麻豆社

Good morning.

Last week I went to the launch of a new book, 鈥極ur Fatima of Liverpool鈥�.

Fatima Elizabeth Cates was one of the Founders of the earliest Mosque to be established in Britain in 1887 which today is run by the Abdullah Quilliam Society. Her work and commitment at the time was pivotal to ensuring it was at the heart of the community, feeding poor people, housing and clothing those who needed help. One of their first events was on Christmas Day giving dinner and presents to 230 local children from poor families.

A teacher and a historian, piecing together whatever they can from the archives, have uncovered details of Fatima鈥檚 life. There is not much but what they have found is fascinating and a story worth telling.

Fatima was ostracised by her family because of her interest in Islam and along with the other Muslims of the day, she was physically and verbally abused. One harrowing account mentions how a member of the public rubbed horse manure over her face.

Fatima鈥檚 mother threatened to burn the Qur鈥檃n due to prejudice to her daughter鈥檚 new found faith, I couldn鈥檛 help but think about incidents of Qur鈥檃n burning in parts of the world today.

Another difficult part of her story was how Fatima was abused by her husband. She bravely filed for divorce and challenged the divorce laws of the time and that is one of the few documents we do have as our reference back to her life.

Stories can often be forgotten over time and that applies more to women. Indeed, Fatima鈥檚 story has, until now, been lost in what some would consider to be the bigger story of Abdullah Quilliam, an influential Muslim convert of the day.

The first word in the Qur鈥檃n is Iqra meaning read or recite and through the verse Muslims are encouraged to 鈥渞ead or recite in the name of your Lord, most generous, who taught humans with the pen what they did not know鈥� and Prophet Muhammad taught that 鈥渟eeking education is an obligation on every Muslim鈥�.

Learning about people who have, over time, become footnotes in history is important. A powerful moment at the launch was when Amirah, a local woman from Liverpool spoke of how she felt connected to Fatima, as an inspiration to Muslim women today.

Sitting with other guests, especially the local Muslim women, it was apparent that they feel very proud to be part of Liverpool and that their heritage and current day identity are all woven together. What happened to Fatima over 100 years ago still echoes today.

I鈥檓 grateful to the people who have unearthed this otherwise unknown story of a remarkable young woman who fought discrimination, prejudice and abuse and at the heart of it held onto her faith and belief in God that can now be an inspiration for generations to come.

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