Dear Sir
Chris Sugden, writing in Evangelicals Now, wrongly identifies Islamic Relief, the UK’s largest Muslim charity, as an organisation that does not assist Christians (‘Christian Aid?’, April en). Nothing could be further from the truth.
When Christians in Iraq fled their home city of Mosul as ISIS fighters closed in, our colleagues worked with a local church to provide them with emergency food supplies. When Typhoon Haiyan, one of the world’s strongest ever tropical storms, hit the Philippines we distributed over 20,000 food parcels, as well as tents, tarpaulins and shelters, in a predominantly Christian part of the country. We have continued to work there for over a year, helping with the long-term rehabilitation of disaster-affected communities.
Islamic Relief doesn’t just work for Christians, it works with them too. In the Central African Republic – one of the great unknown emergencies of recent years – we have joined forces with CAFOD to try to warn the world of the food crisis and to launch a joint aid programme helping those who have been displaced by violence and are now facing serious hunger.
One of Islamic Relief’s founding principles is to help people in need, regardless of their faith, ethnicity or political affiliation, and this continues to be at the heart of our humanitarian mission.
Yours sincerely,
