Editing Muhammad Abduh (section)

== Relationship with Freemasonry ==
[[File:MohamedTewfik.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tewfik Pasha]] (1852–1892), the [[Khedivate of Egypt#List of khedives|Ottoman Khedive of Egypt and Sudan]] between 1879 and 1892]]

=== Entry into Freemasonry ===
Since the 19th century,<ref name="Dumont 2005">{{cite journal |author-last=Dumont |author-first=Paul |date=July 2005 |title=Freemasonry in Turkey: A By-product of Western Penetration |editor-last=D'haen |editor-first=Theo |journal=[[European Review]] |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=481–493 |doi=10.1017/S106279870500058X |s2cid=145551813 |issn=1474-0575}}</ref> [[Freemasonry]] and its semi-secret organizational structure provided an open forum for the discussion and exchange of ideas between Egyptians from various social-economic backgrounds in Egypt, as well as among populations of various other countries in the [[Muslim world]], predominantly those living in the [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire|its provinces]] ([[History of Lebanon under Ottoman rule|Lebanon]], [[Ottoman Syria|Syria]], [[Ottoman Cyprus|Cyprus]], and [[History of North Macedonia#Ottoman period|Macedonia]]).<ref name="Dumont 2005"/> They played an important role in early Egyptian national politics. Recognizing its potential political platform, [[Jamal al-Din al-Afghani|al-Afghānī]] joined the Freemasons and also encouraged his disciples to join it, including ʿAbduh.<ref name="Kudsi-Zadeh 1972"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Fahmy |first=Ziad |year=2011 |title=Ordinary Egyptians Creating the Modern Nation Through Popular Culture |location=[[Stanford, California]] |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |pages=47–48 |isbn=978-0-8047-7211-2}}</ref>

At the age of 28, ʿAbduh became a [[Freemasonry|Freemason]] and joined a [[Masonic lodge]], the Kawkab Al-Sharq ("Planet of the East"). Its members included [[Tewfik Pasha|Prince Tawfiq]], the Khedive's son and heir, leading personalities such as [[Mohamed Sherif Pasha|Muhammad Sharif Pasha]], who had been a minister, Sulayman Abaza Pasha, and [[Saad Zaghloul|Saad Zaghlul]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/341054 |title=What did Muhammad Abduh do? |date=31 March 2010 |publisher=Arab News |access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Raafat 1999">Raafat, Samir. "Freemasonry in Egypt: Is it still around?" ''Insight Magazine'', 1 March 1999.</ref>

Over the years, ʿAbduh obtained membership in several other [[Masonic lodge]]s based in [[Cairo]] and [[Beirut]].<ref name="Brill 2016"/> In line with [[Freemasonry#Joining a lodge|Masonic principles]], ʿAbduh sought to encourage unity with all religious traditions. He stated:

{{Blockquote|text="I hope to see the two great religions, [[Christianity and Islam|Islam and Christianity]] hand-in-hand, embracing each other. Then the [[Torah]] and the [[Bible]] and the Qur'an will become books supporting one another being read everywhere, and respected by every nation.}}
He added that he was "looking forward to seeing Muslims read the Torah and the Bible."<ref>Muhammad ʿAbduh, "Islam and Christianity", in ''Waqf Ikhlas, The Religion Reformers in Islam'', [[Istanbul]], 1995, page 117.</ref>

