Editing Muhammad Abduh (section)

=== 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>