which the West had deWned itself as the embodiment of modernity. More
speciWcally, we see in their projects not just elements drawn from a rich Islamic
tradition, but an understanding of development and maturity deWned in
terms of the culturally and historically speciWc experiences associated with
the European transition from its own past to its politically and economically
powerful present.
A case in point: al-Afghani’s writings generally reXect an attempt to recon-
cile the imperatives of human reason with those of scripture, the teachings of
philosophy with those of Islam, but as scholars have noted, for al-Afghani
consistency was often secondary to anti-imperialist politics, and he often
adapted his arguments to suit his audiences. Thus in his response to French
philosopher Ernest Renan’s 1883 article, ‘‘Science and Islam,’’ al-Afghani
sounds more like a Frenchphilosophethan an Islamic reformer when he writes
‘‘Religion imposes on man its faith and its belief whereas philosophy frees him
of it totally or in part.... It will always be thus. Whenever religion will have the
upper hand, it will eliminate philosophy; and the contrary happens when it is
philosophy that reigns as sovereign mistress.’’ al-Afghani goes so far as to agree
with Renan’s assessment by acknowledging that Islam historically has tried to
‘‘stiXe science and stop its progress’’ and has halted the ‘‘philosophical or
intellectual movement and [turned] minds from the search for scientiWc
truth’’ (al-Afghani 1968 , 183 ). But he insists that Islam is not the sole culprit;
all religions have at some time similarly impeded the pursuit of truth.
‘Abduh was more concerned than al-Afghani to protect revealed truth from
the transgressions of unfettered human reason, but his arguments are just as
culturally syncretic as al-Afghani’s. For example, his deWnition of reason as
the exercise of critical judgment on the basis of logical and empirical proof is,
like that of al-Afghani, indebted to Islamic philosophers (falasifa) who where
themselves inXuenced by ancient Greek rationalism. At the same time, it
incorporates the ways in which reason came to be deWned in modern Euro-
pean thought in opposition to the authority of the clergy, the pull of habit
and tradition, and the suspension of critical judgment they were thought to
presuppose. ‘Abduh’s fragmentary political proposals, moreover, reveal the
depth of his conviction that the universalization of Western modernity will
ultimately realize rather than corrupt the true Islam: he argues that the
institution of the Islamic Caliphate is consistent with secular European civil
law, and as Hourani points out, ‘Abduh follows an earlier generation of
Muslim intellectuals in linkingmaslaha(public interest) to utility,shura
(consultation) to limited parliamentary democracy, andijma‘ (consensus,
302 roxanne l. euben