A Review of Sayyid Jamal Al-Din Afghani's Intellectual Identity

1. Introduction

The research problem is that the intellectual identity of Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani remains contested between his role as a reformist thinker advocating Islamic unity, rationalism, and anti-colonial struggle, and his portrayal as a controversial figure subject to political, religious, and ideological appropriations. Despite his profound influence on political Islam and modernist movements, gaps remain in understanding how his philosophical, political, and religious ideas coalesced into a coherent intellectual project that shaped reformist thought in the 19th-century Islamic world .

The main objectives of this work is, to examine the intellectual foundations of al-Afghani’s thought, particularly his synthesis of religion, science, and rationalism, to analyse his political strategies aimed at Islamic unity and resistance against colonial domination, to assess the role of his ideas in shaping reformist and modernist tendencies within the broader trajectory of political Islam, to critically evaluate the contested interpretations of his intellectual legacy across different political and religious movements .

As we have based this research on written sources and historical documents, there are no human participants, and informed consent was not required. However, the ethical principles of research, including fidelity in quoting, referencing sources, and fair representation of conflicting views, have been observed. Overall, this research, by combining content analysis, history of thought, and contextual interpretation, attempts to reconstruct the intellectual identity of Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani at the nexus between thought and practice. This approach allows Afghani to be examined simultaneously as a religious thinker and reformer, an advocate of rationality and modern sciences, a theorist of Islamic unity, and an anti-colonial political activist; without ignoring the complexities, shifts, and controversies surrounding his intellectual legacy .

2. Methods and Materials

This study aims to reconstruct and analyse the intellectual identity of Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani and to explain the connection between the religious, philosophical, and political dimensions of his thought. Given the nature of the research problem and the historical nature of the subject, this study uses a qualitative approach and a historical-analytical method. In this framework, Afghani's intellectual identity is examined not simply as a set of abstract perspectives, but as a product of the interaction between his thoughts and the political, social, and colonial conditions of the Islamic world in the nineteenth century .

The historical analysis approach in the field of intellectual history is a qualitative method for examining how ideas emerge, evolve, and have an impact in a specific temporal and social context. In this approach, the thoughts of a thinker are not studied simply as a set of abstract concepts; rather, their works and writings are analysed considering the political, social, cultural, and intellectual conditions of their era, as well as their interactions with contemporary movements and thinkers. Using sources, while reconstructing the historical context of the formation of ideas, the central concepts, continuities, breaks, and intellectual developments are identified. Accordingly, the historical analysis approach allows the mutual relationship between thought and its historical context to be analysed in a coherent and documented manner .

The type of historical study is interpretive in the field of intellectual history. This design allows Afghan concepts and positions to be interpreted in relation to the temporal and spatial context of their formation. The subject of analysis in this study is “themes and intellectual propositions related to Afghan intellectual identity.” This study also considers the representation of Afghani as a reformist, modernist, Islamist, political opportunist, or controversial figure. The temporal scope of the study mainly covers the second half of the nineteenth century (from the beginning of Afghani’s scientific and political activities until his death). The spatial scope of the study includes the most important environments that have played a role in the formation and development of Afghani thought, including Afghanistan, India, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, the Ottoman Empire, and some European countries .

The documents used include books, scientific articles, historical research, and contemporary analyses of Afghan life, thought, and activities. Sources were selected using purposive documentary sampling, and the data were examined through qualitative content analysis and historical-contextual interpretation. The principle of historical contextualization was observed in the interpretation of the data. Accordingly, concepts such as political Islam, pan-Islamism, modernism, nationalism, and religious reform in their modern meanings were not imposed on Afghan thought; rather, an attempt was made to analyse these concepts within the framework of nineteenth-century phenomena, including the spread of European colonialism, the weakness of Muslim states, the developments of the Ottoman Empire, the influence of Britain and Russia, and the encounter of Islamic societies with new science and civilization .

