Abdul Kadir Khan was a student at Agra College, Allahabad University District, Uttar Pradesh, India. The Khanpur Estate (Major Taluqdar) in Bulandshahr District, Uttar Pradesh, bore witness to generations of his ancestors who served as Mansabdar under the Mughals. They also settled twelve villages of Pathans on the shores of Ganga, better known as Barah Basti, in the Bulandshahr District of Uttar Pradesh.
They played a significant role during the First War of Independence in 1857 and fought against the British Empire under the overall command of Nawab Walidad Khan of Malagarh, whose niece was married to Prince Mirza Jawan Baqt, the only son of Bahadur Shah Zafar and Zeenat Mahal.
Abdul Kadir Khan’s father, grandfather, and granduncle played a significant role during the First War of Independence in 1857.
Tipu Sultan’s swords and ring in two Museums in London
Abdul Kadir Khan moved to London to pursue a career in the field of law. Admitted to the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, he became a barrister in 1897. The other distinguished Barristers with Abdul Kadir Khan in the Honorable Society of Middle Temple were – Husain Badruddin Tyabji, son of Badruddin Tayabji, the first Muslim judge of Bombay and the President of the third session of the Indian National Congress and Devchandra Uttamchand Parekh who first addressed Bapu as ‘Shriman Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’ on January 21, 1915.
Abdul Kadir Khan’s Impact on LMI’s Community
Abdul Kadir Khan taught Arabic, Urdu, and Persian at the Liverpool Muslim Institute (LMI), succeeding the great freedom fighter of India, Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali. Other professors at the Liverpool Muslim Institute during his time included Nasrullah Warren and Haschem Wilde. Many articles in LMI’s newspaper, ‘The Crescent’, mention that Abdullah Quilliam used to call him Brother Abdul Kadir Khan.
The lectures of Abdul Kadir Khan published in ‘The Crescent’ included topics such as ‘The Pilgrimage to Mecca’, ‘Theology of Namaz’, ‘Study of Arabic’, ‘Religious Forms and Ceremonies’, and many more. He also served on the committee that managed the Liverpool Moslem Institute school, and he proposed suggestions to the architect Mr. McGovern for the proposed designs for the Liverpool Moslem Institute’s (LMI ) purpose-built mosque. Abdul Kadir Khan was an active member of the Liverpool Moslem Institute Debating Society and was present at the marriage of Muslim Prince Nawab Mohammad Ali Khan, the son of Nawab Yusuf Ali Khan, the independent ruler of Rampur State.
Abdul Kadir Khan also participated in the resolution to celebrate the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Gazi Abdul Hamid’s birthday. He passed a resolution to congratulate the second child to graduate from LMI’s school. Abdul Kadir Khan’s reputation and piety earned him the prestigious appointment of leading Eid-ul-Adha prayers at both the Liverpool mosque and London’s first operating mosque, affiliated with the Liverpool one. He also served as an Imam at the Liverpool mosque for a long time and led the Friday prayers several times. Additionally, he led the Funeral Prayer (Janaza Namaz) of a little child, Florence Zulikha Thompson, who had been a pupil at the LMI school.
How India is connected to England’s first mosque
Black Pudding Brawl
An extraordinary incident took place at the LMI school in late September 1897. The Institute’s Literary and Debating Society held a discussion on “Is swine’s flesh suitable for human food?” Many opinions were expressed on both sides of the issue, much of which was humorous on the part of the defenders of porcine foodstuffs. One such defender generated quite a round of laughter when he referred to Quilliam stating, “I admire your chairman. He is a decent sort of chap, but see how thin he is…I think it is from not eating pork chops.”
Near the end of the proceedings, Abdul Kadir Khan was making his summation when a man from the visitor’s gallery shouted “I love pig, I love pork,” and began throwing black pudding (sausage generally made from pig’s blood mixed with pork lard and oats) at the audience. Several of the projectiles hit Ghazi Essad Poulmear in the face and the back of the head as he stood to reply to Khan’s words. The man escaped, despite the efforts of some Muslim attendees to catch him. Despite the crowd’s agitation, Quilliam skillfully employed humor to calm emotions.
After serving at the Liverpool Muslim Institute and mosque for years, Abdul Kadir Khan returned to India and took care of his village’s estate with his brother Abdul Ghafur Khan (Namberdar) at Haveli Bassi village in the Bulandshahr District of Uttar Pradesh, India. He mostly lived in Kothi, Meerut district, and practised his advocacy career at the Honourable Court of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Later on, Fazl ur Rehman Khan, Abdul Kadir Khan’s son, achieved the prestigious position of deputy collector in various districts.
