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Running head: SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 1

Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan as a Social Reformer in Islamic World

Omid Wali

M.A. English (ELT Specialization)

Department of English

Andhra University

‘‘I do not fear imprisonment, because in the past too they have imprisoned me, but as for my
thought, it is not in their power to imprison it.’’
Author Note

Omid Wali is final year postgraduate student at the Department of English, College of

Arts and Commerce, Andhra University.

This article is written in partial fulfillment of one-day seminar under the title of

Literature as a Voice of Voiceless keeping in mind the principles of APA style.

Correspondence concerning to this article should be addressed to Omid Wali, Department

of English, Andhra University, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pardish, India, 530003.

Contact: omidwali.shirzad@gmail.com
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 2

Abstract

Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan as one of the pioneers and founders of Pan-Islamism or the movement

of Islamic Unity has a great scholastic fame not only in the limited geography of Afghanistan,

but he is also the most respected figure for his political, social, philosophical, religious and

literary ideologies across the Islamic and Non-Islamic world. He was the first true Muslim

scholar who has made extensive efforts to establish the foundations of a mutual rapprochement

between ‘the Sunnis and the Shias’ the two major sects in Islam. Being a multi-facet personality,

he worked as prime minister of Afghanistan in the time of Amir Abdurhman Khan, and special

advisor to King Nasiruddin Shah of Iran, but he resigned from the mentioned political posts

because of his controversial and severe conflicts towards the ill and corrupted policies of Amir

Abdurhman Khan and Nasiruddin Shah. Besides his political, philosophical and religious

contributions on the part of Muslim-unification for living a peaceful life, Afghan also raised the

voice of voiceless through his prose and poetry. For instance, he has sent letters having excellent

qualities of prose such as epigrammatic and utilitarian to various Islamic scholars and leaders of

the world and asked them to work for the reduction and elimination of illiteracy, injustice, and to

bring social reforms for a refine society. This paper represents Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan as a

true voice of millions of un- educated voiceless Muslims in general and many illiterate voiceless

Afghan in particular who were imposed to the harsh rules of imperialism, extremism and

fundamentalism. The paper further represents Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan as an outstanding

translator of true interpretation of the concepts called unification, tolerance, justice and equality

referenced from the Holy Scripture Quran. In a marginal discussion of this paper, the researcher

found Afghan similar in style of writing as Francis Bacon, the father of English Essays.

Keywords: Pan-Islamism, Unification, Equality, Justice, The Sunnis, The Shias

SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 3

Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan as a Social Reformer in Islamic World

An architect of the modern Islamic intellectual revival, and an anti-imperialist thinker,

Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan was noted for the middle path that he took between traditionalism and

modernism. Equally regarded in the East and the West as the ‘defender of Islam,’ and the prime

source of Islamic revolution in 19th century, he is revered in the Arab world as the ‘Hakeem al-

Sharq’ (the sage of the East). As to his nationality and denomination, there are contesting claims.

The first claim indicates a Sunni Sayed lineage from Asadabad, Kunar, Afghanistan. His closest

disciple 'Muhammad Abduh , Shakib Arsalan and other biographical accounts written shortly

after his death, all agree with this view. He himself supported it. While some western scholars

have accused him of concealing his Iranian identity, it is likely that he, apart from preferring to

be simply called a Muslim, avoided sectarian associations as it was against his mission (Tanvir,

2007).

Afghan was educated by his father who began the task when the child was eight. When

he was ten, he had completed the study of various disciplines such as Arabic Language,

Philosophy, History, practical and theoretical Physics, Metaphysics, Mathematics, Medicine,

Anatomy and Astronomy (Tanvir, 2007).

His Ijazah (certification) attained, he left in 1855-6 for India where he is believed to have

stayed for almost five years. Afghan’s first stay in India (1856-1858) coincided with the victory

of the British over the mutineers of 1857. He watched how the British government generally

massacred the Indians and particularly the Muslims who had played a primary role in the mutiny.

