Importance of the work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Flashcards
biography
Born in 1817, Delhi
Came from a wealthy family which was well known and respected in the area
His father ensured that he received high quality education
Age of 18: skilled in arabic, persian, mathematics & medicine
Had been introduced to some of India’s most able writers and developed a love for literature
1838: his father died and he was forced to seek employment
Quickly rose from a lowly position in the legal system to become a judge in Delhi in 1846
1846: wrote his well known book on archaeology called Athar-al-Sanadeed
1857: when War of Independence Broke out, Sir Syed was working as a chief judge in Bijnaur and is said to have saved the lives of many women and children during the fighting
In return for his loyalty, the British offered him an estate with a large income, but he refused the offer
His belief that armed uprising against the British was pointless made him unpopular with some Muslims, however he continued to work towards a reconciliation between the British and Muslim community after the war.
Was appointed chief justice in Muradabad and was later transferred to Ghazipore
1864: transferred to Aligarh where he played an important role in establishing a new college
1876: retired from his work in law to concentrate on running the new college an devote himself to improving the position of Muslims in the sub-continent through education
Aligarh became the centre of a Muslim renaissance
Sir syed died on 27 March 1898
beliefs
He was extremely unhappy about the position of the Muslims in the subcontinent as their social and economic status had declined sharply
He felt that the poor status of the Muslims was due to the way they were treated as second-class citizens by the British and Hindus, but that they had to take some responsibility themselves
Many Muslims saw the British as a little more than invaders in India and wanted nothing to do with them
Sir Syed believed that the Muslim community had to accept that the British were rulers who intended to stay for many years. Muslim position could be improved if they adopted a more positive approach to the British
Muslims had to take advantage of British education and if not, the Hindus would continue to prosper due to their cooperative approach
His ambition: to see Muslims united and prospering, see an improvement in their economic, social, political and religious fortune.
Since so much of his effort was around a ‘Muslim renaissance’ taking place in Aligarh, he is said to have founded the Aligarh movement.
Central aims of aligarh movement:
Improve relations between the British and Muslim communties by removing British doubts about Muslim loyalty and Muslim doubts about British intentions.
Improve the social and economic position of Muslims by encouraging them to receive western education and take up posts in civil service and army.
Increase the political awareness of the Muslim community in order to make them aware of the threat to their position from Hindus policy of cooperation w the British
work
Improving relations between British and Muslim communities
Two major obstacles
The British put the entire responsibility of the War of independence on the Muslims and thus carried out policies of repression against the Muslims after 1857. Sir syed wanted to make sure this view was corrected
Many in the Muslim community held resentment towards the British. This was sometimes because British were seen as foreign invaders and sometimes because the British were thought to be trying to replace Islam w christianity. Muslims rejected western ideas as they were often not in line w Islamic beliefs. Sir syed wanted to ensure that the benefits and advantages of British rule, particularly in areas of science and technology, could be embraced by the Muslims to improve their lives.
Convincing the British
1860: he wrote ‘the Loyal Muhammadans of India’. In this work, he defended the Muslims from the British accusations that they were disloyal and gave a detailed account of the loyal service the Muslims had given and named various Muslims who had shown particular loyalty to the British. At the same time, he called on the British to end their hostility towards the Muslim community
In order to convince the British that they were wrong to put the entire blame of the war on the Muslims, sir syed wrote a pamphlet called ‘essay on the causes of Indian revolt’. In this, he pointed out main reasons of the uprising, which were:
Lack of representation for Indians in the govt of the country
Forcible conversion of Muslims to christianity
Poor management of the Indian army
He also listed other measures taken by the British to cause dissatisfaction and resentment among Muslim communities
The pamphlet was circulated free amongst british officials in India and was also sent to members of parliament in England
Even members of the royal family received copies
Some British officials were angered by what he wrote as he seemed to be blaming them for the uprising, others read with sympathy and accepted that there was truth in his words
Sir syed also tried to clear up a misunderstanding amongst the British who disliked being called ‘nadarath’ by the Muslims. The british thought this was an insult, but sir syed pointed out that the word came from an ‘nasir’, and arabic word meaning helper. Thus the term was a reflection of the positive image the Muslims had of the British
Convincing the Muslims:
British knew v little abt Islam
On a visit to England, sir syed was so offended by an english book written on the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that he immediately wrote his own work, correcting the many errors
Muslims in India knew very little about christianity
He tried overcoming this by writing ‘Taybin-ul-Kalam’, in which he pointed out the similarities between Islam and Christianity. Due to lack of resources, the work was not finished however it showed Sir Syed’s commitment to improving relations.
Another example of this was the British Indian association sir syed established in order to increase cooperation between the two communities.
- Encouraging the growth of western education:
After 1857, Muslims had become the subject of discrimination at the hands of the British, while other groups were supported. Hindus had decided to work w the British so they were keen to learn English and acquire a British education. This helped them gain employment and make progress in the society and by 1871 there were 711 Hindus in the govt employment compared to 92 Muslims.
