This article has been sent to national and local newspapers, organizations and individuals who should take notice of this growing problem and abuse of charity money in particular Hounslow Mosque and its culture of collecting funds; and its distribution for personal purposes with minimal accountability.

When community, individuals or groups contribute money towards a charity; it is done for a specific purpose with an understanding that people responsible for managing that charity will be honest, accountable and wise enough to put that money in causes where it matters for the good of the people and for benefits of the community.

But when it comes to Hounslow Mosque, in South West London, the case is rather different. For years, the people have collected money in the name of Allah, in the name of Mosque and in the name of community. For years there has been tin-pot collections at every occasions – be it Friday sermon, two Eids and any other opportunity to lure community into thinking that more they contribute, the more rewards they will get. But no one has ever provided an overview what happens when they have the money, where it goes, how is it spent and the element of responsibility.

People part with their money in the hope that it will be spent on Hounslow Mosque – maintenance, setting up of school for children, decent library, and also to make the mosque freehold. But none of this has happened, as week turn into months and months into years. Hounslow Mosque infrastructure is crumbling and no maintenance work it appears has ever been done. Secondly, the school and opening up of decent library is still far away from its materialization. And most importantly, Hounslow Mosque is still not free-hold after all these years of collecting funds. The money collected runs into millions and yet no sign and actual report where it has been spent.

So the important question arises, where is all this money going?

And the answer is quite simple. All these people whom we have elected to become governors, and trustees of the mosque. These people have and still are loitering away the money for their own individual purposes and it has become so blatant that they have invented trips back to Pakistan to distribute that money in the name of charity. Often I hear stories of someone buying cars, paying up their personal mortgages and the list carries on. In thousands they take, with the money which disappears into thin black hole of their personal and individual trips and fortunes.

The mosque funds and its management seem to have become the current nightmare for all the people who have contributed towards the good cause in the name of Allah and his prophet. They empty their pockets at all available opportunities as “tin pot” goes in front of them, but they do not get to see their money being spent towards good causes and towards their local mosques. Undeterred, the people responsible for management of these funds have become quite a threat and open handedly wasting the money or taking it for their own personal and baseless purposes. I hear of stories where people take large amounts of funds in the name of that it is going to be delivered to Pakistan to the needy; and yet when you find out how and where, all you get is an empty stares and silence.

This means that the community is becoming frustrated and bemused that if these people cannot even get this right, little hope lies in as and when they will undertake duties which are expected of them and for which they have elected themselves in for years and years of embezzlement and fraudulent behaviors…I personally think of it as a heinous crime; taking people’s money and wasting it upon themselves…there is no regulation and control….All we hear is convoluted stories about their trips, adventures and personal gratification.

Following needs to take place to get rid of this menace that exists:-

• This fraudulent behavior has to be stopped by all these individuals responsible in any way or form to misuse these funds in the name of Allah, mosque or the community
• People elected for these rules have to be scrutinized and monitored for all these activities and trips they make in the name of charity money and its distribution
• Trustees and chairman of the Hounslow Mosque must produce a full audit of all the transaction that place with that money and provide an overview to the general members of the community
• The charity money should be used for the maintenance of the Hounslow Mosque and its surrounding areas
• School and library and making Hounslow Mosque free-hold should be the priority of each trustee and its chairman
• No one should be allowed to take money. There has to be proper system and audit for each transaction that takes place.

I hope these suggestions are taken on board and published, as this is the only way of people finding out what these individuals do in the name of Allah and Islam to waste funds for their personal greed and agendas.

Kashkin