Our history

Islamic Relief was founded in 1984 in Birmingham by medical student Hany El-Banna in response to the famine in East Africa.

He and a group of other young Muslim volunteers raised Islamic Relief’s first funds through collections at mosques, friends and family and other Islamic associations. The volunteers secured £135,000 and established three international projects in Islamic Relief’s first year of operation. These were two chicken farms in Sudan, a shipment of biscuits and vitamins also to Sudan and a shipment of wheat flour to Mauritania.

In 1985, Islamic Relief’s founders hired a small office in a Birmingham community centre. The office  was run by a growing group of committed volunteers who were known to work long into the night on project coordinating and fundraising.

The charity expanded rapidly. Over the next five years we started working in Mozambique, Iran, Pakistan, Malawi, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among others, responding to emergencies and distributing clothes, food, offering health support and beginning the long-term project that is now the one-to-one orphan sponsorship programme.

A leading humanitarian organisation

Today Islamic Relief Worldwide is among the world’s largest relief and development charities. With global headquarters in Birmingham, UK, it is the international office of the Islamic Relief federation, which operates in more than 40 countries. In 2022 alone, we ploughed over £193 million into emergency aid, long-term development, and campaigning for change that directly helped over 17.3 million people.

The high quality and impact of our work means it is among just a handful of UK-based charities to have been certified against the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS). As full members of the INGO Accountability Charter, Islamic Relief’s excellence in transparency, good governance and social responsibility is recognised.

Islamic Relief Worldwide is signatory to the Red Cross Code of Conduct, which sets ethical standards for organisations involved in humanitarian work and commits us  to the important principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence. We are also firmly committed to the People in Aid Code of Best Practice.

Islamic Relief UK 

In 2006, Islamic Relief Worldwide appointed a director responsible for the United Kingdom division, now known as Islamic Relief UK. In the years since, Islamic Relief UK has led fundraising efforts in the UK, working with communities to raise incredible sums for ongoing projects and responding to humanitarian disasters. In 2016, Islamic Relief UK’s innovative Ramadan campaign – which included advertising on 500 buses – generated extensive media coverage and raised over £10 million. 

In 2021 Islamic Relief UK launched a new strategy to strengthen  our fundraising and advocacy work, and also included an ambitious aim to increase support for vulnerable communities in the UK. The following year we scooped Charity of the Year at the Third Sector Awards, and in 2023 won Charity of the Year at the Charity Times Awards. 

Since 1984, Islamic Relief has saved and transformed the lives of over 120 million people – including more than 17 million individuals in 2022 alone. Islamic Relief responds effectively to humanitarian emergencies, contributes significantly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and advocates for positive social change, empowering people to transform their lives and serving all communities without prejudice.