Jonathan Fowles acted for the successful Respondents in Daji v Mohammed [2024] EWCA 1247, led by Mark Sefton KC of Falcon Chambers.

At first instance, the Respondents successfully established that a very substantial site in East London was held by them on a charitable trust associated with a particular Sunni Muslim community in the London region, rather than by the Appellants upon charitable trusts associated with another community. Both communities are associated with the worldwide Tablighi Jamaat movement, and the dispute took place in the context of a worldwide schism in that movement which caused rancour between the communities.

The Court of Appeal (Newey, Arnold, and Zacaroli LJJ) unanimously dismissed the appeals. The judgment of Newey LJ contains important points about the task of the trial judge in discerning the donors’ intentions in giving money to a charitable fundraising appeal and identifying the terms of the charitable trusts arising out of them, where the documentary evidence is limited.

Jonathan was instructed by Daniel Levy, Chhavie Kapoor, Sabrina Furneaux-Gotch, and Michael Clarke of Mishcon de Reya LLP.