Islamic Relief
The charity typically assists more than 10 million people each year through emergency response, and development programmes in areas including education, health and livelihood support.
[4] Since then, Islamic Relief has grown into an international humanitarian organisation with an annual income of hundreds of millions and a presence in more than 40 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America.
In 1994, Islamic Relief became the first Muslim NGO to receive UK government funding when it was awarded £180,000 to support a training centre in North Kordofan, Sudan.
The spread of COVID-19 impacted Islamic Relief's work around the world, delaying some projects and prompting new emergency responses to cope with the fallout of the pandemic.
Islamic Relief provided food, water, shelter and other emergency items to affected people, continuing to support communities in the months that followed the disaster.
[21] In 2023, Islamic Relief launched major responses and appeals to address crises including the Türkiye-Syria earthquake, the outbreak of conflict in Sudan and the unprecedented escalation in violence in Gaza.
These shape the organisation's five key values: ikhlas (sincerity), ihsan (excellence), rahma (compassion), adl (social justice), and amana (custodianship).
Islamic Relief serves communities in need regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief, working to provide lasting routes out of poverty and to empower individuals to transform their lives.
The charities current emergency appeals include supporting communities uprooted by violence in Gaza[23] and Sudan,[24] delivering vital food aid to 2 million people at risk of famine and disease in Yemen[25] each month, and assisting individuals and families grappling with the long-term effects of prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa.
In 2023, Islamic Relief assisted more than 205,000 people to adapt and build resilience to the negative impacts of climate change, and produced a report on the vital role local actors play in such interventions.
The Declaration is a call to action against gender inequality from an Islamic faith perspective and seeks to tackle discrimination and harmful practices, especially against women and girls in Muslim communities.
The Declaration and the campaign are part of Islamic Relief's gender justice work, which includes tackling early and forced marriage, domestic violence and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).
The charity also campaigns to help implement the UN's Global Compact on Refugees, an historic agreement that includes specific recognition of the role of faith-based organisations and local faith communities in welcoming those forced to flee their homes.
In 2023, TIC converted 2,362 tonnes of unwanted clothing into income for Islamic Relief, either through re-selling high-quality items in the charity shops or through recycling to generate profits.
In 2023, it ran several programmes aimed at strengthening the capacity of local civil society organisations in countries including Nigeria, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Islamic Relief is the co-owner of the International Civil Society Centre, a global action platform, and an affiliate member of the INGO Accountability Charter Company.
In 2014, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in humanitarian work with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and in 2015 formed a partnership with the African Union to tackle chronic poverty on the continent.
The charity’s Annual Report 2023 lists its key partners as: Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Bond, CHS Alliance, Church of Sweden, Climate Action Network International, Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), Finn Church Aid, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Gender and Development Network (GADN), Global Affairs Canada, Habitat for Humanity International, HelpAge, HIAS, Humanitarian Coalition, Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), International Civil Society Centre, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Islamic Development Bank, Joint Learning Initiative (JLI), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Lutheran World Federation, PARD, Network for Religious & Traditional Peacebuilders (NRTP), Qatar Charity, Qatar Red Crescent, Save the Children UK, Sheikh Abdullah Al Nouri Charity Society, Shelter Box UK, Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), START Network, TZU Chi Foundation, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UN World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Vision, Zakat House.
These include: In June 2013, Israel added Islamic Relief to a list of organisations banned from operating in the country, alleging that the charity was funding Hamas.
[50] In July 2020, one of several directors at Islamic Relief, Heshmat Khalifa, resigned after The Times discovered he had made antisemitic remarks on his Facebook page in 2014 and 2015.
In an interview with The Guardian, then-CEO Naser Haghamed said he was "appalled" by the "unacceptable posts," which included labelling Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi a "pimp son of the Jews" and calling the Israeli government the "grandchildren of monkeys and pigs.
"[51] In late August 2020, Islamic Relief announced that its entire board would be resigning in a long-planned move that was described as "a part of far-reaching governance reforms" that had been over five years in the making.
"[53] Later that month, an Independent Commission helmed by the former Attorney General for England and Wales Dominic Grieve concluded that "the offensive views articulated by the former senior director and two former trustees did not in any way compromise the impartiality or integrity of the organization's humanitarian programmes.
"[54] In March 2023, a New Yorker investigation reported that the United Arab Emirates hired Alp Services, a Swiss private intelligence agency, to spread allegations of Islamic Relief ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Western press outlets in 2020.
[60] HSBC did not state publicly why the relationship had been terminated but said such decisions "would typically include the type of activities the business is involved in, the jurisdictions in which it operates and the products and services it uses."
