Darwin and the Mufti
Darwin and the Mufti
This chapter examines the career of one of the best-known Muslim intellectuals of colonial Egypt, Muhammad ‘Abduh. It looks in particular at his efforts at the curricular reform of al-Azhar. Following his discussion of the need to revitalize the Muslim sciences, it explores his understanding of “new subjects” of study or the “new sciences” (al-‘ulum al-haditha). For much of his life, ‘Abduh was at odds with the Azhari rank and file: his reformism was one reason why he was often denounced as a “Wahhabi.” His lectures on scriptural hermeneutics, or tafsir also gathered much criticism at the time; yet in other circles, these helped him acquire the label of one of the founding “Islamic modernists.” It was in these lectures that ‘Abduh would make passing references to evolution and to Darwin. An avid fan of Herbert Spencer, ‘Abduh’s engagement with contemporary evolutionary thought was nowhere as extensive as al-Jisr’s. Nevertheless, it provided further fodder for his critics who were as wary of ‘Abduh’s reform efforts as they were of his close relations with British advocates in Egypt. This chapter thus explores the politics of evolution alongside educational and religious reform through the experience of Egypt’s Grand Mufti.
Keywords: Scriptural hermeneutics, Tafsir, Qur’an, Muhammad ‘Abduh, Azhar, Pedagogy, Reform, “Islamic modernism”
Chicago Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
