ARTICLE REVIEW; JAMALUDIN AL-AFGHANI

INTRODUCTORY

Afghani’s Early Life.

Sayyid Jamaluddin Al-Afghani is one of the Islamic scholars who are mostly known as ‘Ulama’. He is considered as the founding father of Islamic modernism. It is clear when Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed (N.d) also wrote in his encyclopedia that undoubtedly one of the most influential Muslims of the 20th century

He was born in year 1838 at Asadabad near the Afghan-Persian border. In Wikipedia, Asadabad or Asad Abad is the capital city of Kunar Province in Afghanistan. He was called a Seyyed because his family claimed descent from the family of the Prophet through Imam Hussain. The title of “Afghani” refers to his Afghan-Persian heritage (Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, N.d).

Afghani’s Education.

Initially, Al-Afghani was home schooled. He received his early education in various religious schools near Kabul, Afghanistan and Qazwin and Tehran, Iran. He studied the Qur’an, Fiqh, Arabic grammar, philosophy, tasawwuf, logic, mathematics, and medicine, disciplines that were the backbone of an Islamic curriculum at that time.

Afghani’s Teen Life.

At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he went to India (1855/6) to continue his studies. During his stay in India until 1882, Afghani became closely used to the positivist ideas of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and wrote the ‘Neichari Sect and an Explanation of the Necharis’ (Hakikat-i Madhhab-i Naychari wa Bayan-i Hal-i Naychariyan), two famous essays. He was apparently much influenced by the Shaikhist school, which emphasized personal leadership and the need for the world to have a ‘perfect man’ (Middle East Encyclopedia, 2007).

Afghani’s Journey of Ilm

In 1870, he traveled to Egypt and Istanbul where he received a warm welcome from Ottoman officials and intellectuals who were instrumental in the creation of the Tanzimat reforms. Afghani went to Egypt for the second time and stayed there for the next eight years (1871-1879) during which time he began to spread his philosophical and political ideas through his classes and public lectures.

At the beginning of 1883, Afghani spent a short time in London and then went to Paris. In Paris, Afghani begun to publish his famous journal al-‘Urwat al-wuthqa’ (“The Firmest Robe” – a title taken from the Qur’an) with the close collaboration of his friend and student, Muhammad Abduh whom he had invited from Lebanon to Paris. Due to a number of difficulties, al-‘Urwah was dropped in September 1884 after eighteen issues.

Through his essays and especially his controversial against Ernest Renan, a French historian, philosopher and positivist, Afghani established considerable fame for himself in the Parisian intellectual circles. He became popular among the intellectuals in French.

In 1886, he was invited by Shah Nasir al-Din to Iran and offered the position of special adviser to the Shah, which he accepted. Afghani, however, was critical of Shah’s policies on the question of political participation. This difference of opinion forced Afghani to leave Iran for Russia (1886 - 1889). The book about ‘The Truth’ was then being translated by Muhammad ‘Abduh into Arabic and published as The Refutation of the Materialists (al-Radd ‘ala al-dahriyyin) in Beirut, 1886.

In 1889 on his way to Paris, Afghani met Shah Nasir al-Din in Munich and was offered the position of grand vizier. But Afghani’s unabated criticisms of the rule and conduct of the Shah led to his eventual deportation from Iran in the winter of 1891. Afghani was later implicated in the murder of Shah Nasir al-Din in year 1896.

Afghani spent the last part of his life in Istanbul under the patronage and, later, surveillance of Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II. The demands for Afghani’s extradition by the Iranian officials for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Shah Nasir al-Din were rejected by ‘Abd al-Hamid who, most probably, collaborated with Afghani for the implementation of his political program of pan-Islamism or Islamic unity (ittihad-i islam).

To this end, Afghani sent a number of letters to various Islamic countries and leaders to mobilize and unite them against the British rule while at the same time trying to establish the foundations of a mutual rapprochement between the Sunnis and the Shi`ites.

According to some historians, ‘Abd al-Hamid grew suspicious of Afghani’s meetings with some Arab leaders and the British officials in Istanbul and did not permit him to leave the country.

