This is an interesting story about the Red Cross receiving the most media coverage out of the different charities within the UK with 38,590 mentions on print and broadcast media.

Cumulatively the charities that were measured (yes all 74 of them) received 623,856 mentions in print, radio or television. A lot of this is attributed to humanitarian disasters such as the drought in Somalia, conflict in Libya and the Japan earthquake.

We have to be careful to differentiate between the coverage of humanitarian disasters and the coverage charities. It can be argued that there wasn’t nearly enough coverage regarding humanitarian disasters until charities put forward their stories, generally human interest to prise the coverage away from phone hacking or celebrity scandal.

While it is laudable that the charities measured received over 600,000 mentions, which is up just under 200,000 from 2010, and the range of charities in the top 10 include Cancer Research UK and the National Trust – my concern is more importance is being given to a charity’s profile rather than the humanitarian issues at hand. Don’t get me wrong – after spending the best part of the last decade working in the media, I know how important one’s public profile can be. It can most definitely help raise funds which support projects on ground and the like.

But surely the greater focus should be on those that are suffering here in the UK and around the world. We shouldn’t forget because their lives are more important than colourful campaigns to raise awareness about this project or that project.

I’m probably being too simplistic (or emotional) but why should we care how many times each charity has been mentioned in the press – surely we should measure how many times a humanitarian issue is mentioned as well, which in my opinion shifts the focus back on the issue rather than the charity.

What else do you think we can measure within the humanitarian sector to determine our impact? Leave a comment here or on Facebook or send us a tweet.

By Mohammad Shakir

Have we asked ourselves how we looked like when we stood in front of the media? Did we look like aliens to our society or did we look like individuals who are known and acknowledged by society? Did we listen to what we said to the media and learn from our mistakes or are we still repeating the same mistakes? Did we change our apologetic attitude when we deliver our statements to media and did we realise that when we talk to media we communicate with billions of viewers who may misunderstand our message? Did we realise that our talk to the media is not like our reminder to go to the mosque?

I believe that both of us are wrong. Us and the media. And if some media organizations are Islamophobic then we are Mediaphobic as well. We need to meet somewhere in the middle to understand how to communicate with media because media is not about machines, it’s about how good you are with people who write, edit, film and produce the news.

By Dr. Hany El-Banna

I have visited 3 North African countries during and after the Arab spring and I met many British, North American, European and Muslim community leaders and youths who decided to take the risk and leave the comfort zone to start from scratch in a new man’s land of a newly born country.

Did our governments ask themselves why those North Americans and Europeans leave their countries and went back to a zero start country?

Our politicians may say it’s a good opportunity but I will say that we lost a great opportunity of gelling greater society together.

A second answer could be that those who went back home felt as if they were living on a land which is not theirs. This could be true because of government officials or fellow citizens of the country but the biggest problem was amongst the youth. They are supposed to be part of a new growth for Europe and North America. Did we fail to sell our democracy to them or did they discover that our democracy is hypocrisy?

If someone prefers hardship to ease then that means the ease is harder than the hardship.

Please, test the ease that provides to them and ask them to test our ease and their hardship to realise which test is bitter to their taste buds.

By Dr. Hany El-Banna

A year gone and a year coming. We need to stop and look back at what we have been doing in 2011. The milestones that we have laid down in 2011 were not meant to be for a British entity whose mandate is to build capacity and connectivity between Muslim charitiesin the UK. The needs drove us to go beyond our geographical area to respond to the British community’s needs. This was very obvious for the case of famine in the Horn of Africa where we built a new forum called Somali Relief & Development Forum, which is made out of a large number of Somali relief organizations in the UK. In partnership with The Humanitarian Forum (THF) and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), we organised two international conferences in Nairobi and a third one in Mogadishu. The outcome of the third was the creation of SHOC (Somali humanitarian operation consortium) which is made out of 55 local Somali organizations from Mogadishu and South Somalia.

Our other drive in 2011 was the warning mechanism regarding Muslim media and fundraising which can be abused by certain organisations. We are here to create a new atmosphere, to allow the growth of a new environment that can establish our new humanitarian community.

Our roadmap is endless and we just started two years ago. Our hope is to become a developer of road maps to other organizations soon.

By Dr. Hany El-Banna

When building a structure like a bridge or building; it is generally best to look at the physical dimensions mathematically to ensure that the structure is stable.

