Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817 – 1898)

Biographical Details

Sir Syed Ahmad Taqvi bin Syed Muhammad Muttaqi, commonly known as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, was an Islamic pragmatist, Islamic reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he became the pioneer of Muslim nationalism in India and is widely credited as the father of Two-Nation Theory which formed the basis of Pakistan movement. Born into a family with strong debts to the Mughal court, Ahmad studied the Quran and Sciences within the court. He was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Edinburgh in 1889.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born on 17 October 1817, in Delhi. He came from a wealthy family which was well known and respected in the area. Great care was taken by his father to ensure that he received a high-quality education. By the age of 18, he was skilled in Arabic, Persian, Mathematics and Medicine. He had also been introduced to some of India’s most able writers and had developed a love for literature.

In 1838, Sir Syed’s father died and he was forced to seek employment. He quickly rose from a lowly position in the legal system to become a judge in Delhi in 1846. That year, he wrote his well-known book archaeology called Athar-al-Sanadeed. When the War of Independence broke out in 1857, he was working as 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, but it did not stop him from working towards reconciliation between the British and the Muslim community after the War of Independence 1857-58.

Sir Syed was appointed Chief Justice in Muradabad and, later, he was transferred to Ghazipore. In 1864, he was transferred to Aligarh where he played an important part in establishing a new college. In 1876, he retired from his work in the law to concentrate on running the college and to devote himself to improving the positions of Muslims in the subcontinent through education. Aligarh became the centre of a Muslim Renaissance.

Sir Syed died on 27 March 1898, having served his fellow Muslims in a way which few had rivaled.

Beliefs

• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was extremely unhappy about the position of the Muslims in the subcontinent. Since the days of the Mughal Empire, their social and economic status had declined sharply. The role of Muslims in the War of Independence 1857-58 had led to a further decline in their fortunes as the British took measures to ensure that their control would not be a subject to further challenge.
• Sir Syed felt that the poor status of the Muslims was due to the way they were treated as second-class citizens by the British and the Hindus, but that they also had to take some of the responsibility themselves. Many Muslims considered the British to be little more than invaders in India and wanted to do nothing with them.
• Sir Syed believed that the Muslim community had to accept that the British were rulers, who intended to stay for many years. The Muslim position could only be improved if they adopted a more positive approach to the British. They needed to accept more British ideas and to take advantage of British education. If they did not, then the Hindus would continue to prosper because of their more cooperative approach.
• Sir Syed wanted to see the Muslims united and prospering. He also wanted to see an improvement in their economic, social, political and religious fortunes. He made this ambition his life’s work and, because so much of his effort revolved around a Muslim Renaissance taking place in Aligarh, he is said to have founded the ‘Aligarh Movement’.

Aims of the Aligarh Movement

• Improve relations between the British and Muslim communities by removing British doubts about Muslim loyalty and Muslim doubts about British intentions.
• Improve the social and economic positions of Muslim by encouraging them to receive western education and take up posts in the 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 the Hindus’ policy of cooperation with the British.