The ‘Hindu movement’ gained strength as more and more Hindus received education in new schools, colleges and universities. This increased confidence among Hindus and led them to view the Muslims with an increasing lack of respect
Sir syed took steps to change Muslims attitude towards western education
In doing this, he came in conflict w the ulama. They believed that acceptance of western scientific and technological ideas would undermine Islamic beliefs
Sir syed believed the Holy Quran emphasized the need to study and that an understanding of modern scientific beliefs actually helped reveal the full majesty of God
To gain support for his views, sir syed set up an urdu journal called Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq, which contained articles from influential Muslims who agreed w sir syed that there was a need for a new approach to western education. Though many ulama attacked the journal, it played a major part in bringing about an intellectual revolution amongst Muslim thinkers
1863: sir syed founded the scientific society at Ghazipore. Its purpose was to make scientific writings available to a wider market by translating them from english,, persian or arabic into urdu. He was transferred to Aligarh in 1864, he continued his work and in 1866, began issuing a journal called ‘aligarh institute gazette’
1859 = open a school in Muradabad & 1864 = opened another school in Ghazipore
1869: Sir Syed traveled to England to study the university system there. He dreamed of setting up a university for the Muslims in the subcontinent. He was impressed by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and hoped to set up an educational institution based on their model. However, on returning home he found that his plans were often met w suspicion. He could not start with a university straight away. So instead, he decided to begin w a school
A committee was set up, which toured the country raising funds for a new Muslim school. 24 May 1875: Muhammadan Anglo-oriental college was set up in Aligarh on the pattern of the English public school system. British would not allow it to be affiliated w a Muslim university outside British teritory, so for the moment it could not become the Muslim university Sir Syed wanted.
The college offered both western and Indian education, tho Islamic education was also provided. It became much more than an educational institution. In the days before the muslim league, it became a symbol of Muslim unity. Many future leaders of Pak i.e Liaqut Ali Khan and Ayub Khan were educated there and some historians commented that the college was the institution which contributed more than any other to the formation of Pak.
Sir Syed wanted to publicize the new educational methods being used at Aligarh so in 1866 he set up the Muhammadan educational conference. Its aim was to raise educational standards among Muslims. Meetings were held at many cities across the subcontinent and sub-committees were formed in many places. The conference attracted famous orators and writers and played a major role in establishing a political platform for Muslims, in the days before the formation of the Muslim league.
1920: the college became the university of Aligarh
- Increasing political awareness
Sir Syed’s efforts in improving relations between the British and the Muslims earned him a reputation of being too moderate and too British. But, sir Syed realized that the British were too powerful to overthrow and Muslims would gain more from cooperating with them.
He also believed that Muslims should have good relations with the Hindus as they had a common long term aim (to restore authority of the local people in their own country)
However sir Syed soon realized that the Hindus were not so keen on working with the Muslims which led him to the conclusion that the two groups could not work tgt and were different enough to be considered as two different groups within the subcontinent.
Indian National Congress
Formed in 1885
British saw this body as means by which they could hear the views of the educated elite in Indian society
Congress said it would represent the views of all the communities within India, regardless of their religion
However it soon became apparent that Congress was a Hindu-dominated body working to establish Hindu supremacy over Muslims
political representation:
Example: call by Congress for the introduction of a democratic system of political representation similar to that practiced in Britain
This sounded fair but since there were four times as many Hindus as Muslims, they would win every election.
Democracy would leave the Muslims w no representation at all
Sir syed spoke out angrily against any such plan saying:
“I am convinced that the introduction of the principle of election… would be attended with evils of greater significance. The larger community would totally override the interests of the smaller community”
competitive examinations
Congress suggested that appointment in the govt service should be by competitive examination
Since Muslims were not receiving education similar to the standard of that received by the Hindus, this would greatly disadvantage them
Sir Syed commented that only when equal educational opportunities were provided could such an idea work
language
Hindi-urdu controversy: In 1867, Hindus demanded that Hindi should be made the official language in place of Urdu (which became official language in 1825)
After sir syed’s death, Hindi made second language
Hindu opposition to Urdu was another factor guiding sir syed towards his ‘two-nation theory’
Urdu had a special place in the hearts of the Muslim community
Sir syed bitterly opposed to this attack on urdu and was shoced to find that Hindu members of his scientific society wanted the society’s journal to be published in hindi.
Sir syeds belief that congress was working in the interests of Hindus in a way which was harmful for the Muslim community led him to refuse to attend its meetings.
Organized an alternative body called United Patriotic alliance, which in 1893 became the Mohammedan defence alliance.
Hindu and Muslim rivalry was increasing. Hndus showed disrespect towards Muslims. E.g in Bombay some Hindu extremists began playing loud music outside mosques.
importance
Played a vital role in improving status of the Muslims in the subcontinent
He worked tirelessly to improve relations between Muslims and British, particularly after the War of Independence when the British saw the Muslims as disloyal and untrustworthy. Writings, tireless work & examples set to convince the british.
Played a major part in bringing about a Muslim revival, largely thru work of Aligarh movement. Muslims came to value education.
As Hindus sought to take advantage of the poor relations between Muslims and British, Sir Syed emphasized the threat to Muslims and developed his ‘two nation theory’. Once Muslims came to accept the wisdom of this theory, it was only a small step to call for partition. For this reason, sir Syed can rightly be called the ‘Father of Pakistan movement’.
