. Recipient institutions: random and purposive sample ................................................................. 27 4.3. Source country analysis ............................................................................................................... 32 4.4. Triangulation and reliability ....................................................................................................... 32 5. The feasibility of assessing the size and scope of foreign funding to Islamic institutions in the Netherlands ................................................................................................................ 35 v RAND Europe 5.1. Ownership .................................................................................................................................. 36 5.2. Financial status (solvency)........................................................................................................... 38 5.3. Financial transactions ................................................................................................................. 41 5.4. Proxies for (sources of) funding................................................................................................... 45 5.5. In sum ........................................................................................................................................ 51 6. The feasibility of assessing foreign funding conditions for Islamic institutions in the Netherlands .......................................................................................................................... 53 6.1. Mosque characteristics ................................................................................................................ 54 6.2. Mosque-related actions and activities .......................................................................................... 56 6.3. In sum ........................................................................................................................................ 61 7. Information available in source countries ............................................................................... 63 7.1. Kuwait ........................................................................................................................................ 63 7.2. Morocco ..................................................................................................................................... 67 7.3. Qatar .......................................................................................................................................... 70 7.4. Saudi Arabia ............................................................................................................................... 73 7.5. Turkey .......................................................................................................................................
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