The British Muslim Convert Lord Headley, 1855-1935

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This is the first biography of Lord Headley, who made international headlines in 1913 when he defied convention by publicly converting to Islam. Drawing on previously unpublished archival sources, this book focuses on Headley's religious beliefs, conversion to Islam, and work as a Muslim leader during and after the First World War. Lord Headley slipped into obscurity following his death in 1935, but there is growing recognition globally that he is a pivotal figure in the history of Western Islam and Muslim-Christian relations; this book evaluates the strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures of the man and his work, and considers his significance for contemporary understandings of Islam in the Global West.

Reviews

This is the first major biography of Rowland Allanson-Winn, the Anglo-Irish peer Lord Headley, a civil engineer who converted to Islam in 1913. Jamie Gilham tells the fascinating story of how Headley both played an important part in the institutionalization of Islam in Britain and came to be known throughout the world as a leading British Muslim. Essential reading for those interested in the growth of Islam in the West. * Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK *
This timely tribute to Headleys legacy challenges stereotypes about British Islam as a mainly migrant phenomenon. * Clinton Bennett, State University of New York at New Paltz, USA *
Jamie Gilham has brilliantly reconstructed the life of Lord Headley against the background of the history of Muslims in Great Britain in the colonial age. I thought I knew the story well. But in this fascinating journey Jamie Gilham recreates Headleys riveting and rich historical account which makes the book an essential reading for general readers and specialists. * Amr Ryad, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium *

Author Bio

Jamie Gilham is an independent historian and biographer in the UK. He is the author of Loyal Enemies: British Converts to Islam, 1850-1950 (2014) and editor of Victorian Muslim: Abdullah Quilliam and Islam in the West (2017).