Muhammad Rashid Rida’s Perspectives on the West as Reflected in Al-Manar

There has been a tendency to portray Muḥammad Rashid Rida (1865-1935) as a mere transmitter of the ideas of Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905) and loyal defender of his thought. Albert Hourani described Ridá as "Abduh's liege man: the mouthpiece of his ideas, the guardian of his good name, and his biographer." Rida's ideas were treated as an extension of ' Abduh's thought and in line with the framework which the latter designed for reforming and reinvigorating Islam and demonstrating its compatibility with modernity. Abduh's framework included the abandoning of taqlid (imitative reasoning), resorting to rational criteria of inter pretation of Islamic doctrines, the reform of religious institutions and educational systems, and the adoption of modern skills and technological achievements. The links between the two reformers are of course strong, but this portrayal often l presents one side of the picture and eventually tends to deemphasize Rida's own intellectual contributions. Rida led an active political and intellectual life, filled with dramatic events that led to the transformation of the Arab and Islamic world. Western influence and dominance were tangible everywhere; the advocates of wholesale adoption of the Western model were on the ascendency, supported by the powers of the time, and assisted by the attraction of easy solutions. After the First World War, the Islamic world was fragmented into separate states under the control of Western powers. and the Caliphate was abolished in 1924. Rida, almost alone in Egypt, represented the Muslim thinker and activist endeavoring to reform and rescue his nation while at the same time preserving its identity and culture. In the process, Rida's thinking was diverse and complex, reflecting the diversity and complexity of the time. His thinking on the West was also more diverse and complex than is commonly believed to be so.