After obtaining his diploma of "ulema" in 1897, Rasheed Rida decided to join Muhammad Abduh in Cairo. He suggested to ‘Abduh the publication of a periodical fashioned after "al-'Urwa al-wuthqà" to spread his reformist ideas; a few weeks later, the first issue of "al-Manar" saw the light. Rida continued editing it – initially weekly, later monthly – until his death in 1935, and became known as sahib al-Manar (al-Manar’s proprietor). He wrote most of its contents, which included pieces on religious and social issues, attacks on the traditional ulema and the westernized elite, analyses of the international situation, etc. ‘Abduh’s commentary of the Qur’an, which Rida continued after his death, became a regular feature from the sixth volume (1903–4), and was later published separately as "Tafsir al-Manar". In the same year the section Fatawà al-Manar (al-Manar’s legal opinions, or fatwàs) appeared, in which readers could ask the Shaykh for advice on religious matters – and, conceivably, he could pose as one of them to raise certain issues. British historian, Albert Hourani stated "there is a sense in which, from the time of its foundation, the Manar was his life."