Editing Muhammad Abduh

{{Short description|Egyptian jurist and theologian (1849–1905)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| image              = The late Grand Moufti.png
| caption            =
| title              =
| birth_name         =
| birth_date         = {{Birth-date|1849}}<ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kerr |first=Malcolm H. |editor-first=Dale H. |editor-last=Hoiberg |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |title='Abduh Muhammad |edition=15th |year=2010 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. |volume=I: A-ak Bayes |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=978-1-59339-837-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/20 20–21] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/20 }}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[Shubra Khit]], [[Eyalet of Egypt|Egypt]]
| death_date         = 11 July 1905  (aged 56)
| death_place        = [[Alexandria]], [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egypt]]
| death_cause        = [[Renal cell carcinoma]]
| resting_place      =
| other_names        =
| nationality        = Egyptian
| era                =
| region             = [[Middle East]]
| occupation         = [[Ulama|Islamic scholar]], [[Faqīh|jurist]], and [[Islamic theology|theologian]]<ref name="Brill 2016">{{cite book |last=Büssow |first=Johann |year=2016 |chapter=Muḥammad ʿAbduh: The Theology of Unity (Egypt, 1898) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtY6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 |editor1-last=Bentlage |editor1-first=Björn |editor2-last=Eggert |editor2-first=Marion |editor3-last=Krämer |editor3-first=Hans-Martin |editor4-last=Reichmuth |editor4-first=Stefan |editor4-link=Stefan Reichmuth (academic) |title=Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism |series=Numen Book Series |volume=154 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=141–159 |doi=10.1163/9789004329003_013 |isbn=978-90-04-32511-1 |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref>
| religion           = [[Islam]]
| jurisprudence      =
| creed              =
| movement           = [[Islamic Modernism]]<ref name="Roshwald 2013"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://muslimmatters.org/2014/04/22/on-salafi-islam-dr-yasir-qadhi/5/|title=On Salafi Islam Dr. Yasir Qadhi|date=22 April 2014|publisher=Muslim Matters|access-date=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220205421/http://muslimmatters.org/2014/04/22/on-salafi-islam-dr-yasir-qadhi/5/|archive-date=20 December 2014| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Kurzman, Charles, ed. Modernist Islam, 1840-1940: a sourcebook. Oxford University Press, USA, 2002.</ref><ref>Amir, Ahmad N., Abdi O. Shuriye, and Ahmad F. Ismail. "Muhammad Abduh's contributions to modernity." Asian Journal of Management Sciences and Education 1.1 (2012): 163-175.</ref><ref>Sedgwick, Mark. Muhammad Abduh. Simon and Schuster, 2014.</ref><br />[[Pan-Islamism]]<ref name="Roshwald 2013"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bentlage, Eggert, Martin Krämer, Reichmuth |first=Björn, Marion, Hans, Stefan |title=Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism |publisher=Brill Publishers|year=2017|isbn=978-90-04-32511-1 |location=Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands |quote="..the spirit of Pan-Islamism, i.e. the thoughts of Muḥammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905) and Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghāni (1838–1897), can be felt in Islam"| page=253}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Aydin |first=Cemil |title=The idea of the Muslim world: A Global Intellectual History |year=2017 |location= United States of America| publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674050372 |pages=62, 231 |quote="In 1884 the first pan-Islamic magazine, al-Urwat al-Wuthqa, was published in Paris by Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh."}}</ref><br />[[Sufism#Neo-Sufism|Neo-Sufism]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scharbrodt |first=Oliver |date=2007|title=The Salafiyya and Sufsm: Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risalat al-Waridat (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378895 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=70|issue=1|publisher=Cambridge University Press  |pages=89–115  |jstor=40378895 |s2cid=170641656 |quote="The Sufism one encounters in figures such as Afghanı and Abduh is not anti-modern, backwards and obscurantist but was, on the contrary, the driving force in facilitating their intellectual engagement with the values of Western modernity." }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sedgwick |first=Mark |title=Makers of the Muslim World: Muhammad Abduh |publisher=One World Publications |year=2013 | isbn=978-1851684328 | quote="According to his autobiography, Muhammad Abduh continued on the Sufi path as a student at the Azhar, though he makes no mention of any other Sufis, save for his uncle. Unlike most other Sufis, Muhammad Abduh was evidently following an individual path..." |chapter=Chapter 1: The Student|pages=6–7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Adams|first=Charles|title=Islam and Modernism in Egypt: A Study of the Modern Reform Movement Inaugurated by Muhammad 'Abduh|publisher=Russell & Russell|year=1968|pages=25, 32|quote="..with this experience there began a new period in the life of Muhammad 'Abduh. His interest in Şūfism, aroused by Shaikh Darwish, gradually increased until it became the dominant influence in his life. During this second period, the shaikh retained his position as guide and mentor to the young student he retained his sympathy for Sufism throughout his life"}}</ref><br />[[Islamism]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sedgwick|first=Mark |title=Muhammad Abduh: Makers of the Muslim World |year=2013 |publisher=One World | isbn=978-1851684328 |pages=56|quote="..in 1884, Afghani and Abduh invented what would now be called radical Islamist journalism..."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=A. Dudoignon, Hisao, Yasushi |first1=Stéphane, Komatsu, Kosugi |title=The Influence of Al-Manar on Islamism in Turkey|last2= Gen |first2=Kasuya |publisher=Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group|year=2017 |isbn=978-0-415-36835-3 |location=Abingdon, Oxon|page=56|chapter=Chapter 3: The Manarists and Modernism |quote="Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838–1897), Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905), and Rashid Rida (1865–1935), were the ideological roots of Islamism (Islamcılık in Turkish) in the Ottoman Empire during this period."}}</ref><br />[[Anti-imperialism]]<ref name="Roshwald 2013"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Aydin |first=Cemil |title=The idea of the Muslim world: A Global Intellectual History |year=2017 |location= United States of America| publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=9780674050372 |page=63|quote= "In spite of his anti-imperialism, Abduh returned to Egypt..."}}</ref>
| main_interests     =
| notable_ideas      = [[Islamic revival]]<br /> [[Islamic Modernism]]<br />[[pan-Islamism]]<br />[[Education reforms|Educational reforms]]
