A Free Beacon report found that the initiative, housed within the university’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, hosted fundraising training events for the Turkish ‘charity’
Indiana University has opened an investigation into a Muslim initiative housed within its School of Philanthropy following a Washington Free Beacon report on the initiative’s ties to a “sham charity” that bankrolls Hamas.
State representative Andrew Ireland (R.), a former deputy attorney general for the Hoosier State, said that Indiana University launched a “formal investigation” into the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative’s partnership with Hayat Yolu, a Turkish nonprofit that the Treasury Department sanctioned earlier this month for providing “significant material support to Hamas.” IU’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy “is ceasing all training activities” and “reviewing all current partnerships” with the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative, a spokeswoman told Indiana Public Media.
Ireland and seven other Indiana lawmakers pressed the school about the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative after the Free Beacon reported its ties to Hayat Yolu. The initiative partnered with Hayat Yolu in July 2025 and January 2026 to host training events in Turkey and Indonesia aimed at helping Islamic nonprofits “refine their fundraising strategies, improve performance, and more effectively advance their missions.” The initiative, led by Shariq Siddiqui, thanked Hayat Yolu for its “generous support” in its recent annual report.
According to the Treasury Department, Hayat Yolu has been “involved in Hamas’ international funding network that enables Hamas to generate external revenue in direct support of Hamas’ military wing” and served as an “operational headquarters, banking and financial hub for the Muslim Brotherhood.”
It’s not the first time the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative has been linked to terrorism financiers. In December 2022, the initiative hosted Sami Al-Arian at a conference about Islamic fundraising and the difficulties those groups have faced raising money since 9/11.
Al-Arian was deported from the United States over his fundraising on behalf of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist group.
The school apologized for inviting Al-Arian to the event and said it had failed to conduct proper “due diligence.”
The Indiana lawmakers asked Indiana University officials whether the school “accepted any money or in-kind support” tied to Hayat Yolu and whether the school conducted any due diligence before entering the partnership.
The Muslim Philanthropy Initiative and Siddiqui have not responded to requests for comment. Siddiqui deleted social media posts about Hayat Yolu shortly after the Free Beacon reached out for comment earlier this month. The Muslim Philanthropy Initiative removed its annual report thanking Hayat Yolu for its “generous support.”
Indiana University did not respond to a request for comment.
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