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Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani

Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī
Sayyid Dschamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī.jpg
Born Sayyid Jamaluddin ibn Safdar
1254 AH/ 1839
Location disputed
Died 9 March 1897 (aged 58)
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Cause of death Cancer of the jaw
Resting place Kabul, Afghanistan
Nationality Disputed
Religion Islam
Creed Disputed
Notable idea(s) Pan-Islamism

Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Dari/Persian: سید جمال‌‌‌الدین افغانی‎‎), also known as Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī (Persian: سید جمال‌‌‌الدین اسد‌آبادی‎‎) and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1838/1839 – 9 March 1897), was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe. One of the founders of Islamic Modernism and an advocate of Pan-Islamic unity, he has been described as being less interested in minor differences in Islamic jurisprudence than he was in organizing a Muslim response to Western pressure.

As indicated by his nisba, al-Afghani claimed to be of Afghan origin. His true national and sectarian background have been a subject of controversy. According to one theory and his own account, he was born in Asadābād, near Kabul, in Afghanistan. Another theory, championed by Nikki R. Keddie and accepted by a number of modern scholars, holds that he was born and raised in a Shia family in Asadabad, near Hamadan, in Iran. Supporters of the latter theory view his claim to an Afghan origin as motivated by a desire to gain influence among Sunni Muslims or escape oppression by the Iranian ruler Nāṣer ud-Dīn Shāh. One of his main rivals, the sheikh Abū l-Hudā, called him Mutaʾafghin ("the one who claims to be Afghan") and tried to expose his Shia roots. Keddie also asserts that al-Afghānī used and practiced taqīa and ketmān, ideas more prevalent in the Iranian Shiʿite world.


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