Abdullah Quilliam (Henri De Léon) and Marmaduke Pickthall 85
the words of letter he sent to Arthur Field, the Secretary of the Anglo- Ottoman
Society in 1914 offering up his resignation as vice-president.
No-one in the Society loves Turkey and the Turks more than I do, and
I would do anything in my power to promote by legitimate means the
welfare of the Ottoman Empire, but at this juncture, I am convinced that
a most terrible error has been committed by those who have control of
the destinies of Turkey.40Quilliam is unequivocally blaming the Young Turks for the decision to side
with Germany and goes on to state that “a few foolish, young and headstrong
men” have dragged a “noble race” into an “indiscreet action”. His language
clearly demonstrates his position. He places the blame on “extreme mem-
bers of the Committee of Union and Progress who have delivered themselves
over, body, heart and soul, to Germany”. He sees this as a strategic mistake
that will “ effectively pave the way for the utter ruin and down fall of the Otto-
man Empire”. As a consequence he feels that he should do nothing that adds
“to Britain’s troubles”.
As far as is known, the British intelligence services declined Quilliam’s assis-
tance, probably mistrusting his membership of various Muslim organisations
which he shared with other more firebrand figures.41 He remained true to his
word, only returning to membership of the Anglo-Ottoman Society after the
war in 1919, once again preaching his long term belief that it lay in Britain’s long
term strategic interests to preserve the Ottoman Empire. Needless to say, this
commitment was linked to the maintenance of the Ottoman Sunni caliphate.
His loyalty to the caliphate made him the natural choice to chair the speech
made by Mohamed Ali (1878–1931), one of the founders of the Indian Khilafat
Movement, at Woking mosque in 1920. The delegation was invited to address
British Muslims on what was considered to be the unjust terms inflicted by
(see Geaves, 215–16). Quilliam’s position was complex and expressed a dual loyalty to
Islam and nation. However, his loyalty to the Caliph and the Ottomans would sometimes
bring him into direct conflict national interests as perceived by various Government
policies.
40 De Léon to Field 5 November 1914. For the full text see Gilham, Loyal, 82.
41 At various times both Quilliam and Pickthall would share platforms or prominent roles in
organisations with Mushir Hussain Kidwai, Dusé Mohamed Ali and Mirza Hashim Ispa-
hani. Kidwai and Ali were both active in condemning British imperialism in Africa and
Asia. They were involved with various Turcophile organisations that organized activists to
promote pan Islamism or encourage nascent nationalisms in Turkey, the Middle East and
India (see Gilham, 217).