Islamic Relief vs Muslim Hands
In short: Islamic Relief Worldwide is the international office of a federation of independent members, and UK donors give to it directly. Muslim Hands is a UK charity that makes most of its grants to locally registered Muslim Hands partners abroad.
Last reviewed by CharityCompare editorial.
Both run emergency, education, water and orphan programmes, so structure is the clearer difference. Islamic Relief Worldwide reports reaching 13,132,741 people across 41 countries in 2025 and allows for people reached more than once. Muslim Hands reports 8,156,637 beneficiaries in 21 countries in 2024, with no counting method stated. The years differ, and neither total is an outcome.
Islamic Relief vs Muslim Hands: key differences
| What to compare | ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE | MUSLIM HANDS |
|---|---|---|
| Registered work and operating model | International office of the Islamic Relief federation, covering emergencies, orphans, education, health, water and livelihoods. | UK charity funding relief, education and development through locally registered Muslim Hands partners, plus UK Open Kitchens. |
| What to consider | Its 2025 income included £138 million from independent member offices abroad, so its totals are not UK donations alone. Islamic Relief UK is its UK fundraising unit; the company registered under that name was dormant. | Its overseas Muslim Hands organisations are registered locally and are not consolidated in its accounts; it treats them as independent partners, though some share trustees with the UK charity. Its 2024 report gives differing totals for some programmes on different pages. |
| Access and practical checks | Appeals under the Islamic Relief UK name raise funds for Islamic Relief Worldwide (charity 328158). Check the appeal’s purpose and any restriction, such as orphan sponsorship or a named emergency. | Confirm the receiving charity (1105056) and the appeal’s purpose. Its website says Zakat donations are ring-fenced for eligible purposes. In the UK it runs Open Kitchens in London, Nottingham and Manchester. |
| Sourced result or evidence gap | 13,132,741: People directly reached. 2025, 41 countries. A charity-reported output; the report says its programme tables add up to more because some people were reached by more than one intervention. It also reports over 100,200 orphaned children sponsored. | 8,156,637: Beneficiaries helped. 2024, 21 countries. A charity-reported output with no counting method or double-counting note; its emergency, water and education totals differ between pages of the same report. Its schools provided free education to 151,244 students. |
What the latest filings show
Figures from the accounts held in our dated dataset; the live register may contain newer filings. Ratios can span multiple years, as labelled. Clarity scores use our methodology. Cost to raise £1 of donations is not part of the score; legacies make it lumpy, and it is withheld where trading costs would distort it (how it works).
| Metric | ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE | MUSLIM HANDS |
|---|---|---|
| Latest accounts year in our snapshot | 2024 | 2024 |
| Financial snapshot refreshed | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-06 |
| Ratio reporting window | 3-yr avg | 3-yr avg |
| Overall score | 93/100 (5★) | 70/100 (3★) |
| Accountability & Finance | 100/100 | 100/100 |
| Spend on charitable activities | 91% of expenditure | 89% of expenditure |
| Fundraising efficiency | £14.9 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) | £8.5 total income per £1 fundraising (2022–2024, disclosed years) |
| Cost to raise £1 of donations | 8p per £1 (2024) · 7p over 2022–2024 | 13p per £1 (2024) · 12p over 2022–2024 |
| Latest income | £276m | £33m |
| Fundraising spend | 7% of expenditure | 11% of expenditure |
| Reserves | 2 months | 0 months |
| Accounts filing | On time | On time |
| Data confidence | high | high |
| Charity number | 328158 | 1105056 |
ISLAMIC RELIEF WORLDWIDE on the register · MUSLIM HANDS on the register
Considering Islamic Relief Worldwide
- You want to give to the international office of the Islamic Relief federation, which also receives funds from member offices abroad.
- You want seasonal Ramadan and Qurbani giving alongside emergency, orphan and development programmes.
Considering Muslim Hands
- You want a UK charity that funds Muslim Hands partners overseas, including schools giving free education.
- You also want UK food work through its Open Kitchens.
Islamic Relief vs Muslim Hands: questions answered
Islamic Relief or Muslim Hands: which should I support?
There is no universal winner. Both fund emergency relief, education, water and orphan care; Islamic Relief Worldwide is the international office of a federation, while Muslim Hands grants to locally registered partners that share its name. Choose the programme you want, then check the appeal, the receiving charity number and the accounts period. A financial rating is not an impact assessment.
Is Islamic Relief UK a different charity from Islamic Relief Worldwide?
Islamic Relief Worldwide’s 2025 report describes Islamic Relief UK as its UK division, which fundraises on its behalf; the company registered as Islamic Relief UK was dormant during the year. Members abroad, such as Islamic Relief USA, are independent legal entities with their own accounts.
Are Muslim Hands organisations abroad part of the UK charity?
Not in its accounts. Muslim Hands says its overseas operations are controlled locally, have local registration and are not consolidated into its financial statements, and it treats them as independent partners. Some UK trustees sit on their boards, and most of its grants go to these entities.
How we score charities +
The Clarity Score is a 100-point rating from UK regulator filings (Charity Commission for England and Wales, OSCR and CCNI). Four pillars — Accountability & Transparency (40), Financial Health (30), Financial Efficiency (20), and Community Support (10) — each scored on a continuous scale, not pass/fail cutoffs. A statutory inquiry sets the score to 0 automatically.
Accountability & Transparency
Scored from filings
40 points — filing history (15), trustee oversight (15, scaling up to a board of three or more), declared policies (10).
Financial Health
Scored from filings
30 points — reserves (15, full marks 3–24 months, tapering on both sides), income stability (10), liabilities to assets (5, scaling down as debt rises).
Financial Efficiency
Scored from filings
20 points — program expense ratio and fundraising cost, each on a graduated scale (not a single cutoff). Kept at 20% of the total: financial-ratio scoring alone is not a reliable effectiveness signal (see "why not just an overhead ratio?" below).
Community Support
Scored from filings
10 points — volunteer-to-staff ratio from Charity Commission workforce data, scaling continuously up to a 2:1 ratio.
Overall score
Sum of all pillar points. Display stars use the same bands as the labels: 90–100 → 5★ Exceptional; 75–89 → 4★ Good; 60–74 → 3★ Needs improvement; 1–59 → 2★ Poor; 0 → not rated.