Jamal al-Din al-Afghani

Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (also called Asadabadi) or fully, Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani as-Sayyid Muhammad Ibn Safdar al-Husayn (1839 – March 9, 1897) was an Islamic political activist. al-Afghānī opposed foreign rule of Muslim lands. He believed that the main problem lay in a lack of unity among Muslims. al-Afghānī believed in the rule of law and constitutional-based government rather than absolute monarchy and autocracy. His traditional madrassah education had included fiqh (jurisprudence) alongside falsafah (philosophy) and irfān (mysticism).

Origins

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani was born in the village of Asadabad in Kunar Province of Afghanistan., Scholars often reffer to him as an ethnic Azerbaijani, since the Turkic-speaking (Azerbaijani-speaking) Asadabad village of Hamedan was perhaps his homeland, although, others reffer to him as a Persian or as an Afghan.

Travel

Afghani travelled widely. He visited India in the hope to start an Islamic anti-British movement in that country. While Afghani was anti-colonialist, he was also against Islamic leaders at the time. After India, Afghani visited Egypt and found many Islamist followers there. A British Officer wrote to his superior that if Afghani remained there they would face problems. Afghanii was forced to leave Egypt. He then visited Britain and published a newspaper there for some time.

He wrote in his diary that "I did not see Islam there (UK) but Muslims."

Afghani returned to Persia (modern-day Iran and Afghanistan), asking the Shah to make reforms but received nothing but words. He and his followers stayed in a Mosque and they said that they would not leave there until the Persian Shah accepted their demands but Shah Nasir al-Din ordered the exile of Afghani to Turkey. He found followers in Turkey and became imprisoned by order of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

Imprisonment and Death

In 1896 a follower of Jamal al-Din Afghani assassinated Shah Nasir al-Din in protest for his treatment of Afghani. The Ottoman Sultan imprisoned Afghani when the news of the Shah's assassination emerged. 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 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 did not permit him to leave the country. Afghani died of cancer in March 9, 1897 and was buried in Istanbul.

The remains of Asadabadi were transferred from Turkey to Afghanistan with the coordination of the Afghan government.

External resources

• Jewish Virtual Library—Afghani Biography

References

• Black, Antony (2001). The History of Islamic Political Thought. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-93423-2.
• "Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 5 Oct. 2005 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9043289>.
• Keddie, Nikki Ragozin. Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: A Political biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1972.
• Watt, William Montgomery (1985). Islamic Philosophy and Theology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0749-8.