At the turn of the 20th century the Ottoman Caliphate was in a severely weakened state. Nicknamed the “sick man of Europe” much of the Caliphate’s lands were under control of colonial powers Britain and France. Growing discontentment in the Arabs lands was surfacing as the concept of Arab nationalism, first introduced by the western powers, took a strong hold among some of the influentials. This nationalism eventually led to the British backed Arab revolt in 1916 that saw the Arab lands declare independence from the Ottoman Caliphate.

Shaikh William Henry Abdullah Quilliam (1856-1932) was a native Englishman, a solicitor, from Liverpool, England, who embraced Islam in 1887 and established Britain’s first mosque in Liverpool. He was the son of a watch manufacturer, Robert Quilliam, and a descendent of Capt. John Quilliam R.N., who was First Lieutenant aboard HMS Victory under the famous British Admiral Horatio Nelson.

In 1845, the onset of the Great Irish Famine resulted in over a million deaths. Ottoman Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Mejid I declared his intention to send 10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only 1,000 sterling, because she had sent only 2,000 sterling herself. The Sultan sent the 1,000 sterling but also secretly sent 3 ships full of food. The English courts tried to block the ships, but the food arrived in Drogheda harbor and was left there by Ottoman Sailors. Due to this the Irish people, especially those in Drogheda, are friendly to the Turks.