Masud

Blue Plaques of Muslim London

Categories : British Muslim Heritage, History

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• 07, December, 2021

By Isla Rosser-Owen

The Blue Plaques Scheme was started in 1867 by the Royal Society of Arts, upon the successful persuasion of MP William Ewart. The Scheme was a way of honouring note-worthy or famous people who had contributed in some way to society, history or to the local area. Initially the Scheme placed more emphasis on the buildings themselves, but more recently it has been adopted by a numbers of boroughs as a way of developing an interest in the history of the local area. The Blue Plaques have proved to be most popular with tourists visiting London, who are only too happy to see where the artists, physicists, statesmen and great literary figures of the past had lived, died, or stopped off. Blue Plaques have become such an attraction for a number of cities, most notably London, that other countries have also considered starting their own collection. Visitors to Cairo over the next few months will be able to view the new plaques popping up all over the city commemorating key figures such as the singer Umm Kulthum.

The Blue Plaques are being erected all the time, and English Heritage along with the local boroughs can be approached with any nominations, either via their websites, or by calling English Heritage at the following number: 0207-973-3794. Local authority archives can confirm address details if otherwise unknown, and probably also the relevant dates.

There are not too many plaques of Muslims in London, but there are an awful lot of plaques for people who had a connection with Islam or Muslims.

Muslim Blue Plaques:

• Sir Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i Azam) (1876-1948) – Founder of Pakistan
• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898) – Muslim Reformer and Scholar
• Mustapha Pasha Reschid (1800-1858) – Turkish Statesman and Reformer

Related Blue Plaques of Muslim London (a selection):

• Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) – Pre-Raphaelite Painter
• Sir Charles Vyner Brooke (1874-1963) – Last Rajah of Sarawak
• Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) – Essayist and Historian
• Howard Carter (1874-1939) – Egyptologist, discoverer of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
• George Nathaniel, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1859-1925) – Viceroy of India
• William Daniell (1769-1837) – Artist and Engraver of Indian Scenes
• Washington Irving (1783-1859) – American Writer, author of “Tales of the Alhambra” and “The Life of Muhammed”
• Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) – Poet and Storywriter
• Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, KG (1850-1916)
• T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935) – “Lawrence of Arabia”
• Frederick, Lord Leighton (1830-1896) – Painter, Leighton House
• Sir John Everett Millais, Bt PRA (1829-1896) – Pre-Raphaelite Painter
• Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887-1976)
• Dr Harold Moody (1882-1947) – Campaigner for Racial Equality
• Mountbatten, Earl of Burma (1900-1979) and Countess of Burma (1901-1960) – Last Viceroy and Vicereine of India
• Dadabhai Nairoji (1892) – First Asian MP
• Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) – Natural Philosopher of Islamic influence
• Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) – Egyptologist and Anthropologist
• George Frederick Samuel Robinson, Marquess of Ripon (1827-1909) – Statesman and Viceroy of India
• Arthur Waley (1889-1966) – Poet, Translator, and Orientalist (Sinologist)
• William Wilberforce (1759-1833) – Opponent of Slavery
• Edward Wood, 1^st Earl of Halifax (1881-1959) – Statesman, Viceroy of India, and Foreign Secretary

Proposed Muslim Blue Plaques (a selection):
[Dates in brackets indicate when they visited or lived in London. Addresses are given where possible, where unknown it is indicated by “no further details”; and this means that further research has to be done into local borough records.]

• Shaykh ‘Omar ‘Abdullah (1951, 1974) – Ambassador of the Comoros Republic (no further details)
• Al-Hajj ‘Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali CBE – Scholar and Qur’an Translator, lived at 34 Woodside, Wimbledon and 3 Mansel Road, Wimbledon SW19
• ‘Abdul Wahid el-Anouri (1600) – Moroccan Ambassador (no further details)
• Abu Bakr Siddiq of Jenne (Empire of Mali), also known as Edward Doulan – (no further details)
• Lt Col Ata’ur Rahim – (no further details)
• Domingo Badia y Leiblich – (no further details)
• Lt Col ‘Abdullah Baines-Hewitt – (no further details)
• Sir Abu Bakar Tafawa Balewa (Prime Minister of Nigeria) – (no further details)
• Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto – (no further details)
• Jaudar ben ‘Abdullah (1632) – Moroccan Ambassador who stayed at Wood Street (no further details)
• ‘Abdullah Quilliam Bey – Shaykhu-l Islam of the British Isles – (no further details)
• Lady Khalida Buchanan-Hamilton, President of the British Islamic Society – (no further details)
• John Lewis Burckhardt – (no further details)
• Titus Burckhardt – (no further details)
• Al-Hajj Hedley (Mahmoud Mobarek) Churchward – Theatre Painter and Sketcher – (no further details)
• Lady Zaynab (Evelyn) Cobbold – (no further details)
• Sir Archibald and Lady Hamilton – (no further details)
• Al-Hajj Lord Headley al-Farooq – (no further details)
• Hindoostanee Coffee House, 34 George Street, Portman Square (1810-1833)
• Al-Hajj Ismail Hobson – Polymath and Scholar – (no further details)
• Dr Al-Hajj Abu Bakr Sirajuddin (Martin) Lings – scholar – (no further details)
• Dr William Stoddard – scholar and medical practitioner – (no further details)
• Nizam of Hyderabad, and sons – (no further details)
• Sir Muhammad Iqbal – Poet and educationalist – (no further details)
• Sir Syed Ameer ‘Ali – author and Indian activist – (no further details)
• Islamic Information Bureau and Islamic Literary Society, 111 Campden Hill Road
• Habibiyyah Zawiyyah – Bristol Gardens (Warwick Avenue)
• Shaykh ‘Abdu-l Qadir al-Murabit (Ian Dallas) – scholar – Bristol Gardens 
• Sultan of Johor
• Al-Hajj Khwaja Kamaluddin – Founder of Woking Muslim Mission – (no further details)
• Dr Safa Khulusi – Author of “Islam Our Choice” – (no further details)
• Haroun Mustapha Leon – Polymath and Linguist – (no further details)
• Sayyid Sadiq al-Mahdi of the Sudan – (no further details)
• Sake Dean Mahomet – George IV’s Shampooing Surgeon and Proprietor of the Hindoostanee Coffee House, and London’s first Indian restaurant – 34 George Street
• Princess Fawzia Osmanli – Painter, and expert on Cezanne (grand-daughter of Sultan ‘Abdul Hamid II) – (no further details)
• Prince Sami Osmanli – the London Visitors’ Hotel (Kensington)
• Sultan of Perak – (no further details)
• William Burchell Bashyr Pickard – Former Imam of Woking Mosque – (no further details)
• Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall – Scholar, Convert to Islam, and Qur’an Translator – 97 Warwick Gardens
• Tengku ‘Abdul Rahman Putra al-Hajj – 1^st Prime Minister of Malaysia – (no further details)
• Marzouk Rais (1589) – First Moroccan Ambassador to England – (no further details)
• 1^st King of Saudi Arabia – (no further details)
• ‘Abdullah Scott – (no further details)
• Idris Shah – Writer on Sufism – (no further details)
• Dr Khalid Sheldrake – Emir of Kashghar – (no further details)
• Baron Stanley of Alderley, Earl of Sheffield – (no further details)
• Dr Hasan ‘Abdullah al-Turabi (1957) – Leader of the Sudanese People’s Congress – (no further details)
• Ismail de Yorke – Muslim Society of Great Britain – (no further details)