The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a religious charity after it failed to comply with an official warning issued by the regulator in November last year.
Al-Hikam, which recorded an income of over £215,000 in the year to 31 December 2023, was first established to advance the Islamic faith and support young people by providing religious education services in Bradford, west Yorkshire.
It was first issued with an official warning by the commission over a series of concerns on 10 November last year.
The concerns included the charity’s “lack of due diligence” in relation to its partnerships with two other organisations, 1Vision and Convoy4Palestine and the behaviour of an individual involved with the charity.
The warning, which also highlighted the charity’s failure to submit accounts on time, said trustees needed to take action to rectify the “misconduct and/or mismanagement and/or breach of trust before 31 December”, by ensuring that the charity’s reputation is protected, and ensuring that it submits its accounts on time.
Trustees ‘failed to demonstrate’ progress
The charity’s trustees have since failed to demonstrate to the commission that they have made progress against rectifying the actions set out in the November 2023 warning, the commission said.
It therefore launched a full inquiry to investigate the administration and governance of the charity by its trustees; the preparedness of trustees to fulfill their responsibilities under charity law; the suitability of the charity’s environment, and its links to connected companies and viability of the charity.
The inquiry will also examine conflicts of interest in relation to the charity.
Once it has concluded the inquiry, the commission will publish a report detailing its findings.
