Islamic Relief was founded in 1984 in Birmingham by medical student Hany El-Banna in response to 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 3 international projects in Islamic Relief’s first year of operation. These were 2 chicken farms in Sudan, a shipment of biscuits and vitamins also to Sudan and a shipment of wheat flour to Mauritania.
Our history