Afghani and 'Abduh: An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Modern Islam

by Elie Kedourie

This is a reprint of the late professor's work on Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1879) and his well-known Egyptian discipline Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905), the Mufti of Egypt. These two men have generally been seen as devout Muslims who helped rejuvenate their religion which had been stagnating for many centuries.
The author provides evidence which suggests that these two men were involved in Islam's small and silent atheist movement which had a subversive rather than constructive influence on mainstream Islam. He also examines Afghani's and 'Abduh's political activities in Egypt before and during 'Urabi's revolt of 1870 and in the process throws new light on Egypt's politics during this turbulent decade. He argues that Afghani could have been a Russian agent, possibly a French one and probably offered his services to the British.

Genres: Islam, Religion

Paperback

First published December 31, 1966

About the author

Elie Kedourie, CBE, FBA was a British historian of the Middle East. He wrote from a liberal perspective, dissenting from many points of view taken as orthodox in the field. He was at the London School of Economics (LSE) from 1953 to 1990, becoming Professor of Politics.

Reviews

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 1 out of 5]

A reprint of an odd little book first published in 1966 - a cross between a biographical note and a character assassination, the latter particularly in the case of Afghani. Kedourie argues that both Afghani and 'Abduh presented themselves to Muslim audiences as traditionally pious Muslims, while secretly holding either atheist or heretical messianic views (he seems a little undecided which). He complains that these views have not been exposed by other Muslim scholars. He also seems to believe that Afghani in particular was primarily interested in his own political advancement, but went about it in a somewhat delusional fashion. I detect a strong whiff of Orientalism, including a somewhat arrogant assumption on Kedourie's part that he is better equipped to judge the orthodoxy of Afghani and 'Abduh than are their co-religionists.

[مينا ساهر ساهر · Rating 5 out of 5]

لست غريباً على نقد جمال الدين الأفغاني وتفكيك صورته النمطية، فقد سبق وقرأت تناول لويس عوض المفصل له وما أثاره من عواصف وقتها. لكن إيلي خدوري في هذا الكتاب يوسع دائرة الاشتباك لتشمل الشيخ محمد عبده أيضاً، مقدماً طرحاً شديد الجرأة والخطورة يتهمهما بتوظيف الدين لخدمة السياسة، بل ويشكك في منطلقاتهما العقائدية.كقارئ مطلع بشكل موسوعي على تاريخ تلك الفترة، أرى أن الكتاب "هايل" وكاشف، ليس بالضرورة لأنني أتفق مع كل إجابات المؤلف واستنتاجاته -التي قد تكون شطحت وتطرفت في بعض المواضع- ولكن لأن الكتاب نجح ببراعة في طرح "الأسئلة المسكوت عنها". الكتاب يسلط الضوء على مناطق معتمة وتناقضات حقيقية في سيرة الرجلين (خاصة محمد عبده) لا يمكن تجاهلها، ويفرض عليك إعادة قراءة التاريخ بعين فاحصة لا تستسلم للمسلمات.
يُحسب للكتاب أيضاً أن ترجمته جاءت ممتازة، سلسة، وأمينة في نقل هذا النص الإشكالي المعقد. هو كتاب قد تختلف مع نتائجه، لكنك لا تملك إلا احترام الجهد البحثي والقدرة على إثارة العقل الكامنة فيه