麻豆约拍

Azim Ahmed looks at the extraordinary life and work of the nineteenth century Liverpool solicitor William Abdullah Quilliam. Although brought up as a Wesleyan, Quilliam would convert to Islam after a visit to Morocco. He returned with indefatigable zeal to establish a mosque in Liverpool, and to create a British version of Islam, complete with hymns and a very distinctive version of the national anthem. Quilliam used the title of 'Sheikh al-Islam' of the British Isles, a title he claimed was conferred on him by the Sultan of Turkey. Azim talks to Professor Ron Geaves of Cardiff University, and to Yahya Birt, an Islamic community historian. In addition, Azim talks to writer and historian Christina Longden, whose Cardiff-born ancestor Robert Stanley went on to become one of Quilliam's most significant converts.

This programme was first broadcast in January.