The Liverpool Muslim Institute was founded by Abdullah Quilliam in 1887.

Overview

William Henry Quilliam was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1856. He developed an interest in

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

when travelling in Morocco. In 1887 he converted to the religion, taking the name Abdullah Quilliam and founding the Liverpool Muslim Institute with Mrs. Elizabeth Cates. Within two years they had set up a small

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

within their building at 8, Brougham Terrace, on West Derby Road, Liverpool. The ''Liverpool Mosque and Muslim Institute'' was officially established in 1891. This was probably the first recorded mosque in the United Kingdom, as the earlier date attributed to the mosque at 2 Glynrhondda Street, Cardiff has been discounted. By 1893 they started publishing ''The Crescent'' on a weekly basis, to be supplemented by ''The Islamic World'', which appeared on a monthly basis. They developed their own print shop in the basement of the building and soon attracted an international readership from across 20 countries. Maulavi Barkatullah worked at the institute from 1895 to 1899. Abdul Kadir Khan ( bar-at-law), son of Haj
Munir
Khan was a trusted companion of Abdullah Quilliam; he taught Arabic, Urdu and Persian with professors Nasrullah Warren and Haschem Wilde at Liverpool Muslim Institute. Robert Stanley served as the vice president of mosque. By the turn of the century they numbered 150, mostly English people. They were able to expand into adjacent buildings and soon organised a school. They also developed a library, a reading room, museum and science laboratory, providing evening classes for Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Quilliam left Liverpool in 1908 in advance of being struck off as a solicitor and his son disposed of the property that had been used as a mosque and Islamic centre and the Muslim community in Liverpool dispersed. Brougham Terrace became home to the Liverpool Register Office until 2000. The Abdullah Quilliam Society was formed in 1996. The Society is raising funds to restore 8–10, Brougham Terrace to re-open the historic mosque and establish an educational centre. It has signed a two-year lease on the premises and has started restoration work. 8, Brougham Terrace, West Derby Road was upgraded to a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 2018. It is built in brick, partly

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed, with stone dressings, and a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof. The terrace has three storeys, and is in six bays. The windows are sashes. At the top is a shallow

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

References

External links

{{Commonscategory, 8 - 10 Brougham Terrace, Liverpool
Abdullah Quilliam Society - Official WebsiteEnglish Heritage; Where was Britain's first recorded Mosque?
History of Liverpool 1887 establishments in England Religion in Merseyside Mosques completed in the 1890s Religious buildings and structures completed in 1891 Religion in Liverpool Mosques in England