該文介紹英國第一位入教的英國人，在利物浦建立英國第一座清真寺。他積極在英國宣教，讓200位英國人成為穆斯林。既使那個時代，伊斯蘭在英國被視為異端，他也受到許多外界的攻擊，但他仍透過理性思辨的方式，向英國社會宣揚伊斯蘭。
The mid-terrace house in Liverpool, with its broken windows and peeling
paint, had given no clue it was, as one of the men behind its renovation put
it, the
"birthplace of Islam in Britain".
The building, in Brougham Terrace, Kensington, was once owned by Abdullah
Quilliam, who opened it as Liverpool Muslim Institute in 1889.
A
prominent English solicitor who had been educated on the Isle of Man and the
son of a Methodist preacher, William Henry Quilliam converted to Islam two years earlier,
taking the name Abdullah and claiming to be the first native Englishman to
embrace the religion.
The Abdullah Quilliam Society's Jahangir Mohammed says it is
difficult to underestimate the importance of the man or the courage he showed
in becoming a Muslim, a step he took while on a trip to Morocco.
"On his way, he saw some Hajjis, who had been on
pilgrimage, and was intrigued at how peaceful they were when he saw them
praying," he said.
"A Muslim colleague explained that Islam was simply a
continuation of previous faiths, Judaism and Christianity. It all seemed
logical to him so he became a Muslim at that point.
"When he came back, he decided that he wanted to promote
Islam. At
the time, it was seen as the religion of the Devil here, so it was a very brave
step to take."
'Very unusual'
The Royal Holloway University of London's Professor of the
History of Islam, Humayun Ansari, says the life Quilliam saw in Morocco appealed to
him.
"He felt that people lived simple lives - they lived, in
his view, quite moral lives and there was an environment of solidarity,
depending very little on whether they were wealthy or poor.
"That
was something that was of immense significance for him."
However, Prof Ansari says that deciding to convert to Islam was
not a simple choice for Quilliam.
"Islam in the 19th Century was seen as a Christian heresy and
there were these ideas about Islam being a violent faith.
"So it would have been very unusual for a person from his
class background to convert at that time."
'First media Muslim'
Quilliam's work was met in some quarters by anger and hatred,
which Mr Mohammed says intensified after the founding of the mosque and his
conversion successes.
"He
converted 200 locals and 600 people in the whole of the UK and spent a lot of
his time persuading people about the merits of Islam and how it wasn't the
evil religion it was presented to be," he said.
"Because he was successful and Christians were converting
to Islam, that produced a lot of hostility.
"People would come in here and attack him. They would throw
pigs' heads, razor wire, stones. Some were incited by priests, some were incited
by the media, but he stood up to that."
More than simply facing down his detractors, Mr Mohammed says
Quilliam turned to the instruments being used to denigrate him and became
"the first media Muslim".
"He
would respond to attacks in the media and he produced the first Muslim attempts
at journalism.
"He encouraged Muslims to write and speak. He would
petition Queen Victoria and make his views known, expressing opposition to what
was going on around the world.
"He was an articulate, responsible citizen, but he never
hid his views and would write about them in his monthly journal and weekly
newspaper."
Scientific lectures
His
writings became essential reading, so much so that one book, the Faith of
Islam, had three editions translated into 13 different languages and was so
popular that Queen Victoria ordered the book and then ordered copies for her
grandchildren.
Liverpool Hope University's Professor of Religion Ron Geaves
says it was not just his writings that helped change the public's view of
Islam.
He says Quilliam looked at why the religion was unpopular with
the British public and tailored lectures at the mosque to combat the problem.
"It is interesting to look at the topics of the lectures. You might expect them to
be religious and promoting Islam but what we find are lectures with
experiments, science lectures.
"So he's presenting Islam in a very rational way that's going
to appeal to the new scientific consciousness of Victorian Britain."
Quilliam's work and reputation led him to be appointed
Sheikh-ul-Islam of the British Isles by the last Ottoman ruler Sultan Abdul
Hamid ll in 1894 and recognised by the Shah of Persia and the Emir of
Afghanistan as the leader of British Muslims.
Building in disrepair
In
Liverpool, the institute grew to incorporate an orphanage, college, madrasa,
hotel, museum and library.
But the religious intolerance which Quilliam and his converts
faced proved too much for him and in 1908, he left England for Istanbul,
returning much later under the name Haroun Mustapha Leon and settling in
Woking, where he died in 1932.
Quilliam's departure saw 8 Brougham Terrace change and from
1908, the buildings were used as council registry for births, deaths and
marriages, including records of the marriage of John Lennon and his first wife,
Cynthia.
Later the building fell into disrepair.
In 1999, a group of Muslims from Merseyside set up the Abdullah
Quilliam Society in order to preserve his legacy and a year later, they took
over responsibility for the building, which was in a poor state and had been
broken in by thieves stealing lead and other metals.
The restoration project has seen the society raise more than
£400,000 from donations and it plans to eventually spend £3.8m restoring the
buildings and setting up a museum and heritage centre.
Mr Mohammed says Quilliam's vision deserves nothing less.
"It's very important because this is the first mosque in
Britain. It was the centre of Islamic activity in Victorian times and the
birthplace of Islam in Britain.
"[Quilliam]
showed how it was possible to be a Muslim in this country. He's a role
model."
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