| notable_works      = ''Risālat al-Tawḥīd'' ({{langx|ar|رسالة التوحيد}}; "The Theology of Unity")<ref name="Brill 2016"/>
| alma_mater         = [[Al-Azhar University]]<ref name="Brill 2016"/>
| office1            = [[Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah#Grand Muftis|Grand Mufti of Egypt]]<ref name="Richard Netton 2008 6"/><ref name="Zimney 2009">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Zimney |first=Michelle |year=2009 |chapter=Abduh, Muhammad (1849–1905) |editor-last=Campo |editor-first=Juan E. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&pg=PA5 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Facts On File]] |series=Encyclopedia of World Religions |pages=5–6 |isbn=978-0-8160-5454-1 |lccn=2008005621}}</ref>
| term1              = 1899 – 1905<ref>{{Cite book|last1= Bosworth |first=C.E. |last2=van Donzel |first2=E. |last3=Heinrichs |first3=W.P. |last4=Pellat |first4=CH. |title=The Encyclopedia of Islam: New Edition Vol. VII |publisher=Brill |year=1993|isbn=90-04-09419-9| location=Leiden, The Netherlands|pages=418–419|chapter=Muhammad 'Abduh|quote=".. in 1899 he attained the highest clerical post in Egypt, that of state mufti, an office he held till his death."}}</ref>
| Sufi_order         = [[Shadhiliyya]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Scharbrodt |first=Oliver |date=2007|title=The Salafiyya and Sufsm: Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risalat al-Waridat (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378895 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=70|issue=1|publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=89–115  |jstor=40378895 |s2cid=170641656 |quote="He was a member of the Shadhiliyya Order, the same Sufi brotherhood to which his great-uncle Shaykh Darwı¯sh had belonged" }}</ref>
| disciple_of        =
| awards             =
| influences         = [[Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani]],<ref name="Brill 2016"/> [[Ibn Sina]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sedgwick |first=Mark |title=Makers of the Muslim World: Muhammad Abduh |publisher=One World Publications |year=2013 | isbn=978-1851684328 |chapter=Chapter 1: The Student|page=11}}</ref>
[[Ibn 'Arabi]], [[Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi|Shihāb al-Din Sührawardį]], [[Al-Ghazali|Abu Hamīd al-Ghāzāli]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scharbrodt |first=Oliver |date=2007|title=The Salafiyya and Sufsm: Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risalat al-Waridat (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378895 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=70|issue=1|publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=90, 98–100 |jstor=40378895 |s2cid=170641656 }}</ref> [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi|Abu al-Mānsūr al-Matūrīdī]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=L. Esposito|first=John|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn= 0195125584| location=New York|pages=196| quote="Modern thinkers such as Muhammad Abduh used al-Maturidi's methods to reinterpret traditions."}}</ref> [[Hasan al-Attar]], [[Rifa'a al-Tahtawi]], [[Gustave Le Bon]], [[Herbert Spencer]]
| influenced         = [[Rashid Rida]],<ref name="Brill 2016"/> [[Abul Kalam Azad]],<ref>{{citation|title=Maulana Azad, Islam and the Indian National Movement|author=Syeda Saiyidain Hameed|publisher=Oxford|year=2014|pages=17, 36|isbn=9780199450466}}</ref> [[Hassan al-Banna]], [[Sayyid Qutb]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gumus |first=M. Siddik |title=Islam's Reformers |publisher=Hakikat Kitabevi Publications |year=2017 |location=Istanbul, Turkey |page=183 |quote=Sayyid Qutb [...] announced his admiration for Ibn Taimiyya and Muhammad 'Abduh in almost all his books.}}</ref> [[Muhammad Asad]], [[Mahmoud Taleghani]],<ref>{{citation|title=Theological Approaches to Qur'anic Exegesis: A Practical Comparative-contrastive Analysis|author=Hussein Abdul-Raof|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|page=3|isbn=9780415449588}}</ref> [[Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur]],<ref>Yakubovych, Mykhaylo. "A Cultural Significance of the Modern Islamic Exegetics for the Theory of Religious Tolerance." Int'l Stud. J. 9 (2012): 79.</ref> [[Mahmud Shaltut]], [[Mustafa al-Maraghi]],<ref>Yahaya, Amiratul Munirah. "REFORM THOUGHTS IN TAFSIR AL-MARAGHI BY SHAYKH AHMAD MUSTAFA AL-MARAGHI." Online Journal of Research in Islamic Studies 1.2 (2017): 63-76.</ref> [[Mohammed al-Ghazali]], [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]]<ref>Warren, David H. Debating the Renewal of Islamic Jurisprudence (Tajdīd al-Fiqh) Yusuf al-Qaradawi, his Interlocutors, and the Articulation, Transmission and Reconstruction of the Fiqh Tradition in the Qatar-Context. The University of Manchester (United Kingdom), 2015.</ref>
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'''Muḥammad ʿAbduh''' (also spelled '''Mohammed Abduh'''; {{langx|ar|محمد عبده}}; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] [[Ulama|Islamic scholar]],<ref name="Brill 2016"/> [[Judge (Islamic law)|judge]],<ref name="Brill 2016"/> and [[Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah#Grand Muftis|Grand Mufti of Egypt]].<ref name="Richard Netton 2008 6">{{cite book |last=Richard Netton |first=Ian |year=2008 |title=Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilisation and Religion |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-7007-1588-6 |pages=5–6 |chapter='Abduh, Muhammad (1849–1905) |quote =".. [Abduh became] a member of the Council of al-Azhar in 1895 and Chief Mufti (Legal Official) in 1899."}}</ref><ref name="Zimney 2009"/><ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=von Kügelgen |author-first=Anke |year=2007 |title=ʿAbduh, Muḥammad |editor1-last=Fleet |editor1-first=Kate |editor2-last=Krämer |editor2-first=Gudrun |editor2-link=Gudrun Krämer |editor3-last=Matringe |editor3-first=Denis |editor4-last=Nawas |editor4-first=John |editor5-last=Rowson |editor5-first=Everett K. |editor5-link=Everett K. Rowson |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam 3|Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE]] |volume=3 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_0103 |isbn=9789004161641 |issn=1873-9830}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=E. Campo|first=Juan |title=Encyclopedia of Islam|publisher=Facts On File, Inc. |year=2009|isbn=978-0-8160-5454-1 | location=New York|pages=5–6}}</ref> He was a central figure of the Arab [[Nahda|Nahḍa]] and [[Islamic Modernism]] in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref name="Roshwald 2013">{{cite book |author-last=Roshwald |author-first=Aviel |year=2013 |chapter=Part II. The Emergence of Nationalism: Politics and Power – Nationalism in the Middle East, 1876–1945 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlNoAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA220 |editor-last=Breuilly |editor-first=John |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=220–241 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199209194.013.0011 |isbn=9780191750304}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