=== Withdrawal from Freemasonry ===
ʿAbduh was asked by his associate [[Rashid Rida]], a vehement [[Anti-Masonry|anti-Mason]], regarding the reason for him and his teacher [[Jamal al-Din al-Afghani|Jamal al-Din al-Afghānī]] joining Freemasonry. He replied that they participated in the organisation to accomplish a "political and social purpose".<ref>Rida, "Tatimmat", p. 402. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 92, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1972), pp. 25–35.</ref> Afghānī and his disciples, including ʿAbduh, initially viewed [[Masonic lodge]]s as a vehicle for [[anti-colonial]] campaign and co-ordinate activities to depose [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egyptian Khedive]] [[Isma'il Pasha|Ismail Pasha]]; enabled by the secretive nature of the lodges.<ref name="Kudsi-Zadeh 2">{{Cite journal |last=Kudsi-Zadeh |first=A. Albert |date=1 February 2012 |title=Afghānī and Freemasonry in Egypt |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599645 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=26, 27, 28, 29, 30 |doi=10.2307/599645 |jstor=599645 |quote="Abduh was one, although later in life he attempted to obfuscate his association"}}</ref> But eventually, they came to the conclusion that Freemasonry itself was subordinate to [[European imperialism|European imperial powers]] in undermining the sovereignty of the [[Muslim world]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryad |first=Umar |date=2022 |title=From the Dreyfus Affair to Zionism in Palestine: Rashid Riḍā's Views of Jews in Relation to the 'Christian' Colonial West |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9762/9312 |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=9–10 |doi=10.46586/er.11.2022.9762 |quote="Afghānī quickly saw that masonic lodges were dragging Muslim countries, especially Egypt, towards Europe with hidden political strings so that they consequently would become toys in the hands of Europeans." |via=Ruhr Universitat Bochum|doi-access=free }}</ref> Along with his mentor al-Afghānī, ʿAbduh would later withdraw from Freemasonry due to political disputes. An incident where a group of Freemasons lauded the visiting [[Prince of Wales|British Crown Prince]] sparked a serious dispute between al-Afghānī and the Freemasons; eventually causing al-Afghānī, ʿAbduh, and his disciples to quit Freemasonry.<ref name="Ryad 2022 8"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kudsi-Zadeh |first=A. Albert |date=1 February 2012 |title=Afghānī and Freemasonry in Egypt |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599645 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=26, 27, 28, 29, 30 |doi=10.2307/599645 |jstor=599645 |quote=}}</ref> In his later years, ʿAbduh disassociated himself from Freemasonry and would deny that he ever was an active Freemason.<ref name="Kudsi-Zadeh 2A">{{Cite journal|last=Kudsi-Zadeh|first=A. Albert|date=1 February 2012|title=Afghānī and Freemasonry in Egypt|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599645|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=92|issue=1|pages=26, 27, 28, 29, 30|doi=10.2307/599645|jstor=599645|quote="Abduh was one, although later in life he attempted to obfuscate his association."}}</ref> Rashid Rida reported in the magazine ''[[Al-Manār (magazine)|al-Manār]]'' that although ʿAbduh once was a Freemason, he later "cleaned himself internally from Masonry".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sedgwick|first=Mark|title=Muhammad Abduh: Makers of the Muslim World|year=2013 |publisher=One World|isbn=978-1851684328|pages=114|quote="..he evidently denied this to Rashid Rida, who explained in Al-Manar that while Muhammad Abduh had once been a Freemason, he had since "cleaned himself internally from Masonry.""}}</ref>

