When Anwar Khan co-founded Islamic Relief USA back in 1993, the organization wasn’t initially met with enthusiasm.
“Many of the people in the mosque and in the traditional Muslim community, they were telling us, ‘Why are you here? We have enough humanitarian organizations,’” Khan recalled.
Khan, at the time just 22 years old and fresh to the United States from England, disagreed. In the decades that followed, Islamic Relief USA, or IRUSA, grew to become the largest Muslim faith-based nonprofit in the U.S., and among the largest in the world. In April, Khan announced he’d be stepping down as IRUSA’s president, his most recent role in an organization he’s been at for over 30 years.
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About the author
Lauren Evans@laurenfaceevans
Lauren Evans was formerly an Assistant Editor/Senior Associate in the Office of the President at Devex. As a journalist, she covers international development and humanitarian action with a focus on climate and gender. Her work has appeared in outlets like Foreign Policy, Wired UK, Smithsonian Magazine and others, and she’s reported internationally throughout East Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