Afghani’s Death

Afghani died of cancer in March 9, 1897 and was buried in Istanbul.

Afghani’s Major Works

1. Al-Ta’liqat ‘ala sharh al-Dawwani li’l-‘aqa’id al-‘adudiyyah (Cairo, 1968). Afghani’s glosses over Dawwani’s commentary on the famous kalam book of ’Adud al-Din al-‘Iji called al-‘aqa’id al-‘adudiyyah.

2. Risalat al-waridat fi sirr al-tajalliyat (Cairo, 1968). A work dictated by Afghani to his student M. ‘Abduh when he was in Egypt.

3. Tatimmat al-bayan (Cairo, 1879). A political, social and cultural history of Afghanistan.

4. Hakikat-i Madhhab-i Naychari wa Bayan-i Hal-i Naychariyan. First published in Haydarabad-Deccan, 1298/1881, this is Afghani’s most important intellectual work that he published during his lifetime.

It is a scathing criticism and total rejection of naturalism which Afghani also calls ‘materialism’. The book has been translated into Arabic by M. ‘Abduh as al-Radd ‘ala al-dahriyyin (The Refutation of the Materialists).

5. Khatirat Jamal al-Din al-Afghani al-Husayni (Beirut, 1931). A book compiled by the Lebanese journalist Muhammad Pasha al-Mahzumi. Mahzumi was present in most of Afghani’s talks in the last part of his life and developed his conversations in to the present book. The book contains important information about Afghani’s life and ideas.

As a conclusion for this introductory part of this article, it is notified that Afghani’s career as a thinker and activist has had a deep impact on the Islamic world and continues to be a source of inspiration and controversy for many today. His project of Islamic modernism that he developed in his lectures, polemics, short essays, and newspaper columns was based on the idea of finding a modus vivendi between traditional Islamic culture and the philosophical and scientific challenges of the modern West. He took a middle way of delivering his thoughts and ideas between the blind Westernization and its wholesale rejection by the traditional ‘ulama’. Afghani’s views on science should be understood in the light of this general program of Islamic ‘reform’ or renewal (islah or tajdid). Afghani, unlike many of the revivalist thinkers of his generation, was well versed in traditional Islamic philosophy (hikmah), and considered philosophy essential for the revival of Islamic civilization. His role in the revival of the study of Islamic philosophy in the Arab and Indian worlds, however, remains unmistakable. Hassan Al-Banna, Abul ala Maududi, Sayyid Qutb are among his students.

AFGHANI’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

In The Aspect of Politic

Afghani’s political program of pan-Islamism (ittihad-i islam) sought to mobilize Muslim nations to fight against Western imperialism and gain military power through modern technology.

Afghani’s call for the independence of individual Muslim nations has been a key factor in the development of the so-called “Islamic nationalism” and influenced such Muslim figures as Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Abu’l Kalam Azad in the Indian subcontinent and Namik Kemal, Said Nursi and Mehmet Akif Ersoy in the Ottoman Turkey.

Later in the 20th century, Afghani became a major source of inspiration for such revivalist movements as the Muslim Brethren of Egypt and the Jama`at-i Islami of Pakistan.

In many ways, Afghani continues to be hailed by various Islamic activist groups as an important example of the activist-scholar type in the Islamic world. Afghani had also a deep impact on many Egyptian thinkers including Muhammad ‘Abduh, Rashid Rida, ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq, Qasim Amin, Lutfi al-Sayyid and Osman Amin.

REFERENCES.

1. Ibrahim Kalin (2007). Sayyid Jamal al-Din Muhammad b. Safdar al-Afghani (1838-1897). http://www.cis-ca.org/voices/a/afghni.html (MAIN REFERENCE)

2. Prof. Dr. Nazeer Ahmed (N.d). Jamaluddin Afghani. https://historyofislam.com/contents/th e-modern-age/jamaluddin-afghani/

3. Asadabad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asadabad,_Afghanistan

4. Jamaluddin Al-Afghani (2007). http://www.mideastweb.org/Middle-East-Encyclopedia/ jamal_al-din_al-afghani.html