William Henry Quilliam was born at 22 Eliot Street in Liverpool. He spent his childhood on the Isle of Man but most of his working life in Liverpool.
Works as a solicitor and criminal lawyer at 28 Church St, Liverpool. The Liverpool Weekly Courier described him as the “unofficial Attorney-General of Liverpool”.
Abdullah Quilliam became a Muslim when he visited Morocco. A more detailed account of his conversion can be found at the Cairo Speech he delivered in 1928.
Initially at Mount Vernon Street then 8 Brougham Terrace. Pall Mall Gazette wrote: “The mosque at Liverpool is a place of worship for thousands of Mahommedans”
Djem Ali Hamilton became his first covert to Islam, followed by Elizabeth Cates who took the name of Fatima after her conversion.
He renounced Christianity at the age of 32, changed his name to Abdullah and announced his conversion in the Liverpool media.
This led to 200-400 children being fed in the morning on Christmas Day and 400-600 in the evening.
The pamphlet Faith of Islam was first published. The first edition had 2000 copies and a further 3000 copies were published in 1890.
Among the converts was an Anglican clergyman, Rev H.H.Johnson.
The muslim community organised a protest against the play “Mahomet”, by Hall Caine. It is thought that Abdullah Quilliam was instrumental in the halting of this play.
Michael Hall a former Methodist preacher who converted to Islam in 1890 was buried in a Liverpool cemetery.
Picture: Abdullah Quilliam officiates at a Moslem Wedding in Liverpool Mosque from an American newspaper, dated 1903.
This was the most successful year for the number of converts, bringing a further 33 into the fold of Islam.
A monthly journal published by Abdullah Quilliam that had world-wide circulation.
Abdullah Quilliam was awarded the title ‘Alim’ by the Sultan of Morocco after returning from North Africa.
Abdullah Quilliams first fatwa warning Muslims not to fight fellow Muslims in Sudan.
The Caliph of Islam, Sultan Abdul Hameed II gave Abdullah Quilliam the official title of Sheikh al-Islam for the British Isles.
An illness which would trouble him for the rest of his life.
Opened at 12 Broughmam Terrace, called the Medina Home.
English converts to Islam included the following: Professor Nasrullah Warren, Professor Haschem Wilde and Resched P.Stanley who had been the Mayor of Staleybridge.
Shareef Abdul Karim Murad, The Guardian of the sacred mosque in Medina, visited the mosque. Considered one of the most respected leaders in the Muslim world.
Abdullah Quilliam held a funeral prayer (janaza) in memory of Abdur Rahman or Henry Edward John Stanley, the third Baron of Alderley.
Leaves for Constantinople never to return to Liverpool. The latter years of his life were spent in the Isle of Man and London.
Abdullah Quilliam becomes Henri de Leon or sometimes known as Haroun de Leon, a member of the Woking Mosque community.
Mohammad Ali Jauhar visits Woking Mosque to promote Khilafat movement. ‘Islamic Review’: “It was presided by an English Muslim, Prof.H.M.Leon’.
On the 28th April Abdullah Quilliam was buried at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking close to other famous Muslim personalities: Lord Headley and Marmaduke Picktall.
