Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghāni: An exploratory study of his place in the Tajdid movement and position towards the Sudanese Mahdiyya

• Main Author: Ibrahim, Hassan Ahmed
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DT Africa
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/14464/1/23.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/14464/; http://www.iaha2014.uum.edu.my/

Much had been written in Islamic (notably in Arabic and Persian) and Western (particularly English and French) languages about the monumental mujaddid (Islamic reformer) and political activist Jamāl al-Dīn al-Husaini (1838-1897), popularly known by his self- styled pseudonym “al-Afghāni”. Nonetheless, this article revisits him mainly because the challenges that the Islamic world faced and which he tried, in vain, to address during his turbulent time remain basically the same in our chaotic time, even in a much acute form after the historic September 11, 2001 incident. Chief among those are the devastating Shi'i-Sunni conflict and the accelerating Western cultural and physical invasion of the Muslim world The article attempts to give a fresh interpretation and assessment of Afghāni’s complex character, stormy life and religo-political legacy. The study also poses a presumably interesting question, namely, why Afghāni’s visionary thought was not acclaimed during his life, and may it be recalled now to address the stubborn problem that the Muslims are currently facing, particularly the Muslim-Muslim confrontation in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, and the general disarray of the Ummah?