In his later years, ʿAbduh additionally began promoting [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] [[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories associated with Freemasonry]] through the early issues of ''[[Tafsir al-Manar]]'' that were co-authored with Rashid Rida. In their [[Tafsir|commentary]] of the [[Quran|Quranic verse]] 4:44, ʿAbduh and Rida asserted that [[world Jewry]] were enemies of the [[Muslim Ummah]] as well as [[Christendom]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryad |first=Umar |date=2022 |title=From the Dreyfus Affair to Zionism in Palestine: Rashid Riḍā's Views of Jews in Relation to the 'Christian' Colonial West |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9762/9312 |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=8, 9 |doi=10.46586/er.11.2022.9762 |quote="Tafsīr Al-Manār was a collaborative work by ʿAbduh and his disciple Riḍā. In their exegesis of the Qur'anic verse (Al-Nisāʾ, 4:44)... they maintained that the Jews were as hostile to Muslims as infidels in the Hijaz in the early period of Islam... In their pursuit of the demolition of the"tyranny of popes and kings" who had enslaved them in Europe in Christian regions, the Jews exerted their efforts to replace the rule of the Church in Europe with civilian governments" |via=Ruhr Universitat Bochum|doi-access=free }}</ref> They accused a Jewish clique of conspiring alongside Freemasons to destroy the religious culture of [[Europe]] and Islamic world by fomenting [[Secularism|secularist]] [[revolution]]s and inciting [[Christian nations]] against [[Muslims]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryad |first=Umar |date=2022 |title=From the Dreyfus Affair to Zionism in Palestine: Rashid Riḍā's Views of Jews in Relation to the 'Christian' Colonial West |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9762/9312 |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=9 |doi=10.46586/er.11.2022.9762 |quote="Jews were still maltreated in Russia and Spain due to the power of the Church, which the Jews had allegedly plotted to destroy in the name of freedom and civilization as well as by means of freemasonry, as they did in the case of France. The editors of Tafsīr Al-Manār maintained that although France was the "pristine daughter of church" (bint al-kanīsa al-bikr), the Jews were able to dismantle the authority of its Church, just as they enticedthe French on injustice in Algeria.. According to Tafsīr Al-Manār, the Jews resisted all forms of religious authority standing in their face for the establishment of their own religious authority." |via=Ruhr Universitat Bochum|doi-access=free }}</ref> In response to the above publication, [[Egyptian nationalism|Egyptian nationalists]] and Jewish Freemasons initiated a protest movement against ʿAbduh, who was the [[Grand Mufti of Egypt|Grand Mufti]] at that time. They sent numerous appeals to the [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egyptian Khedive]] [[Abbas II of Egypt|Abbas Hilmi]], [[List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Egypt|Consul-General]] [[Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer|Lord Cromer]], and Egyptian dailies to censor ʿAbduh from publishing such tracts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ryad |first=Umar |date=2022 |title=From the Dreyfus Affair to Zionism in Palestine: Rashid Riḍā's Views of Jews in Relation to the 'Christian' Colonial West |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9762/9312 |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=9 |doi=10.46586/er.11.2022.9762 |quote="The assertion of a Jewish conspiracy through freemasonry raised brows in nationalist and freemason circles in Egypt... . An anonymous young Egyptian nationalist (most probably Muṣṭafā Kāmil) and a few Jewish freemasons launched a campaign against ʿAbduh by sending petitions to the Khedive, the prime-minister, Lord Cromer, and daily news-papers to inhibit ʿAbduh from writing on that topic." |via=Ruhr Universitat Bochum|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In 1903, the Ottoman sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] would restate and disseminate the anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic accusations formulated by ʿAbduh and Rida against the Jews and Freemasons as part of the Ottoman propaganda campaign against the [[History of Zionism|nascent Zionist movement]] led by the Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer and journalist [[Theodor Herzl]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ryad |first=Umar |date=2022 |title=From the Dreyfus Affair to Zionism in Palestine: Rashid Riḍā's Views of Jews in Relation to the 'Christian' Colonial West |url=https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/9762/9312 |journal=Entangled Religions |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=9 |doi=10.46586/er.11.2022.9762 |via=Ruhr Universitat Bochum|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="almanar06">{{cite journal |author1-last=Abduh |author1-first=Muhammad |author2-last=Rida |author2-first=Rashid |date=June 1903 |title=اليهود والماسونية وحَدَثُ الوطنية (Al-Yahud wa-al Masooniyya Wa Hadath al-Wataniyya) |trans-title=Jews, Masons, and the Event of Patriotism |url=https://archive.org/details/Almanar/almanar06/page/n151/mode/2up?view=theater |journal=Al-Manār |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=196–200 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kemal Oke |first=Mint |date=August 1982 |title=The Ottoman Empire, Zionism and the Question of Palestine (1880-1908) |journal=[[International Journal of Middle East Studies]] |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=329–341 |doi=10.1017/S0020743800051965 |jstor=163676|s2cid=162661505 }}</ref> In an article published in the ''[[Al-Manār (magazine)|al-Manār]]'' magazine in 1903, ʿAbduh and Rida further accused Freemasons of conspiring with the Jews and [[French colonial empire|French colonialists]] of weakening the [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamic]] spirit:<ref name="almanar06"/>

{{Blockquote|text="There is no people in the world like the [[Israelites]] in their adherence to their sectarian affiliation and [[Tribalism|tribal fanaticism]]... [[Freemasonry]] is a secret [[political society]] that was formed in Europe - contrary to what they claim from their predecessors - to resist the tyranny of the heads of the world from kings, princes and heads of religion from the [[List of popes|popes]] and priests who joined forces to enslave the masses and deprive them of the light of knowledge and freedom. The [[Jews]] and [[Christians]] agreed on its composition. Therefore, they made its symbols and signs extracted from the common book of [[Bible]] and attributed it to the builders of the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Holy Temple]], the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple]] of [[Solomon in Islam|Solomon]] (peace be upon him), which is the [[Al-Aqsa Mosque]]... Since the organisation's founders and the leaders were non-Muslims, there were various matters in it that contradict Islam, and the one who joined it was vulnerable to violating his religion!.. When the French began occupying the [[Eastern world|East]] and saw the mood of Islamic sovereignty that fervently rejected participiating in their rule... They sought the assistance of Freemasons to weaken this mood... Freemasonry is one of the forms of ''[[Kafir|kufr]]'' or a means to it. However, the [[Egyptians]] are quick to succumb to [[Taqlid|blind emulation]]; and that is why many of them joined this organisation."|source=Muhammad ʿAbduh and Rashid Rida in ''[[Al-Manār (magazine)|al-Manār]]'', June 1903, vol. 6/5, pages 196–200.<ref name="almanar06"/>}}