If you speak to civil engineers they will tell you have to lay down foundation of pillars or pillar of foundations. Theologians will tell you that when you look at faith, the foundation is the belief and the pillars are the intention. A combination of the two will create a chain reaction that will create a diverse action and reaction which future generations will enjoy. The fruits will not be of the “passion” variety, but rather the fruits will be of the bonding variety which will bring people together.

Monday 12^th December 2011 was a historic day in the Muslim humanitarian movement in the UK, around Europe and globally. Whilst the MCF trustees were having at the Human Appeal offices in Manchester having our trustee meeting, we were visited by the first fully fledged member of the Muslim Charities Forum – Islamic Help.

The story of Islamic Help joining the form is one of patience and dedication. It took them six months of thorough consultation and deliberation to join the new drive of the Muslim humanitarian movement. The face that they took their time and took the decision to join seriously is an important thing to notice as a decision to join any forum of any sort shouldn’t be taken lightly.

If that wasn’t enough, there was more to come with a dynamic, fast growing Muslim charity also visiting, this time ask questions and clarify their concerns about joining MCF. This charity was Ummah Welfare Trust.

The level of openness, transparency and willingness to connect, cooperate and support the new drive make them ask the most difficult questions. Here at MCF we welcome difficult questions and give you hospitable answers. Questions such as these aren’t the problem. The problem was (and could be) the level of frankness and openness to communicate. The lack of it could undermine the work of the Muslim humanitarian sector.

We were thrilled to have these two great charities attend our meeting in Manchester. This will let donors, beneficiaries and governments realise the steady speed of maturity which is affecting the growth of the Muslim charitable sector to meet the great demands and needs of the needy globally.

I strongly believe that the next year will be the year of dynamic change for the Muslim humanitarian movement here in the UK and around the world. I would like to thank Islamic Help for trusting and joining MCF; and Ummah Welfare Trust for being frank and open about their concerns and questions.

I end by saying a 1,000 mile journey starts with the first step. We are here at the start and generations to come will continue and end the journey. We pass the baton on to you for you to pass on to future generations. Don’t lose it or drop it – it is a precious gift for humanity.

By Dr. Hany El-Banna

As the year winds down – it seems that the world is forgetting the different humanitarian emergencies around the world.

We have seen drought and floods affect the Horn of Africa, Floods in Pakistan, and outbreaks of disease in countries such as Chad, Mali and Nigeria. The news is in recent weeks has been dominated by the EU trying to save the Euro, the misdeeds of the British tabloid press or the latest gossip from the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing.

It does seem that this year in general, humanitarian emergencies have not been seen as newsworthy. This is a shocking state of reality – that it seems that the progression of a minor celebrity in a dancing competition receives more column inches than humanitarian emergencies.

While we maybe in the midst of a recession, and are looking for escape into a different world (or a jungle, depending on what reality show you have watched recently) rather than read or watch a news story about a family which has lost their livelihoods due to flood.

I have said this more before and I’ll say it again, despite the economic downturn, we are still far better off than people in the most destitute parts of the world.

Have a think…

By Mohammad Shakir

The response from the British public was tremendous. It was a still is by quite a distance the most donated to appeal run by the Disasters Emergency Committee.

The floods in Pakistan coincided with the month of Ramadan in 2010, a time of year where Muslims are extra charitable due to the extra reward given for good deeds during Ramadan.

There are certain times of year for different religions where charitable giving is a priority. If we look at the three Abrahamic faiths, the Jewish faith has Tzedekah, Christians give to charity generally around Christmas and Muslims give 2.5% of their wealth every year through Zakat.

In the midst of an economic downturn, we have seen a reduction in the amount given to charity not just here in the UK but around the world as well.

Religious based giving such as Tzedekah and Zakat are an important way to guarantee charitable donations. While we have all been affected by the recession, most of us have managed to weather it, by keeping our homes and managing to feed our families. Much like the 0.7% of GDP that the British government has pledged to devote to international development, a small percentage is all that is required.

To paraphrase the slogan of a well known supermarket chain, we mustn’t forget that no matter how small, every charitable donation counts.

By Mohammad Shakir

From the year 1988 to this day, World Aids Day has been an annual day, raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. This day helps remind everyone of the causes and effects of HIV via education, events and awareness on HIV prevention.

As for me, as a young adult, I believe today is a great day to learn about something so vital, which is frequently ignored on a day-to-day basis by a large amount of the population. Today really makes a difference on the responsiveness of what an estimated 33.3 million people experience.

Muslim Charities Forum takes part in creating awareness of HIV. Their link to the charities such as International HIV Fund, whose main focal point is HIV awareness, gives MCF the belief that more Muslim-led charities can do more to raise awareness of HIV. They should not be afraid.

The Muslim community and Muslim-led charities should be doing more to raise awareness about HIV as many millions are affected by HIV, even cases in Muslim countries, which aren’t highlighted as widely as it should be.

So let’s take a moment today to remember the victims of HIV – they need our support and our prayers. Together let’s do more to raise awareness and increase the response of the Muslim community to HIV.

By Farah Khalil

I recently had a heated discussion with some of my colleagues from Islamic Relief about the religious terminology called Jammat. Jammat comes from Jummah – a holiday on Friday where people come together in congregation and worship in a congregational prayer at midday, with a sermon also delivered.

The blessing of a Jammat is in the togetherness it brings as a community. From togetherness we get inclusiveness, accommodation, tolerance, respect, partnership and progress for the sake of the Jammat, who listens on Jummah, to the common aims and goals of the religion of Islam.

What has that got to do with G? G stands for group – which has a different philosophy to Jammah. Today we have the G20, G8, G10, G13 (the deadly black demon of Friday) and so on which is a collection of countries from around the world based on economic strength.

G’s philosophy is to protect the interests of the inner circle and to prioritising their interests over other countries around the world. While J is using the commonality of everyone as it is more inclusive and diverse.

But when the J behaves like G, using the R (religion), to push the G-J agenda, they can neither become Lady Gaga or Jar Jar Binks. They will become like ZaZa – the Cyclops who does not represent a race colour or value. Because Za Za is one eyed and is a destructive force within the community.

What we experience nowadays, are signs of the illnesses within our community – who create their “G” philosophy, based on the personal interest of the leadership, personal interpretation of their scholars, and personal beliefs in their common value.

Why should we behave like political parties? Why should we become a political party? Why should we let others suffer from the imperialistic, theological approach? Why should we alienate others?

All these don’t represent the philosophy of J –Jummah, or J- Jammat, but of G-Ghetto. Even when you are in the ghetto, you won’t be able to eat the gateaux.

Even in Islam we see divisions and classifications and groups – Sunni, Shia, Salafi or Sufi, Deobandi or Ikhwani – where different people class themselves differently and align themselves with a group rather than look at our common interests, goals and values.

If our theological understanding does not bring calmness to the community our organisational approach, may bring more harm than good. The Muslim Charities Forum has been struggling over the past 4 years to swim against the mighty waves of the deadly theological tsunami, of the new Cyclops which endangers us all. Let’s be a Jammat rather than a group.

With the spirit of Eid just gone and sacrifices of the holy family of Ibrahim (PBUH), we should adhere ourselves to the “J” philosophy and keep the “G” approach to the G13 deadly group and keep them away from us.

Credit goes to Mr Muhammad Tariq and Amjad Ilahi from Islamic Relief who inspired this blog.

By Dr. Hany El-Banna

What is the real social value of the Islamic values and what is the real practical value of social values?

This discussion was held at my house on the second day of Eid, where a young Egyptian post graduate lady who was studying her Masters at Birmingham University came to give my family her Eid Greetings – or Eid Mubarak.

The objective of her project in Egypt is to improve the quality of the education system in Egypt. The discussion over a cup of coffee went on for hours in the presence of other guests, and then came the challenge  where we tried to determine our identity and we ended the meeting by asking the definition or explanation of the title of this blog.

What do we mean by social values of a religion? What do we mean by the practical value of social values of our community?

Religion for me has a social, economical, political, cultural and regional or international reform. All religions of God have these dynamics – some of them will be more obvious to the others when the believers of such religions interconnect the dynamics of the social values of the religion in the societal groups which could lead to the fragmentation of the social fabric of society. Such enlightened believers will enable the religion to spread within the fabric of any society like air and water which can benefit, sustain and lengthen the life of such society.

On the other hand, does any society have to wait for a prophet or messenger of God to reform their lives? The answer is yes and no – Yes, we need those wholly guided personalities to show us the way and know we can produce our own social reformers to support, protect, guide and lead our society. And both messengers and reformers will be guided by their creator.

That said, any society on earth is constantly producing social values to cement its societal and social fabric and to distinguish itself from other societies as a part of its nature. But on the religious aspect, we quite often fail to transform our own religions into social values.

This becomes more difficult at the time of the social revolution which is impacting every inch of the globe. So shall we make our religious scholars social workers or shall we connect the social workers into becoming our religious scholars. Which of these is more difficult?

I think we should work on both sides to educate both parties on how they become closer to their chosen community and understand the religion of God. There is no doubt at the back of my mind for both practices to work together.