MUSLIM FIGURES IN THE WESTERN WORLD

ABDULLAH QUILLIAM

• William Henry Quilliam:  Born 10 April 1856. Died 23 April 1932 > buried at Muslim Section at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey , England. 
• Convert to Islam in 1887 after visiting Morocco. 
• Founder of England's first mosque and Islamic Centre. 
• The Quilliam Foundation launched in 2008 was named after him. 

MARMADUKE PICKTHALL

• Marmaduke William Pickthall @ Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall
• Born 7 April 1875 : Died 19 May 1936 > buried at Muslim Section at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey , England. 
• English Islamic Scholar noted for his 1930 English translation of the Quran, called the "The Meaning of the Glorious Koran". 
• His translation of the Qur'an is one of the most widely known and used in the English-speaking world. 
• He declared his conversion to Islam on 29 November 1917.  

     MUHAMMAD ASAD @ LEOPOLD WEISS

• Born: 2 July 1900 >  Died: 20 February 1992 (buried at Muslim Cemetery of Granada in the former Moorish province of Andalusia, Spain. 
• Austro-Hungarian born Jew, a journalist, traveler, writer, linguist, political theorist and diplomat. Convert to Sunni Islam in 1926. 
• His translation of the Qur'an in English "The Message of The Qur'an"  is one of the most notable of his works. 
• His best-selling autobiography was "The Road to Mecca".
• In April 2008, a space in the front of the UNO City in the 22nd District of Vienna was named Muhammad-Asad-Platz in honor of him. 

    ROWLAND ALLANSON-WINN, 5TH BARON HEADLEY

• Also known as Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Farooq
• Born: 19 January 1855 > Died : 22 June 1935 > buried at Muslim Section at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey , England. 
• Convert to Islam on 16 November 1913.
• An Irish peer and one of the leading members of the Working Muslim Mission alongside Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din. 
• In 1914 he established the British Muslim Society and was also an author of several books on Islam.

    FATIMA ELIZABETH CATES

• Frances Elizabeth Murray - born 1865, Died 1900.
• The first known woman to convert Islam on British soil.

    LADY EVELYN COBBOLD @ ZAINAB COBBOLD

• Lady Evelyn Murray > Born 17 July 1867 , Died January 1963 (buried on an isolated hillside on her Glencarron Estate in Scotland. 
• A Scottish diarist, traveler and noblewoman
• Convert to Islam in 1915. 
• First English Woman born in Britain to perform Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1933. 
• Her book "Pilgrimage to Mecca" in 1934 is the first Hajj account by a Scottish woman and her diary also is the oldest record of a trip during the Hajj. 

    MALCOLM X 

• Born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz
• Born: 19 May 1925, Died 21 February 1965. 
• American Muslim Minister and Human Rights activist and a spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964.
• Went to Mecca to perform Hajj in April 1964. 
• On 21 February 1965, he was shot in Manhattan, New York City. 

    ELIJAH MUHAMMAD

• Born Elijah Robert Poole on 7 October 1897 and died 25 February 1975. 
• American religious leader who led Nation of Islam from 1934 - 1975. 
• A mentor of Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan, Muhammad Ali and his son Warith Deen Mohammed. 
• He was buried at Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens South , Illinois, USA. 

   WALLACE FARD MUHAMMAD

• Born on26 February 1877, dissapeared on 1934.
• The Founder of Nation of Islam.

    WARITH DEEN MOHAMMED

• Born Wallace Deen Muhammad on 30 October 1933, Died 9 September 2008 (buried at Mount Glenwood Memory Gardens (South), Glenwood,Cook County, Illinois, USA. 
• African-American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher, Muslim revivalist and Islamic Thinker. 
• He was son of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of Nation of Islam (1933 - 1975). 
• Leader of the Nation of Islam (1975-1976), American Society of Muslim (1976 - 2003). 

    MUHAMMAD ALI

• Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on 17 January 1942 and Died on 3 June 2016 - buried at Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, USA
• An American Professional Boxer and activist. 
• In 2002, Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the entertainment industry.His star is the only one to be mounted on a vertical surface, out of deference to his request that the name Muhammad—a name he shares with the Islamic prophet—not be walked upon

    MIKE TYSON

• Born Michael Gerard Tyson on 30 June 1966, New York, USA
• An American former Professional Boxer
• Arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18 year old girl and was sentenced to prison from 1992 to 1995. 
• He converted to Islam while in Prison and adopted the Muslim name Malik Abdul Aziz. 

    LOUIS FARRAKHAN

• Born Louis Eugene Walcott on 11 May 1933. 
• An American black supremacist and leader of Nation of Islam. 
• He was a former Calypso music singer. 
• He was banned from the Facebook in 2019 along with other public figures considered to be extremists. 

   KEITH MAURICE ELLISON

• Born 4 August 1963.
• American Politician and lawyer
• The first Muslim elected to US Congress and now the 30th Minnesota's Attorney General from January 7, 2019. 