He began teaching advanced students esoteric Islamic texts at [[Al-Azhar University]] while he was still studying there.<ref name=":0" /> From 1877, with the status of [[Ulama|''ʿālim'']], he taught logic, theology, ethics, and politics.<ref name=":0" /> He was also made a professor of history at ''[[Dar al-Ulum|Dar al-ʿUlūm]]'' the following year, and of Arabic language and literature at ''[[Madrasat al-Alsun]].''<ref name=":0" /> ʿAbduh was a champion of the press and wrote prolifically in [[Al-Manār (magazine)|''Al-Manār'']] and ''[[Al-Ahram]]''. He was made editor of ''[[Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya]]'' in 1880.<ref name=":0" /> He also authored ''Risālat at-Tawḥīd'' ({{langx|ar|رسالة التوحيد}}; "The Theology of Unity")<ref name="Brill 2016" /> and a [[Tafsir|commentary]] on the [[Quran]].<ref name="EB" /> He briefly published the [[Pan-Islamism|pan-Islamist]] [[Anti-imperialism|anti-colonial]] newspaper ''[[Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa|al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā]]'' alongside his teacher and mentor [[Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī|Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Urwat al-Wuthqa, al- - Oxford Islamic Studies Online |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2440 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426215503/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2440 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 April 2014 |access-date=6 June 2020 |website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com}}</ref>

ʿAbduh joined [[Freemasonry]] and subscribed to various [[Masonic lodge]]s alongside his mentor al-Afghānī and his other pupils,<ref name="Brill 2016"/><ref name="Kudsi-Zadeh 1972">{{cite journal |last=Kudsi-Zadeh |first=A. Albert |date=January–March 1972 |title=Afghānī and Freemasonry in Egypt |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |publisher=[[American Oriental Society]] |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=25–35 |doi=10.2307/599645 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=599645 |lccn=12032032 |oclc=47785421 |quote=In these efforts, Afghani was aided by some of his own disciples whom he persuaded to join Freemasonry [...] It was through this association, remarks Rida, that 'Abduh was able to establish contact with Tawfiq Pasha and other leaders of Egypt.}}</ref> but eventually left the secret society in his later years.<ref name="Kudsi-Zadeh 2"/><ref name="Ryad 2022 8">{{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 |doi=10.46586/er.11.2022.9762 |quote="Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (1838–1879) and his student Muḥammad ʿAbduh (1849–1905) were active freemason members for many years, but they withdrew." |via=Ruhr Universitat Bochum|doi-access=free }}</ref> He was appointed as a judge in the Courts of First Instance of the Native Tribunals in 1888, a consultative member of the Court of Appeal in 1899, and he was appointed {{Interlanguage link|Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah|ar|قائمة مفتي الديار المصرية|italic=y}} in 1899.<ref name=":0" />

