ABSTRACT
Iran. He was one of the most influential figures in the attempt to reinterpret Islam in the 13th/19th century. His travels to India and Afghanistan gave him a vehement dislike of British imperialism. He was expelled from Istanbul (q.v.) and, later, from Cairo (q.v.) where he gained political notoriety, making several antiBritish speeches. Returning to India he associated with, and then wrote against, the followers of Sayyid Ahmad Khan (q.v.). Later, in Paris, he published with Muhammad 'Abduh (q.v.), his most famous follower, a pan-Islamic newspaper in Arabic called The Strongest Link (al-'Urwa al-Wuthqā), and also wrote a famous rebuttal of the anti-Islamic polemic of Ernest Renan. Al-Afghānī ended his days in Istanbul where he first gained, and then lost, the confidence of the sultan 'Abd al-Hamīd II (q.v.). Al-Afghīnī died from cancer of the chin. {See Salafiyya.)
Afrād (Ar.) [sing. fard] Technical term in a variety of fields including that of hadīth (q.v.) criticism. It means literally 'single (ones)', 'unique (ones)'. In the study of hadīth the afrād are those traditions where the second link in the isnād (q.v.) contains no more than a single name of a tābi' (one who did not know the Prophet Muhammad directly but knew one of the Prophet's companions). The terms fard/afrād also have technical meanings in such areas as poetry, astronomy and theology. (See Sahāba; Tābi'ūn.)
Afterlife See al-Ākhira; al-Ma'ād.