He also observed the defiance and the untiring struggle of the Indians for their freedom. (Tanvir,

2007).
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 4

The Voice of Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan against Imperialism

Convinced now of the cruel and inhuman nature of Western imperialism in general and of

the British version in particular, he argued that besides military attack, the imperialists had other

agendas too. They had captured by treachery the Mughal Empire in the name of helping it and

had simultaneously set about the destruction of its faith and practices. The dilemma of the Indian

Muslims is said to have directed him eventually to an alliance with the `Uthmanis (Ottoman

Caliph). Afghan is on record while exposing the designs of the British (Tanvir, 2007). He says,

“Today the religion of Islam is like a ship whose captain is Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him)

and all Muslim are passengers of this holy ship and this unhappy ship is caught in a storm and

threatened with sinking, and unbelievers and free thinkers (ahl-i-zandaqeh) from every side have

pierced this ship.”

The British began to restrict the means of livelihood available to the Muslims and to

intensify their oppression against them in every respect. They hurt their interests regarding public

works and plundered Waqfs set aside for Mosques and Madrasas and exiled their Ulema

“Scholars” and leaders to the Andaman and Fijian Islands. If the plundering of their Wqaf did

not help, the British hoped that exiling their leaders would serve to alienate the Muslims from

their religion, and reduce them to the depths of ignorance concerning their faith, so that they

would neglect what God had intended for them. When the hopes of the tyrants for the first means

failed, and the period of profiting from the second one seemed too long, they resorted to another

policy for the limitation or weakening of Islamic religion in the land of India because they fear

only the Muslims as dangerous to the possessors of that plundered realm and usurped right

(Tanvir, 2007).
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 5

The 16-18th centuries were marked by economic and military colonization of Muslim

lands by Western nations. These campaigns were also important for the Western nations in

controlling raw material and sea routes for their trade activity. Faced under colonial occupation,

with a severe crisis at the social, economic, political and religious level, much of the Muslim

world had lost its sovereignty. Of the many Muslim revivalists who struggled against Western

occupation, Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan was the most pronounced in his effort to revive traditional

Islamic ideas (Tanvir, 2007).

His Pan-Islamism or the Movement of Islamic Unity

According to Wikipedia, the term pan-Islamism is a political movement advocating the

unity of Muslims under one Islamic state – often a Caliphate[1] – or an international

organization with Islamic principles. As a form of religious nationalism, Pan-Islamism

differentiates itself from other pan-nationalistic ideologies, for example, Pan-Arabism, by

excluding culture and ethnicity as primary factors towards unification.

The model Pan-Islamism aims for is the early years of Islam . The reign of Prophet

Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) and the early caliphate. When the Muslim world was thought

to be strong and uncorrupted in one united state (Wikipedia).

In the modern era, Pan-Islamism was championed by Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan who

sought unity among Muslims to resist colonial occupation of Muslim lands. Although sometimes

described as "liberal", Afghan did not advocate constitutional government but simply envisioned

the overthrow of individual rulers who were lax or subservient to foreigners, and their

replacement by strong and patriotic men. In a review of the theoretical articles of his Paris-base

newspaper, there was nothing "favoring political democracy or parliamentarianism,” according

to his biographer (Wikipedia).

SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 6

Besides this, dedicating his whole life to the defense of the Islamic commonwealth, and

moving restlessly throughout the Muslim world, Afghan appealed to the rulers of the Muslims to

gather their subjects against Western imperialism. While calling for internal reform in line with

the Qur’an and prophetic traditions. He insisted on the need for military power in order to end

foreign occupation. He founded the Ummul Qura, which symbolized the concept of Islamic unity

and to unite the whole Islamic world. His revolutionary ideas have had a deep impact on the

reawakening in the Muslim world (Khalil, 2015). He addressed,

“Oh! You poor fellah (peasants and farmers)! You break the heart of the earth in order to draw

sustenance from it and to support your family. Why do you not break the heart of those who eat

the fruit of your labor?”

It was during his first stay in India that he performed the Hajj ‘pilgrimage’ and followed

it by visits to Iraq, Persia, Baluchistan, and probably Istanbul before stopping at Afghanistan.

