990 Risk Signals: how we surface high-risk patterns in zakat-sector 990s.
Across US Muslim international-zakat organizations, a recurring set of Form 990 patterns can inflate reported revenue or obscure where money actually goes — gift-in-kind overvaluation, untraceable foreign grants, and related-party self-dealing among them. Our 990 Risk Signals reads the public 990 XML and flags where those patterns appear, with the dollar evidence behind each one.
A flag is not a verdict. We surface the pattern and the evidence, then invite every flagged org to respond on the record. Donors read both — the pattern and the response — and decide for themselves. Below is our independent rollup.
“At-risk dollars” sum the dollar evidence for each matched pattern, conservatively: Schedule F gap, single-supplier noncash concentration, noncash dominance of revenue, related-party transactions, executive comp above the 5% threshold, and excess reserves above 18 months. Pure-structural patterns (board contradictions, unverified recipients) contribute to the org's match count but not to the dollar rollup.
Top 25 by at-risk dollars matched
The biggest-revenue orgs naturally show up here — patterns are dollar-weighted. Match count and rules tell you what was caught.
| Org | At-risk $ | # matches | Rules matched |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Mission For Relief And Development Umr EIN 273175543 | $286M | 2 | noncash single category concentration, noncash dominates revenue |
| Indian Muslim Relief And Charities EIN 270058132 | $51M | 2 | elevated reserves 18mo, schedule f gap |
| Icna Relief Usa Programs Inc EIN 043810161 | $28M | 1 | noncash single category concentration |
| Zaytuna College EIN 330720978 | $23M | 2 | elevated reserves 18mo, noncash single category concentration |
| Muslim Aid America EIN 462504422 | $15M | 1 | noncash single category concentration |
| Institute Of Islamic Studies Inc EIN 263474214 | $14M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Al Rahman Foundation Waqf EIN 454269198 | $12M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Mercy Without Limits Inc EIN 455297608 | $11M | 1 | noncash single category concentration |
| Muslim Foundation Inc EIN 222413703 | $8M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Muslim Response Usa For Relief And Development EIN 832080058 | $8M | 2 | noncash single category concentration, noncash dominates revenue |
| Islamic Zawiyah Educational Trust EIN 316633120 | $8M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Muslim Community Association Mca Foundation EIN 272442632 | $6M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Tawheed Institute Inc EIN 134071396 | $6M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| American Islamic Community Center Inc EIN 200362214 | $5M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| North Side Mosque Chicago EIN 363209670 | $5M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Downtown Islamic Center EIN 363144141 | $5M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Hillside Islamic Center EIN 431979474 | $5M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Dar Al Taqwa Incorporated EIN 521830801 | $4M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Sachse Muslim Society EIN 471365228 | $4M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Muslim Children Education And Civic Center EIN 202593163 | $4M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Islamic Cultural Association EIN 383564163 | $4M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Islamic Association Of Arabi EIN 721128279 | $3M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| At Takaful Islamic Society EIN 363701681 | $3M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Rahmat E Alam Foundation Of Washington EIN 475124782 | $3M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
| Islamic Community Center Inc EIN 900041293 | $3M | 1 | elevated reserves 18mo |
Showing top 25 of 171 orgs with at least one pattern match. Full list available via the directory filter.
Why we publish this carefully
A pattern match is not an accusation.Many of the rules below have legitimate explanations: a foreign-relief charity may have a Schedule F gap because of legitimate emergency disbursements that didn't finalize before the FY close. A foundation may sit on >18 months of reserves because that's what donor-restricted endowment funds REQUIRE. A board may be small and listed-only-in-Part-VII because the founders wrote the bylaws that way.
Our role is to surface the pattern, show the dollar evidence behind it, and offer the org space to respond on the record. We do not adjudicate. Donors read the pattern, the evidence, and the org's response — and decide for themselves whether to continue giving.
A signal is not a verdict.A matched dollar is not a missing or fabricated dollar — it means a 990 pattern matched that warrants explanation. We claim only that the pattern matches; real-world meaning requires the org's context.
The full detection ruleset and the dollar-mapping for each rule are published on this page, and the detection engine reads only public IRS Form 990 XML. Every flagged org is invited to respond, and responses are published alongside the flags.