13 Facts About Marmaduke Pickthall

Marmaduke Pickthall declared his conversion to Islam in dramatic fashion after delivering a talk on 'Islam and Progress' on 29 November 1917, to the Muslim Literary Society in Notting Hill, West London.

Marmaduke William Pickthall was born in Cambridge Terrace, near Regent's Park in London, on 7 April 1875, the elder of the two sons of the Reverend Charles Grayson Pickthall and his second wife, Mary Hale, nee O'Brien.

Marmaduke Pickthall spent the first few years of his life in the countryside, living with several older half-siblings and a younger brother in his father's rectory in rural Suffolk.

Marmaduke Pickthall attended Harrow School but left after six terms.

Marmaduke Pickthall travelled across many Eastern countries, gaining a reputation as a Middle-Eastern scholar, at a time when the institution of the Caliphate had collapsed with the Muslim world failing to find consensus on appointing a successor.

Marmaduke Pickthall studied the Orient, and published articles and novels on the subject.

When news of the Armenian genocide reached Britain, Marmaduke Pickthall frequently wrote in defense of the Ottomans by downplaying atrocities committed against Armenians, whom he made derogatory remarks about.

In June 1917, Marmaduke Pickthall gave a speech defending the rights of Palestinian Arabs, in the context of the debate over the Balfour Declaration.

In November 1917, Marmaduke Pickthall publicly took shahada at the Woking Muslim Mission with the support of Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din.

Marmaduke Pickthall followed this with a speech contrasting the Christian and Muslim approaches to religious law, arguing that Islam was better equipped than Christianity to handle the post-World War world.

Marmaduke Pickthall preached Friday sermons in both the Woking Mosque and in London.

The Nizam's Government proposed to establish a Publicity Bureau in the Hyderabad State as it appeared in the Mushir-i-Deccan on 14 June 1931, that Marmaduke Pickthall is to be appointed Publicity Officer in addition to his own duties as Principal of the Chadarghat High School.

Marmaduke Pickthall was buried in the Muslim section at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England, where Abdullah Yusuf Ali was later buried.