The Theology of Unity

Considered the father of modernistic Islamic thought, Muhammad Abduh was born in Mahallat Nasr, in Egypt, and received his traditional education in Tanta. In 1866 he entered al-Azhar, the major seat of Islamic learning at that time. There he became disillusioned with the antiquated methods of teaching, especially in relation to philosophy and show more theology, and later inaugurated the reformation of this university. Greatly influenced by the Persian revolutionary thinker al-Afghani, Abduh held that science and religion cannot conflict and that the truth of Islam can be subjected to scientific analysis. This, he claimed, was enjoined by the Koran, which urges believers to use intelligence and to study nature, which is replete with signs of the presence of God. As put forth in his treatise Risalat al-Tauhid (The Theology of Unity) (1897), Abduh contended that Islam is the only religion that calls upon humans to use reason and science in exploring truth. Islam, therefore, must be open to new ideas and modern knowledge generally. (Bowker Author Biography) show less