Editing Muhammad Abduh (section)

== ʿAbduh and the Baháʼí Faith ==
{{main|Baháʼí Faith in Egypt}}
{{further|History of the Baháʼí Faith}}

Like his teacher, ʿAbduh was associated with the [[Baháʼí Faith]], which had made deliberate efforts to spread the faith to Egypt, establishing themselves in Alexandria and Cairo beginning in the late 1860s. In particular, he was in close contact with [[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]],<ref name="Brill 2016"/> the eldest son of [[Baháʼu'lláh]] and spiritual leader of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921.<ref name="Iranica"/> [[Rashid Rida]] asserts that during his visits to Beirut, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá would attend ʿAbduh's study sessions.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Cole |first= Juan R.I. | author-link= Juan Cole |date= 1981  |title= Muhammad 'Abduh and Rashid Rida: A Dialogue on the Baháʼí Faith |url= http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/articles/A-E/cole/abduh/abduh.htm  |journal= World Order  |volume= 15 |issue=3|page= 11}}</ref> The two men met at a time when they had similar goals of religious reform and were in opposition to the Ottoman ''[[ulama]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last= Scharbrodt |first= Oliver  |date= 2008 |title=Islam and the Baháʼí Faith: A Comparative Study of Muhammad 'Abduh and 'Abdul-Baha 'Abbas |publisher=Routledge|isbn= 9780203928578}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= Cole |first= Juan R.I. | author-link= Juan Cole |date= 1983 |title= Rashid Rida on the Bahaʼi Faith: A Utilitarian Theory of the Spread of Religions |url= http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/2000/rida.htm |journal= Arab Studies Quarterly |volume= 5 |issue=2|page= 278}}</ref> Regarding the meetings of `Abdu'l-Bahá and Muhammad ʿAbduh, [[Shoghi Effendi]] asserts that "His several interviews with the well-known Shaykh Muhammad 'Abdu served to enhance immensely the growing prestige of the community and spread abroad the fame of its most distinguished member."<ref>{{cite book |first=Shoghi |last=Effendi |author-link=Shoghi Effendi |year=1944 |title=God Passes By |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA| page=193 |isbn=0-87743-020-9
 |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-12.html#pg193 }}</ref> Remarking on `Abdu'l-Bahá's excellence in religious science and diplomacy, ʿAbduh said of him that "[he] is more than that. Indeed, he is a great man; he is the man who deserves to have the epithet applied to him."<ref>{{cite journal |last= Cole |first= Juan R.I. | author-link= Juan Cole |date= 1983 |title= Rashid Rida on the Bahaʼi Faith: A Utilitarian Theory of the Spread of Religions |url= http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/2000/rida.htm |journal= Arab Studies Quarterly |volume= 5 |issue= 2 |page= 282 }}</ref>