Professor Saeed Al-Afghani was born in Damascus in 1911, but his family name shows that he was not of Arabic descent. In fact, he was of Kashmiri origin, despite the fact that his name suggests that he belonged to Afghanistan, or the northwestern province of Pakistan. But this is all of little importance, except for the fact that he was one of the top world scholars of Arabic language and literature in the twentieth century. The late Sheikh Ali Al-Tantawi says that Al-Afghani was “the ultimate scholar of Arabic and the final authority on Arabic linguistics. To the best of my knowledge, he was without peers as an Arabic linguist.”
Sheikh Al-Tantawi should know, because he was a top scholar of Arabic literature, with a rich yet simple style that defies imitation. Moreover, he knew Al-Afghani very well, because they were colleagues since childhood, attending the same school and the same circles, and reading under the same scholars. Later when they were young men, they married two sisters.
Those who knew him well speak of an exemplary person in his manners and kindness: a very straightforward person, of in-depth knowledge in all aspects of religion. Moreover, he was very keen to stress that, in matters of religion, it is very important to accept only what is supported by clear and sound evidence from the Qur’an and the Sunnah. When he faced a question where views may vary and no solid evidence suggests a particular course, he would choose to keep on the safe side, by not taking allowances. In other words, he would choose something that is more difficult if he felt that it would keep him on the safe side.
Saeed Al-Afghani was the top Arabic scholars for a long period. He taught in the University of Damascus where he became the Dean of the Faculty of Arts. At that time, this was the only university in Syria. Thousands of students studied under him and benefited by his wide knowledge. Later, he was Professor of Arabic in different universities in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Jordan. Although his main specialty was Arabic and linguistics, his scope included Islamic studies, in which he was keen to look at the evidence supporting each view and to choose only what is more accurate and reliable. This was in fact the focus of many debates he had with traditional scholars who insisted on following their schools of law without looking at different views or how they are arrived at. In this, many young scholars and students are indebted to him for broadening their scope, so that they would not be merely following what they read in their books, without looking at its evidence.
Saeed Al-Afghani was one of a handful of scholars of similar age who were keen on scholarship, highly intelligent and extremely serious in their work. Their excellence was clearly apparent early in their respective careers. Thus, he was only 20 when he wrote on literary criticism, showing excellent knowledge of poetry and literary styles, drawing comparison between poets and literary figures. In 1947, he traveled with Sheikh Mustafa Al-Zarqa, a highly distinguished Fiqh scholar, to Egypt with the aim of reading for the degree of Ph.D. They discovered that in many respects they were ahead of the supervisors whom they were to study under. They went back home because they felt that the three or four years they would spend on this degree could be better used in some other way.
One area which preoccupied Saeed Al-Afghani for a while was his work on bringing about some reconciliation between the Shiite and the Sunni schools. On this he worked with both Sheikh Ali Al-Tantawi and Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Al-Qummi, who was at the time Director of Dar Al-Taqreeb in Egypt. This was established for this particular purpose, and Ayatollah Qummi was based in Egypt to pursue this work.
Saeed Al-Afghani wrote only a small number of books, limiting his authorship to what he felt would answer a clear need. He wrote a book on the main principles of Arabic linguistics, called Fi Usool Al-Nahw. In his introduction to this book, he argues that some evidence of grammatical mistakes could be traced in the speech of some Arabs, even at the time of the Prophet. Individual cases of such mistakes were reported at the time of Abu Bakr and Umar, who picked them up expressing strong disapproval. He then mentions how Abu Al-Aswad Al-Duali, the first to write on Arabic linguistics, came to Ali ibn Abi Talib, during his reign and wrote: “All speech may be classified into three categories: nouns, verbs and particles.”
Other works by Saeed Al-Afghani include Aswaq Al-Arab fi Al-Jahiliyyah wa Al-Islam; Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusi wa Risalatuh: Al-Mufadhalah bayn Al-Sahabah. He also wrote a book on women in Islam, and one on Aishah’s political role. He was a great admirer of Aishah, the Prophet’s wife. Hence, he edited the book that details her objections to certain rulings by companions of the Prophet and her biography included in Al-Thahabi’s book siyar a’lam Al-Nubala.
Writing in the introduction to the first of these last two books, Al-Afghani says: “I have spent several years studying the life of lady Aishah, and I find in her a character that no man can adequately describe. Her most important quality is her extremely vast knowledge. She was top in Fiqh, Hadith, the Qur’an, poetry, lineage, and even medicine and history. You could not but admire her for having mastered all these disciplines at such an early age.”
Al-Afghani also published a letter by Sultan Abd Al-Hameed, the Ottoman Caliph, in which he states clearly that he was removed of his post because he would not accept to give Palestine to the Jews. This letter was published by Al-Afghani in Al-Arabi magazine, No 169, in 1972.
Al-Afghani died on 10 Shawwal 1417 AH, corresponding to Feb. 18, 1997. May God shower His mercy on him.