Philanthropy

‘And whatever you give in charity, God will replace it’

I’ve never viewed charity work as an optional extra but instead a natural extension of my working mission. Whether it’s building a hospital in a village in India or supporting orphans in the Philippines, its even more important than making money. Moreover, as time has passed by, I have become increasingly involved in helping the vulnerable escape the shackles of interest based finance as well as working with British Muslims to better tackle Islamophobia and increase media awareness alongside political literacy.

Islamic Finance

Having the rare privilege of being taught Islamic Finance by the Great Mufti Taqi Usmani, I simply could not let that knowledge to go to waste.

As such, on my return from a training course with the great Shaykh, I started writing Research papers on topical subjects such as Islam’s ban on interest, charitable giving in Islam and the dilemma over conventional Insurance. Many of the papers have been condensed into easy read guides for the Muslim Community.

During Ramadan 2005, I started writing a textbook on Islamic Finance which was then continued by a professional writer and is today published by 1st Ethical Charitable Trust of which I am a founding Trustee. The Textbook numbers over 700 pages and is entitled ‘Islamic Finance – what it is and what it could be’. It is the core reading text for numerous Islamic Finance courses including university modules on the subject.

Humanitarian Relief

For many years, assisting the poorest in the world has been close to my heart.

This is partly due to Islam’s focus on helping the poor but also partly down to innate desire. This humanitarian work varies widely both in nature and geographical location.

All in all though, I have been fortunate enough to donate over £3Million to charitable causes over the last few years. The causes range from funding hospitals and clinics, to building water wells and emergency relief following devastating earthquakes.

You can learn more about the causes and countries I have assisted alongside seeing pictures of beneficiaries by clicking here

Since inception 1st Ethical Charitable Trust has donated:

£3,322,410.00

Between 2012 – 2013 alone 1st Ethical has donated:

£1,023,963.00

Originally set up as iENGAGE (by myself and fellow trustees), the work of the organization is now housed under the MEND (Muslim engagement and development) banner.

MEND has a dual specialism in Muslim advocacy work and community empowerment strategies. On the advocacy front, the organization is involved in media engagement, lobbying, and policy research. On the community empowerment front, MEND regularly works with grass roots Muslims to help them tackle Islamophobia locally and to increase their media and political literacy.

The work of MEND (formerly iENGAGE) has transformed the lives of British Muslims in so many ways, including:

Evidence to the Leveson Enquiry on Press ethics whereby all our recommendations became law in the Royal Charter, October 2013
Ensuring around half of Police Constabularies have now agreed to record Islamophobia as a separate category of crime with around a quarter already started recording.
Countless media corrections and apologies on factually incorrect stories
Developed the UK’s first ever media and political engagement masterclasses, workshops and seminars.
Developed community empowerment aids such as Media monitoring checklist and an Islamophobia exhibition.
Created a powerful grass roots network of working groups and volunteers nationally to deliver MEND’s vision locally.
Nominated Muslim representative on CPS Panel on case scrutiny