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Hany El-Banna

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Hany El Banna, 16 May 2020.

Hany Abdel Gawad El-Banna OBE[1] (born 9 December 1950)[2] is the co-founder of Islamic Relief, the largest Western-based international Muslim relief and development NGO, established in 1984 in Birmingham, UK.

Education and Islamic Relief

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Born in Egypt, El-Banna completed his MBBCh Medicine at Al Azhar University, Cairo, where he also obtained a Diploma in Islamic Studies in 1976.[citation needed] El-Banna was awarded the Hamilton Bailey Prize in Medicine at City hospital (previously known as Dudley Road) in 1981, Birmingham UK. He then went on to further his medical training and completed a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) in foetal pathology from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 1991.[citation needed] A pathologist by education, El-Banna attended a medical conference in Sudan in 1983 during a time of famine in the region. The poverty and desperation he witnessed compelled him to return to the UK and set up Islamic Relief as an organisation to help people in need.[citation needed]

Muslim Charities Forum and Zakat House

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Since leaving Islamic Relief in 2008, El-Banna founded the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF), of which he is chairman and The Humanitarian Forum where he is President of the board of trustees. The Humanitarian Forum seeks to foster partnerships and closer co-operation among the humanitarian and charitable organisations from Muslim countries and their Western counterparts.[citation needed] More recently he founded the International HIV Fund, an organisation to build and improve networks of HIV organisations and Zakat House, a social enterprise helping new and growing charities. El-Banna has visited over 60 countries on behalf of these organisations.[citation needed]

El-Banna is also a Chairman of Muslim Charities Forum (MCF)[3] a registered charity that aims to improve British Muslim charities' contribution to international development by promoting the exchange of experience, ideas and information amongst the members, between networks of NGOs in the UK and internationally, with the Governments, and other bodies with the interest in international development.

The organisation has been the subject of controversy in the United Kingdom. It was stripped of £250,000 in funding from the British government for its alleged ties to extremist organisations, and has been described in the British media as "an umbrella group for a number of leading Islamic charities, some of which allegedly have links to the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and other organisations designated as terrorist by some Western organisations but which designation they dispute."[4][5]

Some of its members are also members of the Union of Good, an umbrella organisation consisting of over 50 Islamic charities and funds. It has also been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of the Treasury,[6] but which designation the organisation disputes.

According to The Guardian, MCF and its members “fiercely deny any links to terrorism."[7]

In 2014, the Charity Commission announced a change in policy to allow the public naming of charities which were under investigation by the regulator.[8] The announcement was met with concerns of damaging the reputations of charities before any conclusions were reached.[9] Speaking on behalf of the Muslim Charities Forum, El-Banna stated that they welcomed further scrutiny and transparency, whilst also warning of the possible alternative outcomes, writing:

We call for the immediate repeal of this policy. This could damage the reputation of charities that have not committed any wrongdoing, bringing their activities under intense media scrutiny and creating public uncertainty before due process. We are also concerned that disclosing an investigation may damage relationships with donors and partners critical to our work for our beneficiaries in the UK and around the world.[9]

Awards

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El-Banna was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2004 New Year Honours;[10][11] in the same year he received Ibn Khaldun Award for Excellence in Promoting Understanding between Global Cultures and Faiths within the UK. It was also in 2004 that the Egyptian Medical Syndicate awarded him for his services to humanity and medicine.[citation needed] In 2005 he received the Kashmiri and Pakistani Professional Association Award and in 2006 he was awarded the Asian Jewel Lifetime Achievement Award.[citation needed] Acknowledging his worldwide work and influence in 2007, the UK Muslim Power 100 awarded him with their lifetime achievement award and the University of Birmingham has awarded him an honorary doctorate.[citation needed]

In January 2013, he was nominated for the Muslim in the Community award at the British Muslim Awards.[12]

Centre for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty

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He was a Founding Partner and Board of Trustees member and President of the Centre for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA) as of June 2010 but as of March 2013 no longer appears to be associated with CIFA.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Diplomatic service and overseas list". BBC News. 31 May 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2006.
  2. ^ "Dr Hany El Banna, OBE Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of Today, Dr Hany El Banna, OBE Profile". www.debretts.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Peace and Democracy in the Middle East Rely on a Thriving Civil Society". PR Newswire/Stephen Bubb, Member of the Clinton Global Initiative. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  4. ^ "500". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2017.[dead link]
  5. ^ "Government donation to Muslim Charities Forum denounced as "madness"". The Daily Telegraph. 23 September 2014. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Treasury Designates the Union of Good". www.treasury.gov. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  7. ^ Delmar-Morgan, Alex (22 July 2015). "Islamic charities in UK fear they are being unfairly targeted over extremism | Alex Delmar-Morgan". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  8. ^ James, Sam Burne. "Charity Commission to name all charities subject to statutory inquiry". www.thirdsector.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  9. ^ a b James, Sam Burne. "Muslim Charities Forum chair Hany El-Banna says Charity Commission should not name inquiry charities". www.thirdsector.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Foreign & Commonwealth Office - GOV.UK". Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  11. ^ United Kingdom: "No. 57155". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2003. p. 24.
  12. ^ "Winners honoured at British Muslim Awards". Asian Image. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Who We Are: CIFA Founding Partners". CIFA. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
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