== Biography ==
Muḥammad ʿAbduh was born in 1849 to a father with [[Turkish people|Turkish ancestry]]<ref>Arthur Goldschmidt, ''Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt'', Lynne Rienner Publishers (2000), p. 10.</ref><ref name=Taylor>{{citation|last=Adams|first=Charles Clarence|year=1933|chapter=Muhammad Abduh: Biography|title=Islam and Modernism in Egypt, Volume 10|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=0415209080|page=18|quote=True, his father 'Abduh ibn Hasan Khair Allah, came from a family of Turkish origin that had settled in the village of Mahallat Nasr in the Buhairah Province at some remote time in the past...}}</ref> and an [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] mother<ref>{{cite book|last=Hourani|first=Albert|title=Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age|url=https://archive.org/details/arabicthoughtinl0000hour|url-access=registration|year=1962|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Great Britain|page=[https://archive.org/details/arabicthoughtinl0000hour/page/130 130]}}</ref> in the [[Nile Delta]].<ref name=EB/> His family was part of the [[Egypt Eyalet|Ottoman Egyptian]] [[elite]]: his father was part of the [[Umad]], or the local ruling elite, while his mother was part of the [[Ashraf]]. He was educated in [[Tanta]] at a private school.<ref name=EB/> When he turned thirteen, he was sent to the Aḥmadī mosque, which was one of the largest educational institutions in Egypt. A while later, ʿAbduh ran away from school and got married. After a brief period following his marriage, ʿAbduh returned to his school in Tanta. During this period, ʿAbduh studied under the tutelage of his [[Sufism|Sufi Muslim]] uncle Dārwīsh, who was a member of the revivalist and reformist ''Madaniyya'' ''[[Tariqa|Tarîqâh]]'', a popular branch of the ''[[Shadhili]]yya'' order, spread across Egypt, [[Ottoman Libya|Libya]], [[Ottoman Algeria|Algeria]], and [[Ottoman Tunisia|Tunisia]]. Apart from spiritual exercises, the order also emphasised proper practice of [[Islam]], shunning ''[[taqlid]]'' and stressing adherence to foundational teachings. Under the tutelage of his uncle, ʿAbduh began to practice the litany of the ''Madaniyya''. Like many of his fellow students in Tanta, the experience would transform ʿAbduh towards Sufi asceticism with mystical orientations. Abduh would inherit many of his subsequent public views, such as firm opposition to ''taqlid'' from his Sufi uncle.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sedgwick|first=Mark|title=Makers of the Muslim World: Muhammad Abduh|publisher=One World Publications|year=2013|isbn=978-1851684328|pages=3–4, 13|chapter=Chapter 1: The Student}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hourani|first=Albert|url=https://archive.org/details/arabicthoughtinl0000hour|title=Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1962|location=Great Britain|url-access=registration}}</ref>

