Page 137 - Age of Peace Goodword.indd

Low Profile, High Profile

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amal ad-Din al-Afghani (1839 – 1897) was the most
Jprominent political leader of his time. Due to his excellent
qualities, he was offered high positions in several Muslim
countries, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Egypt and Turkey.
But because of his negative activities he ultimately became
unwanted everywhere. He could not achieve his goal and died
in frustration, before he was sixty.
Al-Afghani, along with his disciple Muhammad Abduh
(1849 – 1905), made Paris the centre of his activities. In
1884 he began publishing a newspaper entitled al-Urwah al-
Wuthqa (The Indissoluble Link) from Paris. But, because of his
political extremism, Muhammad Abduh could not see eye to
eye with him. In Paris he told al-Afghani that they were wasting
their time in political activities. They should instead establish
an educational institution to peacefully educate the Muslim
youth. Al-Afghani disliked the proposal and replied: Innama
anta muthabbit (‘You are saying something discouraging’).
Thereafter, Abduh terminated his association with al-Afghani
and left Paris for Egypt.
Muhammad Abduh had proposed a low-profile way of
working, but al-Afghani considered the high-profile way of
working to be the right way. Political struggle was for him
a high-profile endeavour and educating people was a low-
profile project. In the latter case, one makes one’s plans on
the basis of realities. This means placing oneself in a position
of low visibility; as proceeding in this way draws little
public attention, people do not regard this as a great task. On

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