Muhammad Abdul

Background

Muhammad Abduh was born in 1849 to a Turkish father and Arab mother in Lower Egypt. He also had Kurdish roots.

Education

His first education consisted of the traditional memorization of the Koran. In 1862 he studied at the Ahmadi mosque-academy in the provincial city of Tanta. In 1866 Abduh left Tanta for Cairo, where he completed the course of study at the Azhar mosque-university. In contrast to many of his fellows, Abduh pursued secular subjects such as history and natural science.

Career

One of the turning points in Abduh's life was the arrival in Cairo in 1872 of the enigmatic political activist Jamal ud-Din al-Afghani, who, over three continents, clamored for the regeneration of the Moslem world. The two men became fast friends, and under Jamal's influence Abduh began to extend the range of his vision from Egypt to the whole Moslem world.

Having finished his studies in 1877, Abduh became a teacher at both the Azhar and the new Dar al-Ulum (seat of learning). In 1880 he was asked to edit Al-Waqai al-Misriyah (Egyptian Events), the official gazette. Under his editorship it became the model for a new standard of modern, straightforward prose as well as a vehicle for liberal opinion.

But Abduh's life was not yet to become tranquil. When the revolt of Col. Urabi took place in 1882, Abduh was implicated and was exiled. He took up residence in Beirut and then went to Paris, where Jamal ud-Din had established himself. Together they edited the short-lived but highly influential journal Al-Urwa al-Wuthqa (The Strongest Bond), which called for reform at home and lashed out against colonialism in the Moslem world.

Abduh spent 1884 and 1885 traveling before taking up residence again in Beirut, where he began to teach from his home and to lecture in mosques. He was soon invited to teach in an official school. In 1888 Abduh returned to his native land, where he had become a national figure. He shortly entered the judiciary of the "native courts, " serving first in the provinces and then, in 1890, in Cairo.

In 1899 the khedive appointed Abduh chief mufti (jurisconsult) of Egypt, and in the same year he was also appointed to the advisory legislative council. His tenure as mufti was marked by his liberalism in interpretation of the law and by reform of the religious courts.

Abduh's career also attained great distinction in his advocacy of educational reforms. In 1895 Khedive Abbas II appointed him to a newly formed commission charged with reforming the venerable Azhar, and Abduh was thus able to implement at least in part many of his liberal ideas.

Abduh tried to mediate between the teachings of Islam and Western culture. To this end he ceaselessly prodded the hidebound traditionalists at home while fending off Western writers who he felt misunderstood Islam. After his return to Egypt, he advocated the efficacy of education over that of revolution in national regeneration.

In the area of language and literature Abduh wrote extensive commentaries on several classical Arabic literary works and coedited a 17-volume work on Arabic philology; in the mundane field his Taqrir fi Islah al-Mahakim al-Shariyah (1900; Report on the Reform of the Shariyah Courts) should be noted.

Achievements

• Abduh's writings were considerable. Most ambitious of all Abduh's works was his Tafsir al-Quran al-Hakim. The huge project was never completed, but the 12 volumes that appeared are the most important expression of modernist views of the scripture of Islam.

Works

• book

  • Risa?lat al-tawh?i?d (Kita?b al-Hila?l) (Arabic Edition)

    (This book is a replica, produced from digital images of t...)

Religion

Muhammad Abduh ibn Hasan Khayr Allah dedicated his efforts toward furthering respect and friendship between Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Politics

He was dedicated to reforming all aspects of Egyptian society and believed that education was the best way to achieve this goal. He was in favor of a good religious education, which would strengthen a child’s morals, and a scientific education, which would nurture a child’s ability to reason. In his articles he criticized corruption, superstition, and the luxurious lives of the rich.

Views

Quotations: "I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam. "

Membership

At the age of 28 Abduh joined a Masonic lodge, the Kawkab Al-Sharq (Planet of the East). A. M. Broadbent declared that "Sheikh Abdu was no dangerous fanatic or religious enthusiast, for he belonged to the broadest school of Moslem thought, held a political creed akin to pure republicanism, and was a zealous Master of a Masonic Lodge. "

References

• Muhammad 'Abduh by Osman Amin (American Council of Learned Societies. Near Eastern Translation Program. Publication)
• Muhammad Abduh (Makers of the Muslim World)