His work
What Ali Banat built
He had months to live. He spent them building for people he had never met.
- 200+ widows to live in the village he planned in Togo UK Fundraising, 9 November 2016
- 600 orphans in the school planned beside it UK Fundraising, 9 November 2016
- £400,000 raised by a UK tour in his honour in 2016 UK Fundraising, 9 November 2016
- 25,000+ people who gave to carry on his work within days of his death NOS, 1 June 2018
What Ali Banat built in Africa
When Ali Banat learned how little time he might have, he did not spend it on himself. He sold his successful business in Sydney and flew to Togo to build a mosque and a school (The National, 1 June 2018).
The National’s editorial board later summed up what followed: he used his savings to build wells, schools and mosques in Africa (The National, 2 June 2018).
New to giving? Start with charity in Islam, explained. Some charities say every pound reaches the cause: see what a 100% donation policy means.
A village for widows and orphans
His biggest plan was a whole village in Togo: homes for more than 200 widows, a mosque, a school for 600 orphans and a small medical centre (UK Fundraising, 9 November 2016; NOS, 1 June 2018). By late 2016, one hundred houses had been pledged for his housing projects for homeless widows and orphans in Africa (UK Fundraising, 9 November 2016).
My goal is to complete the projects that I have already started – such as my housing projects for widows and orphans.
Bread, water and learning
His work went beyond buildings. AboutIslam reported on a bakery he set up in a poor village in Togo, which he said could bake up to 5,000 loaves of bread a day (AboutIslam, 17 June 2019). His projects reached Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso, helping thousands of people across many countries (SBS News, 1 June 2018).
The verse he lived
The Quran describes righteousness as more than facing east or west in prayer: it is giving wealth, despite loving it, to relatives, orphans, the needy and the traveller (Quran 2:177).
لَّيۡسَ ٱلۡبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّواْ وُجُوهَكُمۡ قِبَلَ ٱلۡمَشۡرِقِ وَٱلۡمَغۡرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلۡبِرَّ مَنۡ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأٓخِرِ وَٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ وَٱلۡكِتَٰبِ وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَءَاتَى ٱلۡمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ ذَوِي ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ وَٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ وَٱلۡمَسَٰكِينَ وَٱبۡنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَٱلسَّآئِلِينَ وَفِي ٱلرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَى ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱلۡمُوفُونَ بِعَهۡدِهِمۡ إِذَا عَٰهَدُواْۖ وَٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ فِي ٱلۡبَأۡسَآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَحِينَ ٱلۡبَأۡسِۗ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ صَدَقُواْۖ وَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُتَّقُونَ ١٧٧
laysa l-bira an tuwallū wujūhakum qibala l-mashriqi wal-maghribi walākinna l-bira man āmana bil-lahi wal-yawmi l-ākhiri wal-malāikati wal-kitābi wal-nabiyīna waātā l-māla ʿalā ḥubbihi dhawī l-qur'bā wal-yatāmā wal-masākīna wa-ib'na l-sabīli wal-sāilīna wafī l-riqābi wa-aqāma l-ṣalata waātā l-zakata wal-mūfūna biʿahdihim idhā ʿāhadū wal-ṣābirīna fī l-basāi wal-ḍarāi waḥīna l-basi ulāika alladhīna ṣadaqū wa-ulāika humu l-mutaqūna
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allāh, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakāh; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
Others joined him
He set up Muslims Around the World so that others could join in (The National, 1 June 2018), and they did. In 2016 a fundraising tour in his honour, through London, Birmingham and Bolton, raised £400,000 for his projects (UK Fundraising, 9 November 2016).
After he was gone
His death did not end the giving. It multiplied it. Within days, more than 25,000 people had given about €1 million to carry on his work (NOS, 1 June 2018), and by 7 June 2018 the total had passed US$1.6 million (BBC News Indonesia, 7 June 2018).
Honoured around the world
The TRT World Citizen Awards named him their 2021 Lifetime Achievement Awardee, presented at a ceremony in Istanbul on 25 November 2022 (TRT World Citizen Awards). On his death, The National’s editorial gave its verdict in its headline:
A life spent bringing joy to others is a life well-spent
The work goes on
Every well, every classroom and every home for a widow built because of him is part of the story he started, and Muslims Around the World is protecting that legacy. If his work moves you to build something that lasts, our sister sites explain how a well is funded and built and how people give towards building a mosque.