[[File:Muhammad Abduh.jpg|thumb|right|An early photo of Muḥammad ʿAbduh]]
ʿAbduh suffered from acute spiritual crises in his youth, similar to those experienced by the medieval [[Ulama|Muslim scholar]] and Sufi mystic [[al-Ghazali]]. He was heavily dissatisfied with the traditional education and representatives of mainstream ''ulama'' of his time. Under the influence of Shaykh Dārwīsh al-Khadīr, ''[[Sufism|Tasawwuf]]'' provided an alternative form of religiosity which would profoundly shape ʿAbduh's spiritual and intellectual formation. As ʿAbduh would subsequently emerge as a towering scholarly intellectual in Egypt, he concurrently assumed his role as a traditional Sufi Muslim. ''Tasawwuf'' as taught to ʿAbduh by Shaykh Dārwīsh transcended the perceived limitations and superficialities of traditional Islamic learning, and was based on an Islamic religiosity led by an intellectual, charismatic authority. For ʿAbduh, Shaykh Dārwīsh and his teachings represented orthodox Sufism, which was different from the Sufi folklore and the charlatans prevalent in rural Egypt during the [[Early modern period|early modern era]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scharbrodt|first=Oliver|date=2007|title=The Salafiyya and Sufism: Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risalat al-Waridat (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378895|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=70|issue=1|page=92|doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031|jstor=40378895|s2cid=170641656}}</ref> Explaining his conversion to Sufism under the training of Shaykh Dārwīsh, 'Abduh wrote: <blockquote>"On the seventh day, I asked the shaykh: ''What is your ''[[Tariqa|tarîqâh]]''?'' He replied: ''Islam is my ''tarıqa''.'' I asked: ''But are not all these people Muslims?'' He said: ''If they were Muslims, you would not see them contending over trivial matters and would not hear them swearing by God while they are lying with or without a reason.'' These words were like fire which burned away all that I held dear of the baggage from the past."<ref name="Scharbrodt 2007 89–115">{{Cite journal|last=Scharbrodt|first=Oliver|date=2007|title=The Salafiyya and Sufism: Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risalat al-Waridat (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378895|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=70|issue=1|pages=89–115|doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031|jstor=40378895|s2cid=170641656}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1866,<ref name="KG">Kügelgen, Anke von. "ʿAbduh, Muḥammad." Encyclopaedia of Islam, v.3. Edited by: Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas and Everett Rowson. Brill, 2009. Syracuse University. 23 April 2009.</ref> ʿAbduh enrolled at [[al-Azhar University]] in [[Cairo]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Hourani|first=Albert|title=Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age|url=https://archive.org/details/arabicthoughtinl0000hour|url-access=registration|year=1962|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Great Britain}}</ref> where he studied [[logic]], [[Islamic philosophy]], [[Islamic theology|theology]], and Sufism.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hG2IswEACAAJ&q=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%88%D9%81+%D9%81%D9%8A+%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%82+%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%87%D8%B6%D8%A9 |title=التصوف في سياق النهضة: من محمد عبده الى سعيد النورسي|last=حلمي،|first=عبد الوهاب، محمد|date=2018|publisher=Markaz Dirāsāt al-Waḥdah al-ʻArabīyah|isbn=978-9953-82-815-2|language=ar}}</ref> He was a student of [[Jamal al-Din al-Afghani|Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī]],<ref>Kedourie, E. (1997). ''Afghani and 'Abduh: An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Modern Islam'', London: Frank Cass. {{ISBN|0-7146-4355-6}}.</ref> a Muslim philosopher and religious reformer who advocated [[Pan-Islamism]] to resist [[European colonialism]]. During his studies in al-Azhar, ʿAbduh had continued to express his critiques of the traditional curricuulum and traditional modes of repetition. For him, al-Afghānī combined personal charisma with a fresh intellectual approach which the ''ulama'' of al-Azhar couldn't provide. As a young 22 year-old Sufi mystic seeking a charismatic guide and alternative modes of learning and religiosity, ʿAbduh chose al-Afghānī as his ''[[murshid]]''. Their ''[[murid]]''–''murshid'' relationship would last for eight years and al-Afghānī was able to meet the expectations of his young disciple. Under al-Afghani's influence, ʿAbduh combined journalism, politics, and his own fascination with Islamic mystical spirituality. Al-Afghānī enriched ʿAbduh's mysticism with a philosophical underpinning and thereby drew him to a rationalist interpretations of Islam. Al-Afghānī's lessons merged his Sufi mysticism with the esoteric and theosophic tradition of [[Qajar Persia|Persian]] [[Shia Islam|Shīʿīsm]]. He also taught ʿAbduh about the problems of Egypt and the [[Islamic world]], and about the technological achievements of the [[Western world|Western civilization]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scharbrodt|first=Oliver|date=2007|title=The Salafiyya and Sufsm: Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risalat al-Waridat (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40378895|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=70|issue=1|pages=93–94|doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031|jstor=40378895|s2cid=170641656}}</ref>

In 1877, ʿAbduh was granted the degree of ''[[Ulama|ʿālim]]'' ("teacher") and he started to teach logic, Islamic theology, and [[Islamic ethics|ethics]] at al-Azhar University. In 1878, he was appointed [[professor]] of [[history]] at Cairo's teachers' training college ''[[Dar al-Ulum|Dar al-ʿUlūm]]'', later incorporated into [[Cairo University]]. He was also appointed to teach [[Arabic]] at the Khedivial School of Languages.<ref name=KG/> He is regarded as one of the key founding figures of [[Islamic Modernism]], sometimes called "Neo-[[Muʿtazila|Muʿtazilism]]" after the homonymous [[Schools of Islamic theology|medieval school of Islamic theology]] based on [[rationalism]].<ref>Ahmed H. Al-Rahim (January 2006). "Islam and Liberty", ''Journal of Democracy'' 17 (1), pp. 166-169.</ref> ʿAbduh was also appointed editor-in-chief of ''[[Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya|al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyya]]'', the [[official newspaper]] of Egypt. 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.<ref name=KG/>

