After more than a decade working in the non-profit, voluntary and charitable sectors, Fiyaz Mughal’s achievements and voluntary work were recognised with an OBE. Mughal was awarded his OBE, which stands for Order of the British Empire, in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2009 – at which point Mughal had worked in the voluntary and non-profit sector for 14 years.
Fiyaz Mughal has undertaken several leading roles in the voluntary sector, as well as having established, managed and directed several non-profit organisations such as Faith Matters and Tell MAMA. Amongst Mughal’s other achievements, he was the Deputy President of one of the UK’s large political parties, and has served as a Councillor in both Oxford and Haringey. Mughal has also previously helped to shape the recent political landscape as an advisor to Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, on issues concerning interfaith issues, radicalisation and extremism, as well as having worked with the Right Honourable Hazel Blears MP as a member of an advisory group that focused on preventing violent extremism.
Faith Matters
As the Founder and Director of Faith Matters, Mughal aims to promote integration and reduce conflict in interfaith communities. Founded in 2006, the charity works in conflict resolution, using tried and tested methods to settle arguments, conflicts and tensions between community groups. Faith Matters aims to bring the separate groups or factions of a community together, hoping to find common ground between religious groups through discussion and shared values.
The charity also runs campaigns to reduce extremism and hate crime. Previous online campaigns by Faith Matters have aimed to empower women and mothers to become safeguards within their communities, protecting those who are young and vulnerable to radicalisation and extremism. Although the charity focuses its attentions on issues within the UK, Faith Matters has played an instrumental role in tackling global extremism, working in areas such as Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan and Egypt.
Tell MAMA
Tell MAMA is a service that enables accurate reporting of anti-Islam incidents and attacks in the UK. MAMA stands for ‘Monitoring Anti-Muslim Attacks’ and the organisation offers several reliable and secure ways to report religious attacks. Victims of attacks can contact Tell MAMA by text, telephone, email and social media, and a trained case worker will contact the victim to ensure that an accurate report has been taken. Case workers can also connect victims to the appropriate services should they require further support.
Fiyaz Mughal’s work has contributed to the wellbeing of individuals and communities throughout the UK, as well as tackling issues such as extremism and radicalisation, which is why his hard and tireless work in this field has been recognised with an OBE.