    CLEARANCE JACK ELLIS @ HAKIM MANSOUR ELLIS

• Born 6 January 1946
• A Politician and a former Mayor of Macon,Georgia,USA
• Served 20 years in the United States Army as a paratrooper and served 2 years in Vietnam. 
• In 2007, he converted to Islam and changed his legal name to Hakim Mansour Ellis. 

    MARTIN LING @ ABU BAKR SIRAJ AD-DIN

• Born 24 January 1909, Died 12 May 2005
• English writer, Islamic Scholar and philosopher. 
• He is best known as the author of "Muhammad His Life Based on the Earliest Sources" first published in 1983 and is still in print. 

    CAT STEVEN @ YUSUF ISLAM

• Born Steven Demetre Georgiou on 21 July 1948. Stage name Cat Steven
• A British singer-songwriter an multi-instrumentalist. 
• Convert to Islam in December 1977 and became famous Islamic preacher in Europe. 

    HAMZA YUSUF

• Born Mark Hanson in 1958.
• An American Islamic neo-traditionalist, Islamic Scholar and co-founder of  Zaytuna College. 
• Listed in the top 50 of "The 500 Most Influential Muslims"
• In 1977, after a near-death experience in a car accident and reading the Qur'an, he converted to Islam. 

   PIRRE VOGEL @ ABU HAMZA

• Born 20 July 1978, Frechen, West Germany
• A former Professional Boxer and now a German Islamist Preacher. 
• Convert to Islam in 2001, considered to be one of the most influential Islamist in Germany. 

    BILAL PHILIPS

• Born Dennis Bradley Philips on 17 July 1947. 
• A Jamaica-born Canadian Islamic teacher, speaker, author, founder and chancellor of the International Open University. 
• Philips moved with his family to Sabah, East Malaysia in1964 as his parents were part of the Colombo Plan. 

   SADIQ KHAN

• Born 8 October 1970
• British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. 
• He was included in the 2018 "Time 100 List most influential people in the world. 

    TIMOTHY WINTER @ ABDAL HAKIM MURAD

• Born Timothy John Winter on 15 May 1960. 
• An English academic, Theologian and Islamic scholar. 
• The founder and Dean of the Cambridge Muslim College, Aziz Foundation Professor of Islamic Studies at both Cambridge Muslim College an Ebrahim College. 
• Director of Studies (Theology and Religious Studies) at Wolfson College and the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at University of Cambridge. 
• He became a Muslim in 1979
• Included in "The 500 Most Influential Muslims" in the rank of 45th.

      SAMUEL EARLE SHROPSHIRE

• American pastor turned Muslim prescher
• The friendly treatment he received while visiting Saudi Arabia led him to convert to Islam. 
• Travelled to Jeddah in 2011 to work as an editor for a new translation of the Quran. 
• Now lived in Saudi Arabia and founder of non-profit organisation Muslim Voice for Peace & Reconciliation.

    RICHARD MCKINNEY

• Former US Marine Corps
• While serving several tours in the Middle East, he viewed all Muslims as mortal enemies. 
• He was about to bomb an Indiana Mosque, plan to construct an improvised Explosive Device (IED) in 2009. But the kindness of the Muslim make changed his plan.
• He is now a President of the Islamic Centre of Muncie. 

• 

• Born Emilie Siobhan Geoghegan Francois on December 1982.
• English journalist, filmmaker and writer. 
• CEO of Production Company MPWR Productions.
• Convert to Muslim in 2004.

    NICOLE QUEEN

• Former event photographer in Dallas, USA and most of her work was at night clubs. 
• Convert to Islam in April 2007.
• Member of Muslim American Society.

   YVONNE RIDLEY

• Born 23 April 1958.
• A British journalist, author and politician. 
• She was captured by the Taliban at Afghanistan on 28 September 2001, 2 years later she convert to Islam. 
• After her conversion, she delivered lectures on issues relating to Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kashmir, Uzbekistan, women in Islam, the War on Terror, and journalism at universities across the US, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East.

   LAUREN BOOTH

• Born Sarah Jane Booth on 22 July 1967. 
• An English Broadcaster, Journalist and Activist holding a VIP Palestinian Authority Passport. 
• Sister in Law of Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. 
• Convert to Islam in 2010 a few years after her visit to Palestine. 

   KRISTIANE VERENA BACKER

• Born 13 December 1965
• TV Presenter, Journalist and Author. 
• Convert to Islam in 1995. 
• In May 2009, she published the book "From MTV To Mecca - How Islam Changed my Life". 

    RAFFIA ARSHAD

• First UK Deputy District Judge to wear a hijab

   MELANIE GEORGIADES

• Born on 25 July 1980 at Nicosia, Cyprus. 
• Better known by her stage name Diam's is a retired French Rapper of Greek Cypriot origin.
• Convert to Islam in December 2008 

Hj. Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, KL

Update: 11/6/2023 > 23 Zulkaedah 1444H: 9.43 pm