Foreign financing of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands

Abstract

The size and nature of foreign funding of religious institutions is subject to speculation. Foreign funding is not registered centrally, nor is there an obligation to report such donation. Hence, little is known about the origins of funding to mosques in the Netherlands, which is why it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions as to whether these concerns are justified. This research has tackled this through a staged approach. The first phase was commissioned in June 2014 and comprises an assessment of the feasibility of conducting a full analysis of the size and scope of foreign funding of Islamic institutions in the Netherlands and the possible conditions under which foreign funding might be provided. This document reports on the results of that feasibility study. CONTENT: 1. Introduction 2. Islam in the Netherlands 3. Islam and finance 4. Methodology 5. The feasibility of assessing the size and scope of foreign funding to Islamic institutions in the Netherlands 6. The feasibility of assessing the size and scope of foreign funding conditions for Islamic institutions in the Netherlands 7. Information available in source countries 8. Synthesis and conclusions