Shaykh Hadi Najmabadi (d.1902) was a highly influential figure in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Iran who carried tremendous political and intellectual importance beyond his lifetime, particularly in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. An understudied figure, his involvement in the Pan-Islam movement bears further examining and is indicative of a larger trend of thought in the period that elucidates the ideas of some of the most effective advocates of reform and Islamic modernism. This paper will analyze the text of Najmabadi's Tahrir al-'Uqala (Liberation of the Wise Men) in order to complicate the notion of the Pan-Islamic project which is generally depicted as only oriented towards anti-imperialist political goals of reformers like Sayyid Jamal al-Din “al-Afghani” Asadabadi (d. 1897). Some scholars have problematically characterized the group of reformist supporters as “anti-Islam secularists”. Through the case study of Shaykh Hadi Najmabadi, this paper explores the possibility that some reformers in the movement had Muslim identities that defied easy categorization, but that were unmistakably grounded within their own unique Islamic vision. His unique, pluralist approach to Islam should be seen as a pragmatic and evidently sincere attempt to unify Muslims and not merely for political convenience. Since Shaykh Hadi was viewed as a top leader of Shi'ism and held in esteem within that fold by many Shi'is despite his unconventional and inclusive views, the simple dichotomies of Shi'i-Sunni identity and even notions of heretic versus non-heretic can be reexamined. Borrowing from the approach that opposes the exclusive focus on socio-political motivations to understand prominent Muslim figures and their writings on their own terms in Islamic philosophy, this paper argues that it is important to consider the writings and efforts of people such as Najmabadi on their own terms and not merely in a political, anti-imperialist light, particularly because many Muslim thinkers took them at face value. In problematizing the conception of the implications of the Pan-Islam movement it will also shed new light on the mission and understanding of other reformists, including the main advocate of Pan-Islam, Asadabadi, who was a close associate of Shaykh Hadi.