Hany El-Banna


Hany Abdel Gawad El-Banna OBE 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

Born in Egypt, Dr El-Banna completed his MBBCh Medicine at Al Azhar University, Cairo, where he also obtained a Diploma in Islamic Studies in 1976. Dr Hany El Banna was awarded the Hamilton Bailey Prize in Medicine at City hospital in 1981, Birmingham UK. He then went on to further his medical training and completed a Doctorate of Medicine in foetal pathology from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 1991. A pathologist by education, Dr. Hany 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.

Muslim Charities Forum and Zakat House

Since leaving Islamic Relief in 2008, Dr. El-Banna founded the Muslim Charities Forum, 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 the global 'north' and 'south'. He also founded Zakat House, a social enterprise helping new and growing charities. Dr El-Banna has visited over 60 countries on behalf of these organisations.
Dr El-Banna is also a Chairman of Muslim Charities Forum 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.

Awards

Dr El-Banna was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004; in the same year Dr El Banna also 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. In 2005 he received the Kashmiri and Pakistani Professional Association Award and in 2006 he was awarded the Asian Jewel Lifetime Achievement Award. 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.
In January 2013, he was nominated for the Muslim in the Community award at the British Muslim Awards.

Centre for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty

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