Muslim philanthropy and civil society in Bangladesh: unorganized, but impactful

Muslim philanthropy is to be practiced by Muslims as zakat, sadaqah, infaq (‘spending’ in the name of God), and waqf (endowment) to ensure distributive justice. The individual and unorganized practice of philanthropy in Bangladesh has created a political impact, especially in the education sector. This chapter shows that three unorganized groups (Hefazat-e-Islam, Tablighi Jamaat, and the Imam Samity), closely associated with Muslim philanthropy, have influenced civil society in Bangladesh to crowd-out syncretic and liberal inclusive Islam, end advocacy programs of the NGO sector, and reduce the impacts of political Islam. Muslim philanthropy in Bangladesh is under-studied and less understood. Comprehensive studies of the distributive justice impact of Muslim philanthropy and the size, extent, and political impacts of Muslim corporate philanthropy may be important for future policy recommendations.