According to Murtada Mutahhari, his experiences of universal unity of the

Muslim Ummah during the Hajj where Muslims belonging to all races, languages, colors,

cultures and traditions gather with one intention and faith in the house of God Almighty

convinced him of the unity of Islamic nations. He joined Dost Muhammad Khan and serving as

advisor to other Afghan rulers from 1861-8. Actively persuading the Afghan rulers in resisting

the interference of the British in Afghanistan, Afghan’s influence in the politics of that country

was especially strong during the period of Azam Khan (1866-8) who successfully aided his

policies against Britain. But with the power-shift in 1869, he left Afghanistan for India. While

the British in India seemingly welcomed him, he was put under surveillance and disallowed to

meet with other Muslim leaders. Owing perhaps to this situation, he left for Egypt and reached

there in July 1869. This 40-day sojourn in Egypt enabled him to discuss his mission with the
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 7

teachers and students of the renowned al-Azhar University. Following this, he reached Istanbul

in late 1869 and was welcomed by the Turkish authorities. Elected a member of Anjuman-i-

Danish (Turkish Academy) within six months of his arrival, he was soon engaged in the

education and reformation of the Muslims at the seat of the caliphate. His lecture in February

1870, delivered at the opening of Dar-ul-Fanna’ (a new university), was a wake-up call to the

Muslims, then, sunk in their centuries-old stupour. Also a call to self-strengthening via

reformation on modern lines, it was a precursor to his later speech in 1870 on the unity of the

Muslim nations. Comparing the Ummah to a living organism, all Muslim groups to the body

parts of that organism and Prophetic order to its soul, Afghan divided that soul into its prophetic

and philosophic parts. The former part was divinely gifted, while the latter was attained through

intellectual endeavor. The Prophet was thus faultless, while the philosopher could go astray

(Tanvir, 2007).

Afghan was wrongly accused of comparing Prophet-hood with Philosophy and of

describing the prophetic office as being one of guile and craft; indeed the Prophet as being a

crafty personality. This speech proved to be the cause for Afghan’s expulsion from Turkey.

Jealous of the growing fame of Afghan, the Sheikh-ul-Islam, Hasan Fahmi Effendi, along with a

few others conspired against him and aided the propaganda campaign calling Afghana ‘heretic.’

Invited by a prominent Egyptian politician, the minister Riyad Pasha, Afghan returned to Egypt

on March 22, 1871. It was during this eight-year-stay (1871-79) that he taught at Al-Azhar and at

his residence. Teaching advanced textbooks on subjects like philosophy, jurisprudence,

astronomy and mysticism, his classes produced versatile personalities like Muhammad Abduh,

later the grand mufti of Egypt, Muhammad Ahmed, the Muslim leader who led the anti-colonist

revolution in Sudan and Said Zaghlul, later the leader of the Nationalist Wafd Party. Although
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 8

Khedive Ismail, the then ruler of Egypt, tried to reduce corruption and foreign control in

Egyptian society, he was unsuccessful. In fact, the machinations of European leaders, their

interest in the newly built Suez Canal, unmanageable debts and incompetence of the ruling class

actually increased the imperialists’ influence in the affairs of Egypt. Afghan, meanwhile,

committed his energies to the spread of his anti-imperialist ideas through classes and public

lectures. He acquainted the people with the menace of European intervention and urged them to

unite under the banner of faith. During his stay in Egypt, he wrote an undated letter

to Ottoman statesmen taking the same theme, plan and line of action for Muslim unity to the

Sultan himself. In this letter written in Persian, (Tanvir, 2007). He wrote:

…since I am counted a part of the nation (milla) and a piece of that community (Ummah). If a

calamity befalls them or the thorn of humiliations pricks their foot, there is no doubt that I will

be steadfast in self–sacrifice and will prefer death over such a life of humiliation. Consequently,

when I was at the state of the lofty Ottoman Government in this age, and when I considered the

condition of the Islamic nations (Millat-i-Islamiyyah), it rent the shirt of my patience and I was

overcome by fearful thoughts and visions from every side. Like a fearfully obsessed man day and

night from beginning to end, I have thought of this affair and have made the means of reform and

salvation of this milla my profession and incantation.

In this letter, he cites the example of two great men who united their people on one

platform against impending danger. Abu Muslim, who caused the downfall of Umayyad dynasty,

and Peter the Hermit, who brought the Europeans into the Crusades. Comparing himself with

Abu Muslim and regarding the Ottoman Sultan as central to Muslim unity, he expressed great
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 9

enthusiasm in accepting the challenge of uniting the Ummah Islamiyyah under one

supreme Caliph and in liberating Muslim lands from western control (Tanvir, 2007).

