The Church of Sweden Continues Collaboration with Islamic Relief

This week the government and the Sweden Democrats’ stricter regulations resulted in Sida cutting off funding to the Muslim aid organization Islamic Relief. Despite a review showing that the organization is not considered to meet the requirements to ensure there are no links to violent extremism or anti-democratic activity, the Church of Sweden is continuing its cooperation.

Last summer, Samnytt revealed that Sida has donated a total of 1.4 billion SEK to Islamic Relief since 2016. Despite the organization being accused by several countries of Islamist fundamentalism, terror financing, and links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the money continued to be paid out.

Now that Sida is stopping the financial flow, it refers to the fact that Islamic Relief is not considered to meet the requirements to ensure there are no links to violent extremism or anti-democratic activity. They also refer to stricter demands from the Tidö government.

SD leader Jimmie Åkesson views the decision as a victory for Sweden “and an indication of how we will continue to work on these issues,” where not a single “krona of Swedish taxpayers’ money should go to Islamist organizations.”

The Cooperation Continues

But the Church of Sweden has no plans to terminate any collaboration. On the church’s website they talk about cooperation both with Islamic Relief and the equally controversial so-called study association Ibn Rushd.

“The Church of Sweden, like many other churches and faith communities, maintains a dialogue and cooperation with Muslim communities and organizations. The humanitarian organization Islamic Relief and the study association Ibn Rushd are among the more established organizations,” the church writes.

When it comes to the accusations against the organizations, including claims of links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the church states:

The organizations themselves reject the accusations and emphasize their political independence. We are aware that there are commentators and researchers who claim that there are ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Other researchers have concluded that no such formal ties exist. Our stance is that as long as these organizations wish to cooperate with us in contexts where we have clear common goals, we welcome that cooperation.

Maintaining dialogue and cooperation across religious boundaries is anchored in the Church of Sweden’s regulations, the Church Ordinance. Reference is also made to purported research indicating that interreligious collaboration is a success factor for effective integration work.