Stories of renaissance: Muhammad Abduh and the philosophy of generosity

August 23, 2021

Continuing the series on stories of renaissance, I recently finished several fascinating chapters on renaissance in the Near and Middle East in the book A History of Muslim Philosophy, available here.

I was most struck by the chapter focusing on the life and philosophy of Muhammad Abduh, the great Egyptian philosopher, sociologist and reformer.

I couldn’t possibly do justice to summarizing his contributions in this journal entry. There are so many inspiring anecdotes to share, although I’ll just focus on a few highlights that are worth sharing.

Abduh has been described as having a life that combined a prophet and a hero. In his youth, he was discouraged by the educational methods used in schools, which in his view focused more on memorization than understanding. He went on to study and teach on his own terms—philosophy, mathematics, morals, politics and logic.

As a professor, he founded an association that sought to bring together Judiaism, Islam and Christianity. He preeched for harmony between Sunnis and Shias. He also became a judge and legislator known for his “sense of equity and indepedence.” He founded a number of societies focused on spreading education among the poor and preserving books in Arabic. He engaged in correspondence with both Western and Eastern philosophers and embarked on numerous journeys throughout Africa and Europe, which brought him a sense of renewal.

He brought together elements of Western thought and Islamic philosophy. His philosophy was optimistic. He believed that an awakening of universal conscience was necessary to decide the right path that society must follow. Although imprisoned at one point for his liberal ideas, his belief in the inherent good in humans remained strong.

He viewed logic not as an academic exercise but one designed to lead to action. Equally necessary are courage (“the will for action”), integrity and the love of truth. And free will, because in order to be truly moral, our actions need to be our own. According to Abduh, only a small piece of advice or reminder is needed to realize the good in man.

His students took his ideals even further, and his philosophy was in many ways deepened by other great thinkers, from Socrates to Plato and Aristotle, from Aristotle to the Stoics and Plotinus, from Plotinus to al-Farabi and Descartes, from Descartes to Kant and Gandhi.

As the chapter cited earlier points out, these ideas all share a common philosophy of generosity, which sees love as a fundamental, natural virtue that consists of giving and giving without calculation. This philosophy of generosity considers that we are all part of a greater whole, that of humanity, and it is our duty to act for the sake of that whole. To Abduh, the role of education is to underscore this collective belonging — that we are all part of the same great family.

This is only a short tribute to the renaissance embodied in Abduh’s philosophy, but we can continue to apply it today in so many ways. My takeaway is that solidarity is the joining of morals and action. And renaissance is the decision to do so.

CPM