This is the first biography of Lord Headley, who made international headlines in 1913 when he defied convention and publicly converted to Islam. Drawing on unpublished archival sources as well as comparative studies of contemporaneous Western Muslim converts, the book focusses on Headley's religious beliefs, conversion to Islam, work as a transnational Muslim leader, the socio-religious milieu in which he lived and his significance, especially in the global West.His journey to Islam is explained: from his Protestant upbringing to his encounter with Islam in India in the 1890s, spiritual crisis, meeting with the Muslim missionary Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din in London in 1913 and religious conversion. The book details how Lord Headley practiced and propagated Islam in interwar Britain, accounts for his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1923, describes his local and transnational interactions and relationships with other Muslims, including the Aga Khan, and shows how he became an international ambassador for Western Islam.Lord Headley slipped into obscurity following his death in 1935, but with the current interest in Muslim heritage in the West, 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 legacy and significance for contemporary understanding of Islam of the global West.

The British Muslim Convert Lord Headley, 1855–1935 PDF

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