On another occasion, he cites the weakened spirit of nationalism (jinsiyya) of Eastern

people as being the cause of their subjugation (Tanvir, 2007). He is reported to have said:

“In the present, foreigners have divided up Eastern lands, whose backwardness must have a

cause. If we examine realities philosophically, we find, for our backwardness, only two basic

causes: discrimination (ta`asub) and tyranny (istibdad). The only thing that will help us emerge

from our present difficulties is zeal. Zeal is possessed by only some citizens who know that their

honor is only in their race (jins), that power is only in their community (Ummah) and their glory

is only in their fatherland (watan)

His Second Stay in India. Following a British-instigated regime change in 1879 in

which Khedive Ismail was replaced by Khedive Taufiq as head of the government, Afghan was

expelled from Egypt. He was soon back in India where he stayed until 1882, working as an

Islamic reformer and defender of Islam. Condemning the Naturalist sect of the followers of

Sayed Ahmed Khan while in Hyderabad, he wrote his famous The Truth about the Neichari Sect

and an Explanation of the Necharis (Hakikat-i Madhhab-i Naychari wa Bayan-i Hal-i

Naychariyan). This work, first published in 1881 in Hyderabad, was later translated

by Muhammad 'Abduh and Abu Turab into Arabic and was re-published as The Refutation of the

Materialists (al-Radd ‘ala al-dahriyyin) in Beirut (Khogyani, 1940).

Kept under house arrest in Calcutta, he nevertheless succeeded in creating a small band

of revolutionaries, in writing articles like ‘Commentary on the commentator,’ and in delivering a

lecture on ‘Teaching and Education,’ at Albert Hall, Madrasa-e-Aliya, which were all published
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 10

in Maqalat-i-Jamaliyyah in 1884 by Abdul Gaffar Shahbaz in Calcutta. Advocating a policy of

national unity against the British during his second stay in India (1879-1882), Afghan declared in

his 1882 lecture on ‘teaching and education’ in Calcutta (Khogyani, 1940).

Certainly, I must be happy to see such offspring of India since they are the offshoots of that India

which was the cradle of humanity. Human values spread out from India to the whole world.

These youths are from the very land where the meridian circle was first determined. Note how

Indian numerals were transferred from here to the Arabs and from there to Europe. These youths

are also the sons of a land that is the source of the laws and rules of the world. If one observes

closely, he will see that the ‘code of Romain,’ the mother of all Western codes, was taken from

the Vedas and the Shastras. The Greeks were the pupils of the Indians in literary ideas, limpid

poetry and lofty thoughts. One of these pupils, Pythagoras, spread the sciences and wisdom in

Greece and reached such a height that his world was accepted without proof, and as an

inspiration from the (Indians). This soil of India is the same soil; this air of India is the same air

and these youths who are present here are the fruits of the same earth and climate.

His Article on India. In an article written in April 1883 and published in L’Intransigent

as ‘Letter on India,’ Afghan strongly criticized the British role in India. He said that the main

aim of the British in recent years had been the mastery of all routes of India. The British knew

that all Indians hated them and that a single shot fired by a foreign power on, or near, the Indian

frontier would suffice to set off a nation-wide uprising. In this article, he stressed upon Hindu-

Muslim unity and not on a separate Muslim action in India. Further, he also called for a joint

attack against Britain to liberate India from British control. Highlighting the exploitative nature

of the occupation, he exposed the British looting of Indian wealth and natural resources that left
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 11

millions of Indians facing hunger, poverty and death (Khogyani, 1940). Replying to the British

claims regarding their role in the establishment of schools in India, he said:

“They built schools only in order to teach the English language so that Indians could be

employed in Government offices. The British claim that they ended the oppression of local

Indian rulers is laughable, as oppression used to be confined to a few areas and these rulers spent

their wealth in India, but now oppression is general and the British suck the Indians’ blood and

skin the flesh in order to take it home as spoils.”

His articles written in Hyderabad, namely ‘The benefits of Newspapers,’ ‘Teaching and

education,’ ‘The true causes of man’s happiness and distress,’ ‘The philosophy of National Unity

and the truth about unity of language,’ and ‘The Benefits of Philosophy’ were published in the

Hyderabad journal, Muallim-i-Shafiq in 1881. Glorifying the ancient Indian civilization and its

contributions to human knowledge, he called for Hindu-Muslim unity in the struggle against

British imperialism. In an article on ‘The philosophy of national unity and the truth about unity

of language’ he stated; ‘There is no happiness except in nationality and there is no nationality

except in language.’ Only after Britain occupied Egypt and the Egyptian Nationalist Movement

(i.e., the Urabi movement, which many of his followers had joined) at the end of the Great War,

was he allowed to go to London in late 1882. (Khogyani, 1940).

