Machine summary:
based historically on the dazzling conquest and intellectual achievements of early Islam, and causing Muslims to ignore or view with disdain the new discoveries and technique of the Western world.
the thought and life of Muslim peoples into harmony with the present age and to reconcile Islamic learning and tradition with new ideas and modern science.
The activities of this remarkable man encompassed practically all rhe lands of Islam and also those European countries the governments of which were involved in the affairs of Muslim peoples.
His contact with Egyptian affairs is described by an Egyptian historian in these terms: "With the · arrival [in Egypt] of Jamal ad-Din an ideological movement was born: on the one hand the tendency to limit foreign interference and auto• cratic government-two closely connected facts; and the endeavour to prepare the minds of the people for the institution of a national and liberal regime, as the only remedy for the evils from which the country suffered ...
" 1 Knowing the fact that the foundation of Islamic evolution can only be and has always been religion, it becomes evident that such a spiritual reformation of which· this critic speaks can only be effected through a proper administration of religious teaching to the modern Muslim youth of Islam.
But even then, despite the present nationalism in Muslim countries, Islam is certainly more homogeneous and has a greater cultural unity than Europe.