Editing Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani (section)

== Mohammad Abduh on Afghani ==
Because of the situation obtaining in the Muslim World in general, and in Egypt in particular – which he had made the center of his activities – Jamaluddin Afghani, despite his extraordinary intellect and passionate devotion to Islam and his Afghan pride and enthusiasm, could scarcely devote himself to anything besides the liquidation of foreign domination and political revival and integration of Muslim countries. Politics remained his major preoccupation. His famous pupil, Muhammad Abduh, has summed up his struggle in these words:

“So far as his political objective is concerned, which became a passion with him and in the pursuit of which he spent the whole of his life and bore immeasurable suffering and made gallant sacrifices, it lay in the resuscitation of the Muslim empire so that it could take its stand against the most advanced nations of the world and be a source of real strength and glory to Islam. The breaking of the British hold over the East formed an important plank of this program.” [Ahmad Amin: Zu‘ama’ al-Islah fi ‘l-‘Asr al-Hadith, pg. 106]

As for Muhammad Abduh himself, while acknowledging the valuable services rendered by him in the cause of Islam, it would be necessary to stress the fact that he was also among the pioneers of the modernist movement in the Arab world. He gave a powerful call for the reinterpretation of Islam in order to make it conform to the requirements of Twentieth Century society. His ideas and writings bear a heavy imprint of Western ideals. In this respect, there is little to choose between him and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (with the difference that Muhammad Abduh had a very deep knowledge of the Arabic language and literature and theological sciences, while Syed’s knowledge of them was rather superficial). The modernist trend can be discerned early in his commentary of the Qur’an, his theological fiats and other writings. The protagonists of modernism who came after him have drawn liberally upon his works.

Jamaluddin Afghani’s political activities shut out for him the other avenues of fruitful endeavor and for a man of his vision and sensitivities he could make little positive contribution to the reconstruction of Islamic life and society. The opportunity to lay the foundations of a new school of thought in the light of his intimate study and critical evolution of Western civilization which could cope with the challenge of time did not come his way.