William Henry Quilliam
William Henry Quilliam (born April 10, 1856 in Liverpool , † April 23, 1932 in London ), who later renamed himself Abdullah Quilliam (later pseudonyms were Henri Marcel Leon and Haroun Mustapha Leon ), converted to Islam in the 19th century and founded the first mosque in England and the first Islamic center.
Life
William Quilliam belonged to a wealthy Manx family. His father Robert Quilliam was a watch manufacturer. William studied at the Liverpool Institute and at King William's College on the Isle of Man . He began working as a solicitor in 1878 and established a successful law firm in Liverpool. In 1879 he married Hannah Johnstone .
Conversion to Islam
Quilliam was raised a Methodist but converted to Islam in 1887 after traveling to Morocco to recover from an illness. He had already dealt with Islam before, when he toured southern France, Algeria and Tunisia in 1882 . After returning to Liverpool, he began promoting Islam in Great Britain as Abdullah Quilliam.
Quilliam founded the Liverpool Muslim Institute at 8 Brougham Terrace , West Derby Street in 1889 and opened it on Boxing Day. This was the first mosque in England that could accommodate around one hundred worshipers. This was followed by a Muslim college, led by Haschem Wilde and Nasrullah Warren , which offered courses for both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Quilliam also influenced the lives of other converts, including his mother Harriet (converted in 1893) and his sons, as well as scientists and intellectuals; Following his example, over 150 English converted to Islam. Quilliam was influential in spreading knowledge of his religion in the United Kingdom, reaching converts through his writings and the charities he founded.
As an author and essayist, he created a weekly newspaper from 1893 to 1908, The Crescent ("The Crescent"). He published three editions of his The Faith of Islam , which was translated into thirteen languages and gained fame throughout the Islamic world.
Quilliam's work in Liverpool ended when he left England in 1908 before being struck off the solicitor role a year later. His son then quickly sold the property, which was used as a mosque and Islamic center. Without Quilliam's influence and funding, Liverpool's Muslim community dispersed.
In December 1914 he returned to Great Britain under the name HM Leon. He spent much of his time in the Isle of Man village of Onchan . He died in London in 1932 and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery .
legacy
Western Muslims, especially converts, see Quilliam as a pioneer. His legacy remains in the Abdullah Quilliam Society , which was founded in 1996. The organization is raising funds to restore or reopen the historic mosque at 8 Brougham Terrace and to open an education center.
In 2008 the Quilliam Foundation was founded, a think tank that opposes Islamist ideologies.
Works
- The Faith of Islam: An Explanatory Sketch of the Principal Fundamental Tenets of the Muslim Religion ; ISBN 978-1-177-88230-9
literature
- Ron Geaves : Islam in Victorian Britain, The Life and Times of Abdullah Quilliam , Central Books 2010, ISBN 978-1-84774-010-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The 'little mosque' BBC
- ↑ Michael Savage: Forgotten champion of Islam: One man and his mosque. The Independent, August 2, 2007; archived from the original on January 20, 2009 ; accessed on September 29, 2013 (English).
- ↑ The Mother of the Faithful. British Muslim Heritage
- ↑ MYSTERY OF THE SHEIK. The Straits Times , July 1, 1932
- ^ Google Books
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Quilliam, William Henry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Quilliam, Abdullah; Leon, Henri Marcel (pseudonym); Leon, Haroun Mustapha (pseudonym) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Church founder |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 10, 1856 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Liverpool |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 23, 1932 |
| Place of death | London |