Abdullah Quilliam's Liverpool

This is collection of places in Liverpool related to the life of Abdullah Quilliam (1856-1932), the founder of Britain's first attested mosque community in 1887, covering his multiple roles as a religious leader, as a lawyer, as a journalist, as a trade unionist and political activist, as well as his personal life.

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1902

West Derby Union/Quilliam Village

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Building

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YBirt

A philanthropic body under the Poor Law Reform Act of 1832. Built workhouses, housing, schools and hospitals, including the famous Alder Hay Hospital. John Houlding (1833-1902), an old friend and colleague of Abdullah Quilliam's, was part of this body for over 30 years. Houlding chaired it twice. From a poor rural background himself, Houlding made it big in the drinks trade, owning a brewery and a string of 10 pubs. He was well-known for his generosity, giving free dinners for the poor, and was known as "King John". Twenty years Quilliam's senior in age, Houlding may have acted as a role model to Quilliam in his philanthropic activities.

Houlding and Quilliam worked together during the early 1880s as political activists in the local Tory Party and in the 1890s they worked closely in leading the Carter's Union, a major trade union in Merseyside. Houlding's political career took off, serving as local councilor (or "alderman" as the post was called then) and later as Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1897. In 1898, Houlding visited Britain's first mosque and was the first civic official to do so. In his historic address at the mosque, Houlding talked about the importance of religious tolerance.

Houlding is best known today as the founder of Liverpool Football Club. He believed the promotion of sport was essential for the welfare of working people. It is not widely known that while on a journey to the East, Quilliam got Houlding an introduction to the Ottoman court. As a result, Houlding was awarded the Order of the Imtiaz by the Ottoman caliph Abdulhamid II for services to the empire. Not many people know there is a connection between Liverpool FC and the caliphate!

Originally housed in 1-7 Brougham Terrace, the West Derby Union rebuilt in 1902 in its current form while the Liverpool Muslim Institute, England's first mosque, operated next door at 8-12 Brougham Terrace. Now that the West Derby Union has been taken over by the Abdullah Quilliam Society as part of its expansion and development of its "Quilliam Village" project.

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Sources and Attribution

Yahya Birt, "The Quilliams, Popular Conservatism and the New Trade Unionism in Liverpool", Islamic Review (Special Issue), ed. Tharik Hussain, pp.28-33, 61, http://www.abdullahquilliam.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Yahya-Birt-The-Quilliams-Popular-Conservatism.pdf (accessed 1 Nov 2022)

Yahya Birt, "The Surprising Connection between Quilliam, the Reds and the Blues", AQS Ramadan Guide 2018/1439 (Liverpool: Abdullah Quilliam Society, 2018), p.28. http://www.abdullahquilliam.org/pdfs/AQS-Ramadan-Guide-2018-online.pdf (accessed 1 Nov 2022)

Abdullah Quilliam Society, "AQS Expansion Project 2021 & TV Appeal", Abdullah Quilliam Society, 15 March 2021, http://www.abdullahquilliam.org/aqs-expansion-project-2021/ (accessed 1 Nov 2022)

"The West Derby Union, Brougham Terrace" (1925), Marie Evans Picture Library, https://www.prints-online.com/west-derby-union-liverpool-office-8200549.html (accessed 1 Nov 2022)

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