2.1 A Brief Introduction to Afghani

Known as Afghani, Seyyid Safdar’s son (Seyyid Mohammad Jamaleddin) was born in 1838 in Asadabad, the central city of the Kunar province in southern Afghanistan. Familiar with both foundational religious sciences and contemporary knowledge from the age of five, Afghani moved to Kabul in 1848 with his father to continue his education, where he studied for two years. In 1850, he travelled to Najaf Ashraf (Iraq) and spent four years under the tutelage of Sheikh Morteza Ansari. During this period, Afghani pursued studies not only in theology but also in other disciplines, including mathematics, medicine, anatomy, geometry, and astronomy. In 1854, while obtaining the ruling of ijtihad from Sheikh al-Ansari, Afghani travelled to the Indian subcontinent and stayed in Calcutta for two years, where he closely observed how the British plundered the entirety of India and how colonialism dominated the lives, wealth, and dignity of the Indian people. In 1856, Afghani proceeded to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage to the Kaaba, and until 1859, he observed the conditions in Medina, Jordan, Damascus, Aleppo, and Baghdad. Subsequently, he returned to Kabul, where he initiated reforms in Afghanistan for a brief period and informed the population about the objectives of colonialism .

The establishment of the Council of Ministers, the organization of the army, the training of youth in military principles through the founding of military and provincial schools, the publication of the (Shams Nahar) newspaper, the compilation and publication of the book (Tetme Al Bayan Fi Tarih Al-Afgan), the establishment of hospitals and emergency services, as well as shelters and caravanserais, were among the services initiated during that period in accordance with his proposals and views. Following Afghani’s political activities, he was expelled from the country in 1868 and sent to India. His awakening against British colonialism there led to his expulsion from India as well. In 1868, he entered Egypt, and although he remained there for no more than forty days, he enlightened young people and students, engaging in discussions on the theory of political Islam with professors at Al-Azhar University. Due to colonial interference, the Khedive of Egypt also ordered his deportation. Throughout his life, Afghani travelled to countries and he engaged in significant activities, with his primary objective being to awaken the rulers of Islamic lands and the Muslim masses against contemporary colonialism. He believed that the key to victory against Western colonialism lay in the collective resistance of all Muslims, the unification of Islamic countries, and the implementation of reforms in political and cultural spheres .

Afghani was invited from England to Istanbul upon successive invitations from Sultan Abdul Hamid II (Ottoman Sultan) to utilize his ideas in the reform process within the Ottoman government. Afghani’s visit to Istanbul coincided with the final years of the Ottoman administration. The reformists and conservatives he encountered in Istanbul regarded him as a scholar of religion and science and accordingly appointed him to significant positions such as membership in the Ottoman Council of Education (Maarif Şurası) and the Academy of Sciences (Encümen-i Daniş). Afghani died on March 8, 1897, four years after entering the canter of the Ottoman Caliphate and contributing extensively to the country. According to one account, he was poisoned by a plot orchestrated by Sultan Abdul Hamid II to prevent the realization of Islamic unity, while other sources suggest he died of cancer. His funeral in Istanbul was conducted with great honour. Subsequently, in 1945, at the request of the Afghan government, his remains were transferred from Turkey to Kabul and interred at the present-day campus of Kabul University .

2.2 Afghani’s Presence in Ottoman Society

Afghani’s correspondence and relations with the Ottoman government began with a letter, apparently written in the late 1870s, in which he proposed to the Ottoman Sultan to incite and inform the Muslims of India, Afghanistan, and Central Asia in the name of Islamic unity against the Russians. Although this proposal was not favourably received by the Ottoman Sultan at the time, it signalled Afghani’s interest in collaborating with the Ottoman Sultan and participating in his Pan-Islamist policies, as well as serving as evidence of the inception of his relationship with Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The final correspondence and invitation between Afghani and the Ottoman government occurred in 1892, during which Afghani maintained communication with Ottoman authorities through these letters, messages, and intermediaries .