In addition to this, in London he wrote several articles in the newspaper an-Nahla, the

most prominent among which was ‘English policy in Eastern countries,’ and ‘The Reasons for

the war in Egypt,’ in which he developed the idea of al-Urwath al-Wuthqa. Publishing many

articles in France, he wrote an open letter – ‘Answer to Renan’ - in al-Basir in response to the

French philosopher, Ernest Renan’s lecture on ‘Islam and Science’ (‘de Debates’ May 18, 1883)
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 12

and the letter ‘Sur ‘l Hindoustan’ (‘Letter on India’) in the newspaper L’ Intransigent, on 24

April, 1883. Three more articles on ‘Le Mahdi’ (The Mahdi) were also published in three

December 1883 issues of the same newspaper. With his exiled disciple, Muhammad Abduh,

joining him in Paris in 1884, he began publishing his famous journal Al-’Urwath al-Wuthqa

(‘The Firm Bond’), the title being taken from the Qur’an (‘so whosoever disbelieves in the devil,

and believes in Allah, he indeed lays hold on the firmest handle which never breaks.

Discontinued in October 1884 (after only its eighteenth issue) primarily due to British

antagonism, the journal proved instrumental in many Islamic revivalist movements around the

world. Following this, his political activism with regard to the Sudanese Mahdi, the British, the

Ottoman Sultan and Russian expansion saw him go through several high profile, but

unsuccessful, meetings with British officials. Leaving London in 1885, he was in Persia for a

short period when he wrote several articles like ‘The Suckling Baby, ‘On the personal pleasures

of Human Beings’ and ‘On Pride.’ In May 1887, he came to an agreement with the Tsar in

Moscow over the printing of the Qur’an. While there, and under the Indian Liberation Society,

he, together with Dalip Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, the famous Sikh leader, issued a

joint manifesto - instigating an anti-British uprising in India - that was distributed in Europe.

With the death of Katkov, however, the plan failed. (Khogyani, 1940).

His Movement in Iran. Earlier offered the post of special advisor by Shah Nasir al-Din

who urged him to return to Iran, Al Afghani, although turning down the offer initially, later

settled down there for a few years. With a number of Ulama and intellectuals like Sheikh Ali of

Qazwin, one of the chief judges, Mirza Aqa Khan, sub-editor of Persian Akhtar, Mirza Riza

Kirman, and Mirza Mohammad Ali Khan of Tehran joining him, Iran proved fertile in receiving

Afghan’s ideas. However, the popularity of his revolutionary ideas was a sufficient reason for the
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 13

autocratic government to renege on its agreement with him, and to plot his assassination.

Managing to escape this attempt on his life by taking refuge at a local shrine, Afghan further

sharpened his criticism against the malpractices and the support of the autocratic government for

the imperialists. His mass popularity notwithstanding, he was soon expelled from Iran after being

tortured at the Shah’s order. Leaving Iran, he was soon in Baghdad and Basra before moving on

to London where he remained until 1892. However, his relentless campaign against the Persian

government’s co-operation with the imperialists saw Mirza Hassan Shirazi, the

Iranian Mujitahid forcing the government to give up its ties with the imperialists. It was in no

small measure that Afghan’s articles on ‘The reign of terror in Persia,’ printed in the Arabic

newspaper Ziya ul-Khafiqayn, helped in this reversal of policies (Miakhil, 2015).

His Movement in Istanbul, Turkey. Arriving in Istanbul at the invitation of Sultan ‘Abd

al-Hamid II, Afghan was informed that the Sultan probably intended to keep him under

surveillance. At this, he is reported to have made the legendary statement: ‘I do not fear

imprisonment, because in the past too they have imprisoned my person, but as for my thought, it

is not in their power to imprison it.’ To him Istanbul seemed the best place for his mission of

reform and regeneration of the Ummah. While there, he wrote to the leaders of various Muslim

nations in order to mobilize them against British imperialism. He also tried to establish

harmonious ties between the Turkish Sunnis and the Persian Shiites by gaining Shiite recognition

for the OttomanOttoman caliphate, and Sunni recognition for the King of Persia as the head of

the Shiites, and for the two Shiite holy cities in Iraq. Prompted by the Sultan, he even stopped his

criticism of the Shah of Persia. Accusing selfish kings of being responsible for this division, he

urged the Ulama to bridge the gap between the two communities. He reminded them that this

division serves only to weaken the Muslims even further. Neither Ali - whom the Shi’as see as
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 14

