A new report shows the degree to which American financial institutions discriminate against Muslims, and many are worried about the impact this will have during Ramadan.

By Rowaida Abdelaziz for HuffPost

A quarter of the American Muslim population has faced hurdles while banking in the United States, according to a report released last week by the Institute of Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a nonprofit that provides research about American Muslims. Challenges included not being allowed to open an account, having an account suspended or closed, and having payments subjected to extra scrutiny.

The study further found that Muslims were twice as likely as the general population to have issues with business and nonprofit accounts. The holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims partake in fasting and increased charity, started this week, and Muslim Americans are worried that discrimination from financial institutions could hurt businesses and charities in their community during this critical time.

“It’s important for folks to understand that Islamophobia isn’t just a rude comment at the grocery store,” said Dalia Mogahed, the ISPU’s director of research. “It is inflicted on the community by the state and by institutions, and one form of that that we’re digging into here is financial institutions.”

Mojaradi said his issues with various financial institutions began almost immediately after starting his business. He said students’ PayPal payments to him were often delayed if they included phrases like “Iranian poetry” or “Persian poetry class.” In March 2021, he said his PayPal account was frozen without warning.

Mojaradi reached out to PayPal, explaining every term flagged, who he was, what he did, and who his students were. In one exchange, PayPal asked him for “an explanation of the reference to ‘Persian,’” in a screenshot reviewed by HuffPost. Mojaradi said his account was frozen three times and that more than two dozen payments made to him were flagged over three years. So he opened a business account, hoping it would alleviate the problem, but to no avail.

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