Afghani had already attempted this during his journey to Istanbul between 1869 and 1870, and throughout the 1870s and 1880s, he preferred to establish relations with the Sultan and gain his support and attention to propagate and expand his theory of political Islam. Among the reasons that drew his focus to the Ottoman administration was the fact that the Ottoman Empire was the most powerful Muslim state of the period, and Istanbul was a central hub for the intellectual struggle between Islamists and their opponents. Following his first journey and brief stay, Seyyed Jamaleddin departed from Istanbul in 1870 and went to Egypt. Until 1892, he spent a significant part of his life engaging in extensive travels across Egypt, India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Europe, while simultaneously pursuing journalism and political activities. The Ottoman government periodically monitored his activities, particularly those related to the territories of the Ottoman Empire. Afghani’s thought and writings, addressing his relations with Arab intellectuals, religious reforms within Muslim societies, British policies in the Middle East, and debates on the legitimacy of the Ottoman Caliphate, occasionally reflected unity and at other times division concerning Ottoman rule and the Caliphate within the Islamic world. Consequently, perceptions of him within the Ottoman administration alternated between positive and skeptical .

Sultan Abdulhamid II, evaluating the impact of Afghani’s activities on Islamic societies, particularly in relation to the Ottoman Caliphate, invited him to Istanbul. Upon Afghani’s arrival, he was reportedly informed that the Sultan likely intended to keep him under surveillance, after which he is said to have uttered the legendary statement: “I do not fear prison because I have been imprisoned before, but they have no power to imprison my thoughts.” For whatever reason, Afghani chose to return to Istanbul, as the city appeared to be the most suitable place for pursuing his mission of national reconstruction and reform. From there, he wrote letters to the leaders of various Muslim nations, aiming to mobilize them against British and Russian imperialism. Additionally, Afghani endeavored to secure recognition of the rights of Shiites within the Ottoman Caliphate and Sunnis in Iran. He also sought to bring Sunnis and Shiites closer together in Iraq and Iran, thereby attempting to unite Islamic societies. In this regard, he reportedly refrained, at least temporarily, from criticizing the Shah of Iran and encouraged scholars to focus their efforts on the unity and awakening of the Muslim masses, detached from sectarian perceptions and the political environment. He also reminded them that adherence to jurisprudential differences (between Shiites and Sunnis) contributed to the continuation of colonial domination among Muslims .

In his writings, he noted that the successors of the Prophet of Islam never approved of the divisions and wars that occurred in their names. In Al-‘Urwah al-Wuthqā, he urged people in Iran and Afghanistan to forget their differences and, instead, to reflect more on their shared origins. As a first step to bridge the gap between the two communities, he established a group in cooperation with the Shi‘ites in Iran. Afghani endeavored to create a supreme Islamic organization that would address the problems of Muslim countries and wisely confront all challenges arising from Europe. He accused imperialist countries of undermining the language, culture, and education of their subjects, repeatedly asserting that without language there is no society, without culture there is no language, without history there is no honor, and without a nation there is no history. According to him, if no one preserves the legacy of one’s predecessors, it will be lost. He argued that the protection of a society’s language, culture, and honor depends fundamentally on the education and awareness of the values of its people and their country .

After departing from Egypt in 1870, Afghani came to Istanbul at the invitation of Sultan Abdulaziz. In the Ottoman capital, he was warmly received by statesmen, foremost among them Grand Vizier Ali Pasha. An intelligent and scholarly politician, Ali Pasha recognized Afghani’s influential position among the populace and sought for the youth to benefit from his ideas and knowledge. Consequently, he appointed Afghani as a member of the Council of Education (Maarif Şurası). Tahsin Efendi, the director of the Ottoman Darü’l-Funun, requested that Afghani organize a lecture to encourage young people to engage with the arts. Initially, Afghani declined the invitation, citing his limited proficiency in Turkish; however, upon Tahsin Efendi’s insistence, he prepared the lecture text. He submitted the text to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Manif Efendi, the Minister of Education, Şefat Paşa, and Şirvanizade Efendi, all of whom approved it. Consequently, in 1870, Afghani delivered a lecture on art and the importance of the arts during the inauguration of Darü’l-Funun, and his remarks in Arabic were subsequently published in the event program .

2.3 Afghani’s Religious Views

Afghani is one of the few Muslim thinkers whose ideas attracted the attention of both supporters and opponents in the nineteenth century. Although he was not the first to advocate for the theory of Islamic unity, he undoubtedly politicized Islam more than his Muslim predecessors. Certainly, the dissemination of his ideas was significantly influenced by the global conditions of his era as well as the circumstances of the Islamic world at that time. Afghani’s ideas on religion and rationalism, particularly during his debate with Ernest Renan, attracted the attention of many observers. In fact, Ernest Renan and Afghani shared a relatively similar perspective on several fundamental issues concerning the nature of religion as a phenomenon and the relationship between religion and the concepts of evolutionary civilization and progress. Afghani was especially impressed by Renan’s efforts to reconcile religion with rationalism and to subject religious tradition to critical inquiry .

In his writings, Afghani also criticized religious superstitions and endeavoured to reform the "traditional" interpretive methods of religion. He sought to distinguish faith from religions that adhere rigidly to dogma and oppose rationalism, empiricism, and, ultimately, modern scientific and intellectual progress. For all these reasons, Afghani did not fundamentally oppose Ernest Renan’s primary premises regarding the nature of religion; rather, he limited himself to rejecting the claim of European exceptionalism, that is, the assertion that Christianity could somehow be rationalized. He argued that Islam does not possess such a characteristic. Instead, alongside other Islamic modernists, Afghani insisted that Islam was comparable to Christianity and even possessed greater potential than Christianity for fostering civilization, rationality, and scientific progress. As a prominent Muslim intellectual, Afghani ultimately rejected Renan’s views regarding the possibility of advancing civilization through religion or the notion that religion posed no obstacle to the progress of a shared civilization. According to Renan, Afghani’s response demonstrates a dual objective: to establish a pathway for the reconciliation of religion and science, and to provide an alternative understanding of the causal elements of progress and civilization that could potentially eliminate this so-called exceptionalism. Afghani understood science as a methodology grounded in empiricism and rationalism, expressed as critical inquiry, and he supported the application of the scientific method to religion, which entailed the reinterpretation of texts and hadiths in accordance with considerations of function, purpose, rationality, and intent .

Seyid Jamal unequivocally regarded the power disparity between Europe and the Middle East as a function of the relationship between religion and scientific inquiry, as well as a clear indication of the necessity for reforms within the field of Islamic fundamentals. Afghani’s historical and evolutionary explanation of the causal relationship between religion and civilization represents a compelling attempt to account for Europe’s contemporary hegemony, while simultaneously providing a roadmap for the reconstruction of the Arab-Islamic world (and beyond). Afghani also emphasized the superiority of Islamic civilization during the Abbasid period compared to its contemporary European counterparts, proposing distinct evolutionary chronologies. According to him, just as Christianity overcame the dogmatism and anti-intellectualism of Catholicism, its Catholic branch maintaining an almost analogous relationship with European civilization (first revitalizing it, then restraining it), Islam similarly possesses the capacity to overcome dogmatism and backwardness .

Afghani’s reformist ideas garnered considerable support among both the elites and the general masses of Islamic society during his lifetime and after his death. Allama Muhammad Iqbal Lahori, one of the prominent figures in the modern history of the Indian subcontinent and an active participant in the struggle for the liberation of Muslims there, was profoundly influenced by Afghani’s theory of Islamic awakening. Afghani’s efforts to find a way to unite Muslim nations in resisting Western domination had a particularly significant impact on Iqbal. In his works, Iqbal similarly emphasized the religious foundations of Muslims as a supra-class and transnational entity to express unity, reflecting a plan closely aligned with Afghani’s vision. As during the First World War, Allama Iqbal directly linked his hopes for liberation from colonial dependency to Pan-Islamic solidarity, a theme he reflected in his writings, notably in the poem Mum o Shair (The Candle and the Poet) composed in 1912. Evidently, Allama Iqbal conducted studies on Afghani’s writings, and his engagement with Islamic modernism follows a trajectory almost identical to that of Afghani .

In one of his poems, (Javed Nameh), Allama Iqbal introduced Afghani as the spokesperson of his poem and, by adopting Afghani’s plan, articulated his ideas concerning the ideal Muslim state, that is, the kingdom of God on earth. It is also evident that in his political career, Iqbal embraced Afghani’s view of Mecca as a religious center. At the same time, by examining the ideas of al-Mawardi (11th-century Muslim scholar) and taking into account contemporary developments in both Europe and the Islamic world, he sought a political center for nationalism within Muslim societies. In agreement with Turkish thinkers, he decided, at least temporarily, to set aside the debate on the caliphate and instead focus on the concept of multinational Pan-Islamism. Like other modernist and traditionalist figures throughout history, Afghani’s ideas and activities have been subjected to all forms of insult, critique, and skepticism from the past to the present. It should be noted that between the 1920s and 1930s, the perspective on Freemasonry in the Islamic world was not the same as it is today; on the contrary, Freemasonry was presented as a normal and ordinary phenomenon. During his lifetime, Afghani faced numerous slanders, but none of these were directly related to Freemasonry or carried out under its name .

One of the reasons Afghani was unable to reside for long periods in any single country or city was his engagement against Western colonialism with little more than his intellectual influence. Due to the growing consciousness of Islamic societies, he seized every opportunity, particularly advancing his pan-Islamist ideas, which in the Islamic world became the foremost obstacle to the continuation of European colonialism. He believed that different nations and societies in Europe were interconnected through a shared civilizational bond, and that Muslim states could maintain their superior connections with one another through the concept of a common civilization, a powerful and deterrent idea capable of challenging the colonial powers of the era, along with all their technology and imperial endeavors .

Afghani invited the Turks (Central Asia) to resist the Russian invasion, ensuring that they were aware of their historical past and national values, and by granting religious legitimacy to this struggle, he framed it as a religiously sanctioned campaign and referred to the nationalist movements among them as national fighters. Furthermore, other Muslim nations under European occupation were also, by his initiative, called to a form of collective struggle (secularism and religious nationalism). In other words, Afghani did not hold a fixed view regarding the nature and means of the struggle, and the notion that he was solely a proponent of religious advocacy does not align with his personality. His perspective on the history and national culture of colonized peoples clearly demonstrates that he employed national and historical sentiments in a measured manner to achieve the objectives of his campaign .

Afghani and Mohammad Abdo advocated the idea that "Islam does not impede progress," arguing that the positive and philosophical sciences are inherent and that Muslims should pay attention to them. Afghani even debated this point with Ernest Renan, who claimed the opposite. Both Afghani and Abdo maintained that if Islamic societies wished to resist the West and liberate themselves from Western colonialism, they first needed to advance and develop themselves. This idea proved highly influential during their lifetimes and became even more impactful after their deaths, particularly as their works were increasingly disseminated among Muslim communities. The theory of warfare with weapons (intellectual warfare) and the emphasis on positive science and rational thought constituted a significant path that Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, along with other Muslim intellectuals including late Ottoman Islamists, sought to advance. They considered the best instrument of struggle to be the utilization of Western knowledge and technology, and they endeavored to promote and instill this approach among Muslims .

2.4 Afghani’s Political Thought

The most significant and influential aspect of Afghani’s ideas pertains to his political thought. Although other figures before and after him also proposed theories of political Islam, Afghani did not merely introduce his vision; he actively worked to realize it. He undertook long and unobtrusive journeys and endured considerable hardships. Among his most notable endeavors was his travel to the capital of the greatest Islamic caliphate, Istanbul, where he engaged in substantial work. Although Islamism emerged as an ideology in the Ottoman Empire shortly before the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, it expanded significantly and gained followers during his rule. In subsequent periods, it maintained an intellectual presence both among the Ottoman elite and within broader society, becoming particularly prominent as a political movement among Muslims in the empire. Several Western sources largely attribute the emergence of this movement referred to as “Pan-Islamism” to Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. However, the influence and manifestations of this movement within the Ottoman context are predominantly documented in sources from the period of Sultan Abdülhamid II. From another perspective, the historical background of this ideology emerges as a reaction to Western-origin modernist movements that began with adaptations. It is related to the role Islam played during the classical Ottoman period and the responses to this role in the modern era. The reaction of Ottoman intellectuals and bureaucrats to the politicization of Islam by the government played a significant role in the emergence of the Islamism ideology, and Afghani’s activism during such a historical period contributed to the further development and dissemination of this ideology .

Undoubtedly, Afghani was a fully-fledged warrior who, according to his beliefs, defended from Muslims and fought with intellectual weapons against Western imperialism, which dominated a large part of the Islamic world. Throughout his life, Afghani confronted the influence of Britain, which controlled India, much of the Arabian Peninsula, and Sudan, and he also planned to challenge the influence over Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan, and other regions of the Islamic world. According to Afghani, Western colonizers are not inherently more intelligent or capable than Eastern nations; rather, they discover the secrets of power and domination and employ them effectively. He argued: “Among the occupying Westerners, order and patience in pursuing predetermined goals are common, and colonizers, showing disrespect to the colonized peoples, install treacherous and ambitious individuals as heirs to power, while the virtuous are removed from the stage through intrigue, and the corrupt are supported through various pretexts, thereby prolonging the period of ignorance and corruption in the subjugated countries” .

In order to achieve the result of Muslim resistance and endurance, Afghani seriously promoted and disseminated Islamic unity (Etihadi Islam) within his reform program. While he was not the originator of the idea of Ittihad-ı Islam, he is recognized as one of its main organizers and promoters. While expressing his political thoughts in various writings and letters, Syed Jamal addressed the weakness and fragmentation of the Islamic world at that time and emphasized the following: “He explained and highlighted the issue that led to the weakness and failure of Muslims, as well as the Western (colonial) audacity and determination to divide the Islamic world. The only way to protect Ottoman territories and other Islamic countries is through the unity and solidarity of Muslims across the nation.” This overarching aim served as the primary motivation and purpose behind his thinking and writing .

Although it is not precisely known when Afghani began to reflect on and write about Islamic unity, his letters from the 1870s indicate that, at least from that period onward, he devoted considerable effort to promoting it. However, the Ottoman Sultan (Abdülhamid II) did not earnestly attempt to implement Afghani’s advice regarding Islamic unity to the extent of his means and power. In particular, following Afghani’s second visit to Istanbul, the political-religious theory concerning Islamic unity adopted by Sultan Abdülhamid II, with the support of certain scholars, sheikhs, and Islamists, remained limited and superficial. There is no evidence or indication of a plan to establish a political-military Islamic front against Christian governance. The Sultan’s (Abdülhamid II) principal aim was to use his caliphal authority to provide spiritual and symbolic support to Islamic countries. In this context, he sought to secure the support and consent of scholars and Islamists, while ostensibly preserving the unity of Ottoman territories and the Muslims residing therein, thereby ensuring the continued legitimacy of his sovereignty .

In order to accurately comprehend the dimensions and perspectives of Afghani’s political thought, it is necessary to carefully examine the conditions of the period in which he lived and to investigate the intellectual state of the Muslim elites of his time in order to trace the roots of his political ideas. During the period from 1883 to 1897, Afghani’s sphere of thought and activity including religion and politics, as well as the shared problems of Islamic countries must be evaluated as an integrated whole. In his early travels, Afghani sought to liberate certain countries from colonial administration, awaken national consciousness, and strengthen patriotism. In later periods, he aimed to establish strong ties among all Islamic countries, foster multilateral solidarity, secure it, and ensure its durability. The objective of Muslim unity, achieved through freedom, independence, and confidence in one’s own capabilities, was one of the principal goals of Afghani’s political campaigns. He believed that such national unity and consciousness could provide a decisive response to the West and enable the technological and scientific power of the West, employed as a tool of colonialism in the East, to be critically questioned .

He spent his life traveling across Muslim regions under the colonial domination of Western countries, and his inability to remain passive in the face of this situation undoubtedly brought his role in anti-colonial politics to the forefront, both in thought and in practice. Although his initial education was religious, the weakness of Muslims vis-à-vis the West led him to turn toward politics. Under the title of Ittihad-i Muslim (Etihadi Islam), he introduced and promoted his political program. Afghani advocated for granting political freedom to occupied communities and primarily referred to the Muslim individual (the Muslim ummah), emphasizing the necessity of a relationship based on mutual dialogue between the ummah and its rulers. He did not accept systems in which one party dominated and the other was merely guided that is, Islamic states structured as authority or mere obedience .

Afghani never ceased his efforts to collaborate with Muslim leaders in order to achieve his three objectives. Therefore, after a brief stay in Europe, he accepted an invitation to Istanbul to discuss Sultan Abdulhamid II’s political reform program. In Istanbul, Afghani requested that the Sultan whom he recognized as the legitimate caliph establish a Muslim unity, considering it as part of the objectives of Ottoman foreign policy. He also proposed certain political reforms within the Ottoman State to assume the responsibility of leadership and to utilize his influence and position in ensuring the realization of this unity. Indeed, while Afghani was proposing substantial reforms in the administrative system of the Ottoman Caliphate at that time, he apparently appreciated the Caliphate and regarded it as the protector of the interests of Muslims and Islam. He perceived the existing Caliphate as the most powerful Muslim state, capable through fundamental reforms of somehow leading other independent Muslim states. Afghani early on recognized Sultan (Abdülhamid II) as an intelligent and shrewd ruler who seemingly possessed the motivation to establish a union of independent Muslim states .

Despite all of Afghani’s praise and optimism toward the Sultan, Abdulhamid II placed him under house arrest in the royal palace contrary to the Sultan’s own desires and interests in order not to alienate the Turks. While Afghani’s revolutionary ideas influenced Afghans, Egyptians, and Iranians, he spent some time in Istanbul and became disillusioned by the Sultan’s selfishness and authoritarianism. Observing the Sultan’s unwillingness to reform his regime and to establish a Muslim unity, Afghani sharply criticized him and, in Afghani’s view, abandoned his allegiance to him as Caliph, arguing that he no longer deserved the title .

Certainly, Afghani perceived the caliphate, if accompanied by reforms in the principles and methods of Ottoman administration, as at least a deterrent against Western military and cultural encroachment. Beyond this, he held a more universal perspective on the religious world, namely concerning the salvation of humanity. In fact, all subsequent Islamic thinkers trace their roots to Afghani’s ideas. Among others, Sayyid Qutb similarly envisioned the progress and development of Muslims. In his book Islam and World Peace, Qutb’s aim was not to ensure Muslim dominance or hegemony across the globe. Within Islamism, the path to such progress and reform was not fully known, nor were they motivated by military conquest; they were not opposed to conquest, but they had no plan to Islamize all regions. Rather, they envisioned a program of world peace and regarded Islam as a conceptual project capable of global influence, believing that such a universal promise was already inherent in Islam .

In addition to the political and religious dimensions of Afghani’s thought, some aspects imparted a philosophical dimension to his ideas; in other words, philosophical concepts and perspectives are reflected throughout Afghani’s thought. At times, the philosophical aspect of his writings appeared more prominent and distinct than their jurisprudential, theological, exegetical, or political dimensions. Afghani defined humanity as his primary audience. According to him, human nature contains ambition, cruelty, ignorance, and similar tendencies, and the most fundamental task of a person is to suppress these animalistic traits while simultaneously cultivating and developing humanistic and moral qualities .

Despite general, and at times superficial, perceptions of Afghani, who is sometimes portrayed as a staunch pan-Islamist regarding his ideas and personality in the context of his political and intellectual struggle against Western domination, he learned extensively from administrative methods and political structures, and he had a broad understanding of the evolution of political systems worldwide. He approached religious movements (both radical and jurisprudential) with skepticism and believed in a social system and a republic rooted in Islamic tradition. For this reason, some religious authorities regarded him as heretical, reacted pessimistically toward his movement and ideas, and did not support him in a decisive and comprehensive manner .

3. Results and Discussion

1. Intellectual Foundations: The article portrays Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani as a pioneering figure who integrated religion, science, and rationalism to construct the intellectual framework of political Islam. His critique of dogmatism and advocacy for rational inquiry positioned Islam as compatible with modern scientific progress. His intellectual identity rests on three central axes: Islamic unity, anti-colonial resistance, and the reconciliation of religion with modernity.

2. Religious Thought and Rationalism: Afghani emphasized the necessity of reforming Islamic interpretation by rejecting superstition and aligning religious understanding with rationalism and empiricism. His debate with Ernest Renan highlighted his view that Islam, like Christianity, could foster progress and scientific advancement. He argued that stagnation was not inherent to Islam but the result of historical misapplications of religious authority.

3. Political Activism and Pan-Islamism: Afghani’s most significant contribution was the politicization of Islam as a means of mobilizing against Western imperialism. His theory of Ittihad al-Islam (Islamic unity) aimed to unite Muslim rulers and populations across the Ottoman Empire, Iran, India, and beyond. He actively sought alliances with leaders, including Sultan Abdul Hamid II, though their differing political visions limited his influence. His writings stressed that colonialism thrived on Muslim disunity and that unity was indispensable for sovereignty and reform.

4. Engagement with Modernization: Afghani encouraged Muslims to acquire Western science and technology as tools of resistance rather than subjugation. His approach combined admiration for Western advancements with a sharp critique of Western domination, framing education and technological adaptation as strategic necessities for Muslim independence.

5. Legacy and Contested Identity: The study underscores that Afghani’s legacy remains contested: revered as a reformist visionary by some, criticized as heretical or politically opportunistic by others. His ideas were appropriated differently across modernist, Islamist, and nationalist movements throughout the 20th century. Nonetheless, his intellectual project provided the ideological foundation for both reformist and Islamist currents, profoundly shaping later debates on political Islam and modernization in Muslim societies.

4. Conclusion

The intellectual legacy of Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani emerges as a multidimensional project in which religion, philosophy, and politics converge to articulate a framework of Islamic reform and resistance. Afghani’s ideas consistently revolved around three interlinked axes: the pursuit of pan-Islamic unity, the defense of Islam’s compatibility with rational inquiry and scientific progress, and a sustained critique of colonial domination. By positioning Islam as a dynamic and civilizational force rather than a static tradition, he sought to challenge both internal stagnation and external subjugation. His famous engagement with Ernest Renan illustrated his conviction that Islamic thought could embrace empirical science while rejecting the Eurocentric claim to exceptionalism.

Politically, Afghani’s activism placed him at the forefront of efforts to mobilize Muslims across diverse geographies India, Egypt, Iran, the Ottoman Empire into a collective front against Western imperialism. His promotion of Ittihad al-Islam was not merely a theological aspiration but a program of political solidarity and reform, one that demanded both the revival of Islamic institutions and the acquisition of Western science and technology as instruments of resistance. Although he often encountered resistance from rulers and elites most notably Sultan Abdülhamid II, whose authoritarianism clashed with his reformist vision Afghani’s thought continued to resonate with reformists, nationalists, and Islamists alike.

Yet, the study highlights that Afghani’s intellectual identity remains contested. To some, he represents a pioneering modernist who defended Islam as a partner of rationalism and progress; to others, he appears as an opportunist whose political ambitions sometimes overshadowed consistency. This plurality of interpretations reflects both the breadth of his engagements and the malleability of his ideas, which were appropriated across divergent political and religious movements throughout the twentieth century.

Acknowledgement and Declaration

I want to express my sincere gratitude to my university and respective teacher for their support and the opportunity to conduct this study.

I hereby declare that this is a research work and that all text and content included in this article are either original work produced by the author or derived from sources properly cited within the manuscript.

This study does not involve human participants, animals, or unauthorized personal data.

The research has no conflicts of interest.

The research received no funding.