Muhammad’s successor - nor Abu Bakr, who was recognized as the first Caliph, would approve

of the wars and divisions carried out in their names. In Al-Urwath al-Wuthqa, he appealed to Iran

and Afghanistan to forget their differences and, instead, to be more concerned of their common

origin. He formed a society in cooperation with Iranian Shiites which primarily tried to bridge

the gap between both communities. He also planned to form a high level Islamic organization

which would look after the problems of Muslim countries and combat all challenges from

European countries (Miakhil, 2015). Accusing imperialist nations of undermining the language,

culture and education of subject people, he said:

“There is no community without a language, no language without a culture (Adab), no honor

without history and no history for a nation if there is no one to preserve the contribution of their

great men. The maintenance of the language, culture and honor of a community depends solely

on the education of one’s own country (talim-e-watan) based in one’s fatherland for the sake of

the fatherland, irrespective of religious or other differences among the people”.

He did not see any contradiction between education, culture or language-based unity and

Islamic unity (Ittehade Islami) that aimed at the unity of Muslims of various countries on the

basis of faith under one Caliph. In the absence of a strong centralized Islamic government, he

supported nationalist trends to resist Western imperialism. During the last period of his life, he

stayed in Istanbul and worked for Islamic unity with the support of Sultan Abdul Hamid.

Addressing a gathering there, he once said (Miakhil, 2015).

“today the religion of Islam is like a ship whose captain is Muhammad (peace is with him) and

all Muslim are passengers of this holy ship and this unhappy ship is caught in a storm and

threatened with sinking, and unbelievers and free thinkers (ahl-i-zandaqah) from every side have
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 15

pierced this ship. What is the duty of the passengers of such a ship threatened with sinking and

its inhabitants close to perdition? Should they first try to preserve and save this ship from the

storm and from sinking or instead bring the ship and each other to the verge of ruin through

discord, personal motives and petty disagreement?”

However, Sultan Abdul Hamid grew suspicious of Afghan’s meetings with the Khedive

of Egypt and Abbas Hilmi, both Arab leaders and supposed him to be conspiring in the

restoration of the Arab caliphate under the leadership of the Khedive. Nevertheless, the Sultan

rejected Afghan’s extradition to Iranian authorities for his alleged involvement in the

assassination of Shah Nasir al-Din, which had transpired in the meantime. This was while his

three followers, Sheikh Ahamed Kirman, Haji Mirza Hassan Khan, and Khabir-ul-Mulk who

were also implicated in the assassination of the Persian leader, were handed over to the Iranians.

Afghan himself died on March 9, 1897. While the Ottoman government attributed his death to

cancer. Other reports state that Al Afghan was poisoned. His Christian servant Jurji Kuichi was

present at the time of his death. Buried quietly in the cemetery of Sheykhler Mezarlighi near

Nishan Tashi, his resting place remained a matter of public speculation until a few years later

when an American Tourist Dr. Karin found his tomb in 1919. Subsequently, his remains were

sent to Kabul in 1945 on the request of the Afghan Government (Miakhil, 2015).

Afghan explained the Islamic unity of all Muslims (Al-Wahdat Al-Islamiya) which

Westerners term Pan-Islamism, as being a powerful means to resist Western imperialism. He

insisted on the potential of the Ummah to establish a grand civilization again by following

the Qur’anic affirmation, innamal mu’minuna ikhwa (all Muslims are brethren), and by

forgetting their internal wrangling, political or religious, and uniting to combat penetration by
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 16

European powers, especially Britain. Jurji Zidan, in the concluding paragraph of

Afghan’sbiography in Mashahir ash-Sharq (Celebrated men of the East), states:

“It will be gathered from this brief summary of his life and deeds that the goal towards which all

his actions were directed and the pivot on which all his hopes turned, was the unanimity of Islam

and the bringing together of all Muslims in all parts of the world into one Islamic Empire under

the protection of one supreme Caliph. In this endeavor, he spent all his energies and for this end

he abandoned all worldly ambitions taking to himself no wife and adopting no profession.”

