Person

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani

Afghan political activist and Islamic ideologist

b. 1839 CE – d. 1897 CE World The Great Crossroads

Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Pashto/Persian: سید جمال‌‌‌الدین افغانی), also known as Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī[ (Persian: سید جمال‌‌‌الدین اسد‌آبادی) and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1838/1839 – 9 March 1897), was an Afghan political activist and Islamic ideologist who traveled throughout the Muslim world during the late 19th century. He is one of the founders of Islamic Modernism as well as an advocate of Pan-Islamic unity in India against the British.

He has been described as having been less interested in minor differences in Islamic jurisprudence than he was in organizing a united response to Western pressure. He is also known for his involvement with his follower Mirza Reza Kermani in the successful plot to assassinate Shah Naser-al-Din, whom Afghani considered to be making too many concessions to foreign powers, especially the British Empire