Muhammad Rashid Rida

Muhammad Rashid ibn Ali Rida (1865-1935 CE / 1282-1354 AH) was a Syrian-born scholar, journalist, and reformer who became one of the most influential Islamic thinkers of the early 20th century. Born in al-Qalamun near Tripoli, Lebanon, he traveled to Egypt in 1897 to study under Muhammad Abduh and became his closest student and intellectual successor.

Rashid Rida is best known for founding and editing the journal al-Manar (The Lighthouse), which he published from 1898 until his death, making it one of the longest-running and most influential Islamic periodicals. Through al-Manar, he propagated ideas of Islamic reform, called for a return to the Quran and Sunnah, and addressed contemporary challenges facing the Muslim world. He also compiled and expanded the tafsir that Muhammad Abduh had begun delivering as lectures, publishing it as Tafsir al-Manar. His other major works include al-Khilafah aw al-Imamah al-Uzma (The Caliphate or the Supreme Imamate), written after the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate.

Rashid Rida's thought evolved significantly over his career. Initially aligned with Muhammad Abduh's modernist rationalism, he later moved toward a more conservative Salafi orientation influenced by the Wahhabi movement in Arabia and the writings of Ibn Taymiyyah. He became a bridge figure between 19th-century Islamic modernism and 20th-century Salafism. His journal al-Manar reached readers across the Muslim world and shaped Islamic discourse on reform, governance, and the response to Western colonialism.