In 1879, due to his [[political activism]], al-Afghānī was exiled and ʿAbduh was exiled to his home village. The following year he was granted control of the national gazette and used this as a means to spread his [[Anti-imperialism|anti-colonial ideas]], and the need for social and religious reforms.<ref name=EB/> He was exiled from Egypt by the [[British Empire|British forces]] in 1882 for six years, for supporting the Egyptian nationalist [[ʻUrabi revolt]] led by [[Ahmed ʻUrabi]] in 1879. He had stated that every society should be allowed to choose a suitable form of government based on its history and its present circumstances.<ref name=KG/> ʿAbduh spent several years in [[Ottoman Lebanon]], where he helped establish an Islamic educational system. In 1884 he moved to [[Paris]] in [[France]], where he joined al-Afghānī in publishing ''[[Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa|al-ʿUrwa al-Wuthqā]]'', an Islamic revolutionary journal that promoted [[Anti-British sentiment|anti-British views]]. ʿAbduh also visited Britain and discussed the state of Egypt and [[Ottoman Sudan|Sudan]] with high-ranking officials. In 1885, after brief stays in [[England]] and Tunisia, he returned to [[Beirut]] as a teacher,<ref name=EB/> and was surrounded by scholars from different religious backgrounds. During his stay, he dedicated his efforts toward furthering respect and friendship between [[Islam]], [[Christianity]], and [[Judaism]].<ref name=KG/>

[[File:Comite khaldounia.jpg|thumb|right|265px|Muḥammad ʿAbduh's meeting with members of the executive committee of [[Tunisia]]n educational institute [[Khaldounia]] in 1903]]
When he returned to Egypt in 1888, ʿAbduh began his legal career. He was appointed [[Qadi|judge]] (''qāḍī'') in the Courts of First Instance of the Native Tribunals and in 1891, he became a consultative member of the Court of Appeal.<ref name=EB/> In 1899, he was appointed [[Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah|Grand Mufti of Egypt]], the highest Islamic title, and he held this position until he died. As a ''qāḍī'', he was involved in many decisions, some of which were considered liberal, such as the ability to utilize meat butchered by [[Kafir|Non-Muslims]] and the acceptance of loan interest. His liberal views endeared him to the British, in particular [[Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer|Lord Cromer]]; however they also caused a rift between him and the khedive [[Abbas II of Egypt|Abbas Hilmi]] and the nationalist leader [[Mustafa Kamil Pasha]].<ref name=EB/> While he was in Egypt, ʿAbduh founded a religious society, became president of a society for the revival of Arab sciences, and worked towards reforming the educational system of al-Azhar University by putting forth proposals to improve examinations, the curriculum, and the working conditions for both professors and students.<ref name=KG/> In 1900, he founded The Society for the Revival of Arabic Literature.<ref name=Brockett>Brockett, Adrian Alan, ''[https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/2770 Studies in two transmissions of the Qur'an]'', p. 11.</ref>

He travelled a great deal and met with European scholars in [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Oxford|Oxford]]. He studied the [[Napoleonic law|French law]] and read many great European and Arabic literary works in the libraries of [[Vienna]] and [[Berlin]]. The conclusions he drew from his travels were that [[Muslims]] suffer from ignorance about their own religion and the despotism of unjust rulers.<ref name="KG" /> ʿAbduh died due to [[renal cell carcinoma]] in [[Alexandria]] on 11 July 1905.

==Thought==
[[File:Таухид. توحيد.pdf|left|thumb|Work of Muḥammad ʿAbduh, translated in [[Old Tatar language]] and published in [[Kazan]] in 1911]]
{{blockquote|I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.|(Attributed to Muḥammad ʿAbduh upon his return from France<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/07/02/democracy-religion-and-moral-values-a-road-map-toward-political-transformation-in-egypt/|title=Democracy, Religion and Moral Values: A Road Map Toward Political Transformation in Egypt|author=Ahmed Hasan|date=2 July 201|work=Foreign Policy Journal|access-date=14 August 2017}}</ref> }}

