The rebranding of Abdullah Quilliam

Abdullah Quilliam: Britain’s First Islamist? at Yahya Birt

Yahya Birt demolishes the attempt to rebrand Abdullah Quilliam, the pioneer British Muslim of the Victorian era, as some sort of mascot for the pacified “British Islam” being promoted by Ed Husain. Quilliam was, in fact, pro-Ottoman – i.e. in favour of retaining the caliphate as it existed – and opposed to British colonialism, and was hated and attacked by the bigots of his day (in Liverpool) rather than embraced, as Ed and his chums are.