Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani

Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī (Persian: سید جمال‌‌ الدین افغاني‎‎), also known as Sayyid Jamāl ad-Dīn Asadābādī (Persian: سید جمال‌‌ الدین اسد‌آبادی‎‎), and commonly known as Al-Afghani (1838/1839 – 9 March 1897), was a political activist and Islamic ideologist in the Muslim world during the late 19th century, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe. One of the founders of Islamic Modernism and an advocate of Pan-Islamic unity, he has been described as being less interested in minor differences in Islamic jurisprudence than he was in organizing a Muslim response to Western pressure.

Early life and origin