And many Detroit area residents did - through fund-raisers in mosques and boxes at Dearborn restaurants that read ''Orphan's happiness depends on your donation.''

Even some politicians gave money, including U.S. Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat whose chief of staff said Wednesday that the congressman cut a $100 check to the group during a Ramadan dinner in October 2004.

And so the raid of al-Mabarrat has unnerved many in metro Detroit's Muslim communities, some of whom met Wednesday to discuss how to deal with it.

Al-Mabarrat and another Shiite Muslim group, Goodwill Charitable Organization, were raided by the FBI and other federal agencies Tuesday, the same day the U.S. Treasury Department declared Goodwill Charitable to be a front for Hezboallah and froze its assets.

But the Treasury Department did not name al-Mabarrat as a terrorist group, leaving many Muslims confused about the government's actions. Al-Mabarrat is still allowed to operate, though agents hauled away its documents and computers, making it difficult to function, Muslim leaders said.

''This is a clean, lawful group with the utmost integrity,'' said Tarek Baydoun of Dearborn, who has helped raise money for it. ''They're not going to find anything.''

Al-Mabarrat officials have decided not to comment on the case for now because they're afraid of saying the wrong thing, said Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Walid said the group would like to have its computers and documents back.

''If they're not being closed, they should be allowed to operate at full capacity,'' Walid said.

Al-Mabarrat's plight is similar to what happened to another Muslim charity in Michigan, Life for Relief and Development. Its Southfield headquarters was raided in September, but the group was not placed on any terrorism list.

''Muslim charities are not being given due process under the system,'' Walid said.

Muslims said the raids affect their ability to donate, which Islamic law requires.

''The religion is being singled out,'' said Akil Fahd, 37, of Detroit. ''We're fearful.''

The FBI did not comment on what was behind the al-Mabarrat raid. But the agency has alleged in previous cases that the charity had ties to terrorism.

Last year, federal prosecutors said that Talal Chahine, owner of the La Shish restaurants, met with Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a cleric in Lebanon who heads al-Mabarrat, and gave money to it. Chahine was never charged with any terrorism crimes but was accused of tax fraud. He is believed to be in Lebanon.

The U.S. government claims that Fadlallah is the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. The Treasury Department designates him as a terrorist.

Detroit area Muslims say he's not connected to Hezbollah and has no ties to terrorism.

Dingell donated to al-Mabarrat during a fundraiser at the Islamic Institute of Knowledge in Dearborn, said Michael Robbins, Dingell's chief of staff.

''The case of al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization is in the hands of federal authorities,'' Robbins said in an e-mail. ''His contribution in 2004 was to help the organization with its stated purpose of helping orphans and poor children. ... The congressman knows as much about the raids and the allegations against the charity as anyone who reads the newspaper.''