His Movement towards the Unification of the Sunnis and the Shais. In addition to

sending 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 Shias, the two sects of Islam. History is the witness

of innocent bloodshed between the followers of the mentioned two sects of Islam. In fact, these

internal problems are the silent and dangerous agenda of world powers such as the British divide

and rule policy. Because of his extensive efforts he made by the art of his writing, he was able to

reduce such a bad problem in Islamic word as general and completely removed it from the

Muslims living in Afghanistan. Today Muslims of both sects in Afghanistan live with a highest

mutual respect (Miakhil, 2015).

Alama Iqbal’s View on Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan. Muhammad Iqbal was born in

Sialkot, in the Punjab Province of British India to Sheikh Noor Muhammad and Imam Bibi. His

father was not an educated man and worked as a tailor while his mother was a homemaker. At

the age of 4 Iqbal was introduced to religious studies and was sent to mosque to learn Qur’an. He

learnt Arabic language at Scotch Mission College in Sialkot and pursued his intermediate from
SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 17

the Faculty of Arts, Murray College. In 1895, Iqbal enrolled in Government College Lahore for

his bachelors’, to study philosophy, English literature and Arabic. He also received his Masters

of Arts degree from the same college and secured number one position in Punjab University,

Lahore (Khalil, 2015). Iqbal was deeply impressed by the political, philosophical, social,

religious and literary ideologies of Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan. Iqbal compared Afghan with one

of the great scholars of Islam ‘Shah Waliullah’ and considered him as a founder of Awakening in

Islamic world. Iqbal used Afghan’s political, philosophical, social, religious and literary

ideologies as a source of inspiration in one of his master-piece ‘Jawidnama’ (Khalil, 2015).

Ahmad Bilal Khalil’s article (1394) mentioned:

Two great figures of literature (Afghan and Iqbal) who could not meet each other when

they were alive, but their death bodies made them to meet. A ‘Peer’ master came to reward his

disciple from a very far destination. The coincident of era was too captivating, where the land

of the master, where his coffin and cemetery, where Istanbul, where Lahore and where Kabul,

but sometimes it is also possible to make such a long destination short and makes two hearts

united. It was the last month of 1944, one evening when the coffin of the great humanist and

reformer was carried and sat next to the grave of Iqbal for a few moments who wished to meet

him in his life. This meeting of master and his disciple made all the people cry because of

extreme pleasure. (p. 20)

His Writing Style. Based on my own literary studies as a student at the Department of

English, Andhra University in the terms of Frances Bacon, the father of English Essays, I found

the writing style of both Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan and Francis Bacon quite similar. Both of

them follow the same epigrammatic and utilitarian approaches of essay writing. However, they

discussed various important topics of their time.

SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 18

Conclusion

History always does realistic and true judgment about its people. The history of 19th century in

Islamic world in the terms of social reforms revolves on the founder of modern Pan-Islamism or

the Movement of Islamic Unity, Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan. However, he did not establish a

unique Islamic state based on universal brotherhood, but he has established an ideal state based

on social and moral values for the entire Muslims to live a peaceful life with the followers of

other religions. His teachings in the forms of essays and letters to various scholars and leaders of

his time brought revolutionary changes for sound and refine society, and it was an extensive

effort by which he removed huge conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shais, which caused the

deaths of thousands of innocent people across the Islamic world. Besides this, the major focus of

his writing is the voice of voiceless against the Western Imperialism. He never stopped his

writing for any political pressure as he himself says, ‘‘I do not fear imprisonment, because in the

past too they have imprisoned me, but as for my thought, it is not in their power to imprison it.’’

Moreover, after cortically research and investigation, it is found that the writing style of Sayed

Jamaluddin Afghan and Frances Bacon are similar. However, both of them discussed different

topics of their time. Today, a number of high schools, colleges and universities are built by his

name such as Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan High School in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and

Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan University in Kunar, the eastern province of Afghanistan.

 SAYED JAMALUDDIN AFGHAN 19

References

Khalil, A. (2015) Alama Sayed and Alama Iqbal and their Pan-Islamism. Kabul, AFG: Foreign

Languages Institute.

Khogyani, M. (2015) The Life of Syed Jamal-al-din al-Afghani. Kabul, AFG: Kabul Public

Publishing

Miakhil, M. (1394) The Call of Awakening: Alama Afghan. Kabul, AFG: Foreign Languages

Institute.

Tanvir, M. (2007) Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan:Life & Work. Kabul, AFG: Ministry of

Information and Culture of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

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