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Intel - Terrorism
Muhammad Abduh

"In God we trust.
All others we monitor."

• In the case of al-Afghani, the Ottoman Empire had yet fall. What al-Afghani was probably reacting to, and trying to change, was the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Famously called the "sick man of Europe" the power and influence of the Ottoman Empire was easily overshadowed by his lifetime. The Ottoman Empire: Was it the Sick Man of Europe? The British Empire was in great expansion under Queen Victoria, the scientific and industrial revolution was in full swing, and Africa was being partitioned by the European powers.

• Like his teacher, al-Afghani, Abduh was profoundly troubled by the crescendoing demise of the Ottoman Empire Such a sentiment is expressed in his contrast of the Christian west with the Muslim nations, "their wealth and our poverty their pride and our degradation, their strength and our weakness, their triumphs and our defects."

• In this text, perhaps his most famous, Abduh argues that Islam, properly understood, starts from the premise that reason s a feature of human nature, and human nature is created by God. Consequently, reason is no less a gift from God than is revelation: "God has endowed us with senses and implanted in us faculties that we employ in all their dimensions entirely as a gift of God." 
  [source: Enemy in the Mirror, p. 107]

• The foremost Islamic reformer, Muhammad Abduh, sought to embrace modernity in Islamic ways. He was definitely not a fundamentalist, nor does he function today as a precursor of fundamentalism, after the fashion of his contemporary, al-Afghani.
  [source: Challenge of Fundamentalism, p. 30]

• Abduh's solution, echoing al-Afghani's, and in contrast to Ibn Taymiyyah's literalism and fundamentalist Islam is to rescue men of traditional religion submerged in a "torrent of science". This rescue, taught Abduh, could uplift the Ummah by proving that Islam can "be just as rational and modern" as the colonial masters. Abduh was very much a man of faith, but he was also committed to the development of creative reason, leading him to comment there are no shortcuts to modernization and independence. It is precisely Abduh's conviction that "God has endowed us with senses and implanted in us faculties that we employ in all their dimensions entirely as a gift of God" that convinced him that "madrassa students should study science in order to take a full part in modern society".

• Like Afghani, then, Abduh insists that as rationality and reason are both creations of God they are in absolute harmony. Nadav Safran contends that this insistence is itself "an act of faith," one that buttresses Abduh'- confidence that the divine text can be adjusted to conform to the dictates of reason without danger.
  [source: Enemy in the Mirror, p. 112]

• Hence, when Abduh focuses his attention on improving the Ummah, this, for Abduh, is jihad. This is why Abduh pursued the unity of the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism). Abduh also understood jihad to be "fard kifaya" (a responsibility distributed throughout the Ummah), rather than obligatory for every Muslim. His notion of fard kifaya explains Abduh's focus on the near enemy, that is, an undeveloped Ummah.

• Abduh also advanced the cause of female equality with men, and pushed for significant changes in Muslim society.

• Abduh, the foremost intellectual father of Islamic modernism, from their polemic. Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905) lived in Cairo and after the years in exile in Paris became Grand Mufti of Egypt in 1888. Abduh made an effort at a synthesis between Islam and cultural modernity. In the view of the fundamentalists Abduh and ass Islamic reformers are themselves products of the "intellectual invasion" by the West and are therefore indicted.
  [source: Challenge of Fundamentalism, p. 152]

• Together they edited a journal of Qur'anic commentaries, "Al Manar" ("The Lighthouse").

• Abduh, like Ibn Taymiyyah, takes up the question of jihad, in his masterwork "Risalat al-Tawhid" (The Theology of Unity). "Risalat al-Tawhid" was actually compiled by Abduh's devoted Syrian student, Muhammad Rashid Rida, based on Abduh's lectures in Beirut). Jihad, for Abduh, takes on a completely different meaning than Taymiyyah's concept of the word. Qur'anic Arabic has many words that specifically denoting violence or combat: the word "harb" means "war", "sira'a" is a reference to "combat", "ma'araka" refers to "battle", and "qital" indicates "killing". The word "jihad" is far more nuanced, but translates roughly into "struggle", "striving", and even "journey towards inner perfection". Hence, when Abduh focuses his attention on improving the Ummah, this, for Abduh, is jihad. This is why Abduh pursued the unity of the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism).

• Hence, when Abduh focuses his attention on improving the Ummah, this, for Abduh, is jihad. This is why Abduh pursued the unity of the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism).