AFḠĀNĪ, JAMĀL-AL-DĪN
(1838 or 39-97), ideologist and political activist of the late 19th century Muslim world, whose influence has continued strong in many Muslim countries. Iran, Egypt, and Afghanistan are the countries of his greatest influence; his combination of reformed Islam and anti-imperialism continues to have widespread appeal.
Bibliography
Many books and articles have been written about Afḡānī, but as most of them are unreliable, mention here will be made only of works based chiefly on primary sources, the main such collection of which is catalogued and partly photographed in I. Afšār and A. Mahdavī, Documents inédits concernant Seyyed Jamāl al-Dīn Afghānī, Tehran, 1963 (Persian title above).
The main primary material in English is found in the Foreign Office (especially F.O. 60/694) and Commonwealth Relations Office, and in books by Wilfrid Blunt, all of which, along with other primary material, are listed in Keddie, Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn (below).
In Arabic important contemporary memoirs and articles by Afḡānī are to be found in M. Rašīd Reżā, Taʾrīḵ al-ostāḏ al-emām al-šayḵ Moḥammad ʿAbdoh I, Cairo, 1931.
Secondary works with extensive use of new primary material are, in alphabetical order: N. R. Keddie, Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn "al-Afghānī": A Political Biography, Berkeley, 1972.
Idem, An Islamic Response to Imperialism: Political and Religious Writings of Sayyid Jamal ad-Din "al-Afghani", Berkeley, 1968; expanded paperback, 1982.
E. Kedourie, Afghani and ʿAbduh: An Essay on Religious Unbelief and Political Activism in Modern Islam, London, 1966.
H. Pakdaman, Djamal-ed-Din Assad Abadi dit Afghani, Paris, 1969 (with translations of his Persian articles).
See also A. A. Kudsi-Zadeh, Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al Afghānī: An Annotated , Leiden, 1970.
Cite this article
N. R. Keddie, “AFḠĀNĪ, JAMĀL-AL-DĪN,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/5, pp. 481-486; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afgani-jamal-al-din (accessed on 7 March 2014).