Western sociology and the Muslim worldSyeikh Muhammad Abduh's ideas on societal reform

This article examines the Syeikh Muhammad Abduh's ideas on society, diagnoses of its problems and viable solutions. Central to this article's argument is the appropriation of Abduh into the list of thinkers found within the discipline of sociology that has been dominated by Europeans in his era. By highlighting several themes related to the challenges and anxieties faced by Muslim societies in facing up to Western modernity, which Abduh was much concerned with in his discourses, it is hoped that future scholars would re-examine his sociological thoughts in light of its significance towards fostering East–West intellectual symbiosis.