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Taslim Ali
‐
Advocate for the needs of Muslims in Britain and a leading figure in the East London Mosque
Other names
Haji Taslim Ali
Place of birth
About
Taslim Ali was a pioneer in the establishment and advancement of the needs of Muslims in Britain, as well as a leading figure in the East London Mosque. With his English wife, who converted to Islam, as well as friend Nawab Ali and his wife, he opened a boarding-house-cum-cafe and a halal butcher's shop in the 1940s. Perhaps more significantly still, he is said to have been Britain's first Muslim undertaker. According to Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi, he began this role by renting a room near the East London Mosque to use as a Muslim mortuary. Having collected dead bodies from hospitals, he would prepare them according to Muslim rites and perform funeral services. His wife performed the same duties for women.
Taslim Ali continued to remain active in the East London Mosque for several decades following the Second World War and partition of India and Pakistan, and was a leading figure in the Pakistan Caterers' Association from its formation in 1960.
Ayub Ali, Mushraf Ali, Nawab Ali, Abdul Hamid, Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi.
Adams, Caroline, Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers (London: THAP, 1987)
Ansari, Humayun, The Making of the East London Mosque: 1910–1951. Minutes of the East London Mosque Fund and East London Mosque Trust Ltd (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011)
East London Mosque Archives, London
Image credit
© Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1930s – present
