Did Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and his disciple Muhammad Abduh belong to the Masonic movement?
The best person to have written about Jamal al-Din al-Afghani is Dr. Fahd al-Roumi in his book Manhaj al-Madrasah al-Aqliyyah al-Hadithah fi al-Tafsir (The Methodology of the Modern Rationalist School in Exegesis). He clarified al-Afghani's true nature, origin, and Masonic activities. As for Muhammad Abduh, Dr. al-Roumi also wrote about him in the same book, mentioning his connection to the book Tahrir al-Mar’ah (The Liberation of Women). The Modern Rationalist School is an extension of the Mu'tazilah, which glorifies reason and places it above the texts of revelation. This is in contrast to the Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'ah (Sunnis) who make reason subservient to revelation, believing that clear reason does not contradict sound transmitted texts, as explained by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in his book Muwaafaqat Sareeh al-Ma'qool li Saheeh al-Manqool (Concordance of Sound Reason with Authentic Narration).
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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