Abdullah Quilliam Mosque

The Abdullah Quilliam Mosque at 8-10 Brougham Terrace, off West Derby Road in Liverpool, occupies the site of the first mosque established in England. William Henry Quilliam, a Liverpool-born solicitor, converted to Islam after travelling in Morocco and took the name Abdullah Quilliam in 1887. In 1889 the growing community moved into premises at number 8 Brougham Terrace and opened a small mosque, widely recorded as the first functioning mosque in Britain; the Liverpool Muslim Institute was formally established in 1891.

Under Quilliam, the institute grew into a substantial community hub, with a boys' school, a day school for girls, an orphanage (Medina House), a library, a museum and a science laboratory, and it published periodicals such as The Crescent and The Islamic World. After Quilliam left Liverpool around 1908 the institute declined and the buildings were vacated, later passing to Liverpool Corporation and serving for many years as a register office.

The Abdullah Quilliam Society was formed in 1999 to restore the historic building and reinstate the mosque. The restored mosque reopened on 27 June 2014, the charity gained the freehold from Liverpool City Council in 2018, and the building was upgraded to Grade II* listed status. Today it operates as the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque and National Heritage Centre — a working mosque for the five daily prayers and Friday Jummah that also welcomes Muslim and non-Muslim visitors, hosts school visits and Visit My Mosque open days, and continues restoration of the original terrace.