Muḥammad ʿAbduh argued that Muslims could not simply rely on the interpretations of texts provided by medieval clerics; they needed to use reason to keep up with changing times. He said that in Islam, man was not created to be led by a bridle, but that man was given intelligence so that he could be guided by knowledge. According to ʿAbduh, a teacher's role was to direct men towards study. He believed that Islam encouraged men to detach from the world of their ancestors and that Islam reproved the slavish imitation of tradition. He said that the two greatest possessions relating to religion that man was graced with were independence of will and independence of thought and opinion. It was with the help of these tools that he could attain happiness. He believed that the growth of western civilization in Europe was based on these two principles. He thought that Europeans were roused to act after a large number of them were able to exercise their choice and to seek out facts with their minds.<ref>Gelvin, J. L. (2008). The Modern Middle East (2nd ed., pp. 161-162). New York: Oxford university Press.</ref> His Muslim opponents [[Takfir|accused him]] of being an infidel (''[[kafir]]''), whereas his students and followers regarded him as a sage, a reviver of Islam (''[[Mujaddid]]''), and a reforming leader. He is conventionally graced with the honorary epithets ''al-Ustādh al-Imām'' and ''al-Shaykh al-Muftī''. In his works, he portrays God as educating humanity from its childhood through its youth and then on to adulthood. According to him, Islam is the only religion whose dogmas can be proven by reasoning. ʿAbduh didn't advocate for returning to the early stages of Islam. He was against [[Polygyny in Islam|polygamy]] if it resulted in injustice between wives, and believed in a form of Islam that would liberate men from enslavement and abolish the ''ulama'' monopoly on the [[Tafsir|exegesis of the Quran]] and abolish [[racial discrimination]].<ref name=KG/> He described a fundamental re-interpretation of Islam as a genuine base of empowered Arab societies in the face of secular Western imperialism, and believed Islam to be the solution to political and social problems.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.e-ir.info/2014/09/12/islamic-state-the-arab-spring-and-the-disenchantment-with-political-islam/|title = Islamic State, the Arab Spring, and the Disenchantment with Political Islam|date = 12 September 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Imam Muḥammad 'Abduh.jpg|thumb|right|Muḥammad ʿAbduh during his last days]]
ʿAbduh regularly called for better [[Interfaith dialogue|friendship between religious communities]]. He made great efforts to preach harmony between [[Sunni Islam|Sunnī]] and [[Shia Islam|Shīʿa]] Muslims. Broadly speaking, he preached brotherhood between all [[Islamic schools and branches|schools of thought within Islam]]. However, he criticized what he perceived as errors such as [[superstition]]s coming from popular [[Sufism]].<ref name=Benzine>Benzine, Rachid. Les nouveaux penseurs de l'islam, p. 43-44.</ref> His critiques to the popular cult of [[Wali|Muslim saints]], customs of ''[[tabarruk]]'' (seeking blessings) from relics, shrine venerations, etc. were central themes in ʿAbduh's works. He believed that practices such as supplicating and seeking intercession by placing intermediaries between God and human beings were all acts of "manifest ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]''" (polytheism) and ''[[bidʻah]]'' (heretical innovations) unknown to the ''[[Salaf]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Linhoff|first=Josef|url=https://hdl.handle.net/1842/36935|title='Associating with God in Islamic Thought': A Comparative Study of Muslim interpretations of shirk|publisher=University of Edinburgh|year=2020|location=Edinburgh, United Kingdom|pages=160|doi=10.7488/era/236|hdl=1842/36935}}</ref> According to ʿAbduh:
{{blockquote|Shirk is of various types including that which has come to affect the Muslim masses ('''āmat al-muslimīn'') in their worship of other than God by way of bowing and prostration. And the greatest of these kinds of shirk is that by way of supplicating and seeking intercession (with God) by placing intermediaries between themselves and Him... And we certainly see this shirk among Muslims today. And you will not see any god added to this religion... except that (expressed by) the word "intercession" (''shafā'a''), which its practitioners reckon is a means of veneration the prophets and saints, but which is, in reality, a means of turning its them into idols, that disgrace the greatness of the Lord of the Worlds. The only explanation for this is in the whispers of Satan.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Linhoff|first=Josef|url=https://hdl.handle.net/1842/36935|title='Associating with God in Islamic Thought': A Comparative Study of Muslim interpretations of shirk|publisher=University of Edinburgh|year=2020|location=Edinburgh, United Kingdom|page=160|chapter=V: Shirk, reason and colonial modernity: Muḥammad 'Abduh (d. 1905)|doi=10.7488/era/236|hdl=1842/36935}}</ref>}}

Despite his strong condemnation of excessive saint veneration, ʿAbduh was sympathetic to ''[[Sufism|Tasawwuf]]'' and [[Al-Ghazali|Ghazzalian]] cosmology. He would explain the philosophical and esoteric Sufi traditions of Islam in his treatise ''Risālat al-Wāridāt fī Sirr al-Tajalliyyat'' ("Treatise on Mystical Inspirations from the Secrets of Revelations") which articulated the philosophical and mystical teachings of his master, [[Jamal al-Din al-Afghani|Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī]], incorporating the spiritual ideas of medieval Sufi saints and philosophers such as [[Ibn Arabi]] and [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]]. The language ʿAbduh employs to describe al-Afghānī's instructions was based on a distinctly Sufi framework that symbolised [[Ishraqi|Ishrāqi philosophy]]. The treatise dealt with substantiating the philosophical proofs of [[Existence of God|God's existence]] and his nature, elaborating a [[Sufi cosmology]] and developed a rationalistic understanding of [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|prophecy]]. ʿAbduh adhered to the cosmological doctrine of ''[[Wahdat ul-wujud|Wahdat ul-Wujud]]'' developed by [[Islamic mysticism|mystical]] [[Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophers]], which held that God and his creation are co-existent and co-eternal.<ref name="Scharbrodt 2007 89–115"/> Defending the doctrine of ''Wahdat ul-Wujud'' of the Sufi philosophers and saints Ibn Arabi, [[Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi|Suhrawardi]], etc., ʿAbduh wrote:{{blockquote|... we believe: there is no existence apart from His existence and no attribute (''wasf'') apart from His attribute. He is existent and anything else is non-existent. The first commanders of the faithful (''al-umarā' al-awwalun''), may God be pleased with them, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali said: ''You do not perceive anything without seeing God before it, behind it, in it or with it''. ... Do not fall into the delusion that this is the belief in incarnationism (''hulul''). Incarnationism rather occurs between two beings when one of the two becomes the other. But we believe: there is no existence apart from His existence.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Scharbrodt |first=Oliver |year=2007 |title=The ''Salafiyya'' and Sufism: Muḥammad 'Abduh and His ''Risālat al-Wāridāt'' (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations) |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=89–115 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X07000031 |jstor=40378895 |s2cid=170641656}}</ref>{{rp|100}}}}

