Muhammad Abduh

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Lore & Background

Muhammad Abduh was born in 1849 to a father with Turkish ancestry and an Egyptian mother in the Nile Delta. His family was part of the Ottoman Egyptian elite: his father was part of the Umad, while his mother was part of the Ashraf. He was educated in Tanta at a private school, then sent to the Aḥmadī mosque at thirteen. After running away and getting married, he returned to school and studied under his Sufi Muslim uncle Dārwīsh, a member of the Madaniyya Tarîqâh. Under his uncle, Abduh began practicing the litany of the Madaniyya and was transformed toward Sufi asceticism. He suffered acute spiritual crises in his youth, similar to those of al-Ghazali. In 1866, he enrolled at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, studying logic, Islamic philosophy, theology, and Sufism. He became a student of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, choosing him as his murshid in an eight-year murid–murshid relationship. Al-Afghānī combined Sufi mysticism with the esoteric tradition of Persian Shīʿīsm and taught Abduh about Egypt's problems and Western technology. In 1877, Abduh was granted the degree of ʿālim and began teaching at Al-Azhar. He was appointed professor of history at Dar al-ʿUlūm in 1878 and taught Arabic at the Khedivial School of Languages. He was made editor-in-chief of al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyya. In 1879, due to political activism, al-Afghānī was exiled and Abduh was exiled to his home village. He was exiled from Egypt by British forces in 1882 for six years for supporting the ʻUrabi revolt. He spent years in Ottoman Lebanon, then moved to Paris in 1884, where he joined al-Afghānī in publishing al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā, an Islamic revolutionary journal promoting anti-British views. He also visited Britain and discussed Egypt and Sudan with high-ranking officials. In 1885, after stays in England and Tunisia, he returned to Beirut as a teacher. When he returned to Egypt in 1888, he began his legal career, appointed judge in the Courts of First Instance of the Native Tribunals. In 1891, he became a consultative member of the Court of Appeal. In 1899, he was appointed Grand Mufti of Egypt, holding the position until he died. He founded a religious society, became president of a society for the revival of Arab sciences, and worked to reform Al-Azhar's educational system. In 1900, he founded The Society for the Revival of Arabic Literature. He travelled extensively, meeting European scholars in Cambridge and Oxford, studying French law, and reading European and Arabic works in Vienna and Berlin. He died due to renal cell carcinoma in Alexandria on 11 July 1905.

Reader's Guide

Muhammad Abduh's significance as a reformer is rooted in his actions and writings. As a judge, he made decisions considered liberal, such as permitting meat butchered by non-Muslims and accepting loan interest. These views endeared him to the British, particularly Lord Cromer, but caused a rift with the khedive Abbas Hilmi and nationalist leader Mustafa Kamil Pasha. He argued that Muslims could not rely solely on medieval clerics' interpretations but needed to use reason to keep up with changing times. He said man was given intelligence to be guided by knowledge, and that a teacher's role was to direct men toward study. He believed Islam reproved slavish imitation of tradition. He authored Risālat at-Tawḥīd and a commentary on the Quran. He was a champion of the press, writing prolifically in Al-Manār and Al-Ahram, and briefly co-published the pan-Islamist anti-colonial newspaper al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā with al-Afghānī. He joined Freemasonry alongside al-Afghānī and other pupils but eventually left. His work at Al-Azhar aimed to improve examinations, curriculum, and working conditions for professors and students. He is regarded as a key founding figure of Islamic Modernism, sometimes called 'Neo-Muʿtazilism.'

Did You Know?

• Muhammad Abduh began teaching advanced students esoteric Islamic texts at Al-Azhar University while he was still a student there.
• He briefly co-published the pan-Islamist anti-colonial newspaper al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā alongside his teacher and mentor Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī.
• Abduh joined Freemasonry and subscribed to various Masonic lodges alongside al-Afghānī and his other pupils, but eventually left the secret society in his later years.
• He suffered from acute spiritual crises in his youth, similar to those experienced by the medieval Muslim scholar and Sufi mystic al-Ghazali.
• He died due to renal cell carcinoma in Alexandria on 11 July 1905.