Muhammad Abduh

Muhammad Abduh is a leading representative of 19th century Muslim reformist thinking also known as Salafiyya. Like Sayyid al-Din al-Afghani and Rashid Rida he wanted to apply the role model of the pious forefathers of early Islam (al-salaf al-salih) to help the contemporary Muslim world cope with the challenges of domestic decline and Western modernity. Abduh is mostly known for his attempts to formulate a compromise acceptable to Arab conservatives and radical modernizers as well as the introduction of social innovations such as universal education for all Egyptians irrespective of gender.