As [[Christianity in Egypt|Christianity was the second largest religion in Egypt]], ʿAbduh would devote special efforts towards friendship between Muslims and Christians. He had many Christian friends and many times he stood up to defend [[Copts]],<ref name="Benzine" /> especially during the Egyptian nationalist [[ʻUrabi revolt]] led by [[Ahmed ʻUrabi]] in 1879, when some Muslim mobs had misguidedly attacked a number of Copts resulting from their anger towards European colonialism.<ref name="Benzine" /> ʿAbduh also had meetings in [[Baghdad]] with [[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]],<ref name="Brill 2016"/> son of the founder and spiritual leader of the [[Baháʼí Faith]],<ref name="Iranica">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Bausani |first1=Alessandro |author1-link=Alessandro Bausani |last2=MacEoin |first2=Denis |author2-link=Denis MacEoin |title=ʿAbd-al-Bahā |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-baha |volume=I/1 |pages=102–104 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |date=14 July 2011 |orig-year=15 December 1982 |issn=2330-4804 |access-date=25 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116231933/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-baha |archive-date=16 November 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> whom he had a generally positive view of—although it was asserted by his students that he was unaware of the [[Baháʼí literature|extra-Quranic Baháʼí sacred scriptures]] or status of [[Baháʼu'lláh]] as a [[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|Manifestation of God in the Baháʼí Faith]], and mistakenly viewed it as a reformation of [[Shia Islam|Shīʿīsm]].<ref>Juan R.I. Cole. ''[http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/diglib/articles/A-E/cole/abduh/abduh.htm Muhammad `Abduh and Rashid Rida: A Dialogue on the Baháʼí Faith.]'' World Order Vol. 15, nos. 3-4 (Spring/Summer 1981):7-16.</ref> ʿAbduh's collected works have been compiled and published in five volumes by [[Muhammad Imarah]].

== 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"/>}}

== 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>

== Works ==
* [[Peak of Eloquence with comments (Muhammad Abduh)|Comments on ''Peak of Eloquence'']]
* ''[[Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa]]''

Other works by Muhammad `Abduh
* (1897) ''Risālat al-tawḥīd'' ("Treatise on the oneness of God;" first edition)<ref name=EB/>
* (1903) ''Tafsir Surat al-`Asr'', Cairo.
* (1904) ''Tafsir juz' `Amma'', al-Matb. al-Amiriyya, Cairo.
* (1927) ''Tafsir Manar'', 12 volumes
* (1944) Muhammad Abduh. "Essai sur ses idées philosophiques et religieuses", Cairo
* (1954–1961), ''Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Hakim al-Mustahir bi Tafsir al-Manar'', 12 vols. with indices, Cairo.
* (1962 or 1963) (Islamic year 1382), ''[[Fatihat al-Kitab]]'', Tafsir al-Ustadh al-Imam..., Kitab al-Tahrir, Cairo.
* (no date), ''Durus min al-Qur'an al-Karim'', ed. by Tahir al-Tanakhi, Dar al-Hilal, Cairo.
* (1966) ''The Theology of Unity'', trans. by Ishaq Musa'ad and Kenneth Cragg. London.

== See also ==
* [[List of Islamic scholars]]
* [[Muhammad Asad]]
* [[Rashid Rida]]
* [[Muhammad Bakhit al-Muti'i]]
* [[Mustafa Sabri]]
* [[Translation#Islamic world|Translation: Islamic world]]
* [[Al-Sayyid Shaykh bin Ahmad al-Hadi]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book |author=Benzine, Rachid |title=Les nouveaux penseurs de l'Islam |location=[[Paris]] |publisher=[[Éditions Albin Michel]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-2-226-17858-9}}
* {{cite book |author=Black, Antony |title=The History of Islamic Political Thought |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofislamic00anto |url-access=registration |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2001 |isbn=0-415-93243-2}}
* {{cite book |author=Sedgwick, Mark |author-link=Mark Sedgwick |title=Muhammad Abduh |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-85168-432-8}}
* {{cite book |author=Watt, W. Montgomery |author-link=W. Montgomery Watt |title=Islamic Philosophy and Theology |location=[[Edinburgh]] |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |year=1985 |isbn=0-7486-0749-8}}

==Further reading==
* [[Christopher de Bellaigue]], "Dreams of Islamic Liberalism" (review of Marwa Elshakry, ''Reading Darwin in Arabic, 1860–1950''), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXII, no. 10 (4 June 2015), pp.&nbsp;77–78.
* {{cite journal |last=Wissa |first=Karim |year=1989 |title=Freemasonry in Egypt 1798-1921: A Study in Cultural and Political Encounters |journal=[[British Society for Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=143–161 |doi=10.1080/13530198908705494 |jstor=195148}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Mohammed Abduh}}
* [http://www.cis-ca.org/voices/a/abduh.htm Center for Islam and Science: Muhammad `Abduh]
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