Imam Muhammad Abdu
was a pioneering innovator of the intellectual revival movement in
Egypt and the Arab East in the 19th century enlightenment. He was also
one of the Islamic enlightened intellectuals who rejected
conventionalism, believed in openness to other cultures and the
innovation of thoughts and social, political and religious reform.
Muhammad Abdu
Khairallah was born in 1849 in Behera Governorate. In 1877, Muhammad
Abdu obtained his graduate degree "Alamiya" (equivalent to BA) from Al
Azhar, despite the opposition of some of his professors on account of
his "so called" progressive ideas. When he became a professor at Al
Azhar, he was mainly interested in teaching those topics which
enlighten the mind and cultivate reasoning such as philosophy, logic
and monotheism. He selected some reference books such as "Ethics" by
Montesquieu, and "The History of Cities in Europe and France" by
Francols Geseun to be the subject matter of his lectures. In history,
he selected Ibn Khaldun and his theory of sociology and urbanization.
Thanks to his
association with Gamal Eddin Al Afghani, he became involved in press
writing. Al Afghani had been encouraging a number of Egyptian writers
and intellectuals to make inroads into the Egyptian press. Soon he
gained grounds on the political and intellectual scene. Since the
foundation of the prestigious Al Ahram Newspaper in 1876, Abdu
contributed articles urging religious, political and social reforms.
He also called for the translation of foreign masterpieces in all
fields of knowledge.
In October, 1880, he
was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Egyptian Government official
gazette "AI Waqa'le AI Masriyya". Through his improvements, the
gazette came to play a prominent, social, literary and intellectual
role.
His call for reform
was one of the reasons that motivated the Orabi Revolution of 1881. He
was, therefore, sentenced for three months' imprisonment and exiled
from Egypt for three years.
Once again, he
returned to Beirut in 1885. There, he made a deliberate appraisal of
the whole situation. He managed to create an enlightened Islamic
intellectual current. His house in Beirut was a meeting place for all
political, intellectual and religious currents. In view of
broad-minded and tolerant attitude and tactfulness, his meetings were
frequented by Christians as well as Muslims.
He was then concerned
with educational, social and religious reforms. He thought he should
concentrate on the education and training of generations to combat
ignorance and stand against foreign occupation. He believed that
political, social and religious reforms were an arduous and protracted
process, requiring reasoning, good judgment and rational action. In
the context of his policy of reform, Muhammad Abdu developed an
overall reform plan for Al Azhar, the endowments and Sharia (Islamic)
courts. In spite of the open support by the British occupation, they
deliberately encouraged his opponents to undermine his plan.
Muhammad Abdu's call
for reform was based on three main precepts:
-1- Religious reform aiming at liberating thought from the shackles of
conventionalism.
-2- Language reform, in terms of styles and usages, aiming at evolving
a modern, powerful medium of expression and an element for unifying
and integrating the nation.
-3- Political reform, where he believed that a democratic line should
be struck between the state's right to obedience by the people and the
letter's right to justice by the state. This principle is the basis of
social life and Islam was a democratic religion, he believed.
Imam Muhammad Abdu
rejected the call for theocracy. He believed that ruling theocracy is
known to Islam. It is rather the authority enforced through peaceful
call for the good and prohibition of evil.
Imam Muhammad Abdu
left behind a rich intellectual legacy. In addition to his rich
contributions to the press, he made several researches in education.
He introduced a new approach in verifying and translating classical
heritage books. He co-authored with Qassem Amin in his book "The
Emancipation of Women". He also translated Herbert Spenser's book on
education.
Imam Abdu was the
founder of a special school of reform. He had several disciples who
adopted his call in many Arab and Islamic countries, including Shakeeb
Arslan, Gamal Eddin Al Qasmi, Rashid Redha and others in Syria,
Muhammad Sharaf Eddin and Muhammad Akef in Turkey and Muhammad Ibn Al
Khoja in North Africa. The party of Reform Ulema in Algeria and the
New Enterprise of Moroccan Reforms in Morocco were established on the
basis of his call. In Iran, India and Indonesia, reformists were
interested in the Imam's call. His thoughts will remain a source of
inspiration for all reforms in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
