THE ALIGARH MOVEMENT

The 2d 1/2 of of the 19th century became the period while Indian Muslim history transitioned from
the middle Ages to the current age. During this time, while Muslims misplaced hope for survival, Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan launched an ideological, educational and social improvement movement. And the
cultural revival of Muslim society. This movement is called the Aligarh movement. The Aligarh
movement is diversified in nature, but schooling is its maximum important aspect and is the
foundation. Sir Said’s perspectives at the social, economic, spiritual and cultural progress of Muslims
prompted him to initiate this movement. For Sir Said, the demise of the Mughal Empire and the
succession of Britain were not only an alternate of the ruler, but also a multidimensional alternate.
India uses English schooling and Western culture as its main weapons. Sir Said believes that
Indians, specifically Muslims, must adapt to the new situation in a continuously converting
environment. Otherwise, there is no way to recover the misplaced honor. Due to ignorance,
superstition, traditionalism and conservatism, Indian Muslims cannot withstand the demanding
situations of the new era and are reduced to the bottom stage of humiliation. The Muslim community
and extreme thinking involve the following processing: collectively with traditional schooling,
popularize and offer current schooling for Muslims. This requires a heat relationship between
Muslims and Muslims. Due to positive spiritual and political reasons, the British government has also
encountered violent hostility. This will help Muslims advantage significant benefits in the British
government. Christian missionary. Since modernity is primarily based totally on rationalism, it is
necessary to reconsider the lessons of Islam and combine it with current science and philosophy in
order that knowledgeable Muslims can have a rational and enlightened view of lifestyles and culture.
Meet the wishes of the brand new era. Free Muslim society from social privileges so that civilized
nations can respect them. Promote Urdu to turn out to be a respectable language associate
collectively with English. This can be finished through translating the original paper from English to
Urdu. Urdu wick contain a lot of current scientific materials. The Aligarh movement came into being.
A new spirit: the spirit of the Indian Renaissance in the 19th century, and Aligarh became one in
every of the centers of the Indian Renaissance.

MAJOR STEPS TAKEN BY THE MOVEMENT:

The chief elements of the Aligarh Movement are given below:
1. Educational Aspect
2. Economic Aspect
3. Social Aspect
4. Political Aspect
5. Religious Aspect
A short speak on the ones different factors of the movement is being completed withinside the
subsequent pages:
1. Educational Aspect:
The post Mutiny (1857) period become a period of transition from medievalism to modernism.
With the popularity quo of the British rule in India, the Muslims had to face many problems and
they did now no longer face the worrying conditions of new conditions. The Bruisers came with
 their tool of training and the Muslims had to face an extensive type of instructional 168 issues
withinside the brand new installation. Persian and Arabic languages have been removed from
the curriculum. The British curriculum become now now no longer proper to the Muslims. The
Muslims considered training to be of no use without Persian and Arabic. They treated learning
EngUsh as irreligious and in the direction of their honor. If without a doubt all and sundry studied
it, he become now now no longer considered to be a top notch man or woman. Sir Syed
become very a lousy lot involved to appearance the adverse way of thinking of the Muslims and
the Bruisers closer to every different. There have been many questions in his mind. But the
excellent seize 22 scenario in his mind become to adopt politics or training as a panacea for all
the problems of Muslims. Sir Syed belief that the problems may be solved via developing the
cordial members of the family some of the Muslims and the Britishers. His belief the politics as
an inevitable stop end result of training. It manner that if training is furnished to the Muslims,
they will mechanically participate in politics. Without training stepping into in politics will now
now no longer yield the preferred stop end result. Therefore, Sir Syed determined out solution
that higher western training collectively with Islamic training become the immediate need of the
Muslim community. Therefore, purpose of his movement become to installation a center for
higher training for the Muslims of India in which the Muslims need to get preserve of western
training in an Islamic environment. He, therefore, recommended the Muslims that the purchase
of training in English language isn’t constantly prohibited in Islam.
2. Economic Aspect:
The Britishers held the Muslims particularly responsible for the Revolt of 1857, and, therefore,
after the failure of the revolt, the Britishers began out harassing the Muslims. There become
mass killing of Muslims via the Britishers. The worst sufferers have been the Muslims. "Their
property become totally confiscated and now no longer something become left with them".38
"The refusal of government services to the Muslims due to their lack of knowledge of the English
language, had badly affected their financial condition. As a stop end result people of the as
quickly as first rate and sacred language of our forefathers. Sir Syed said that since our financial
welfare and the reasserts of foremost a comfortable existence become related to EngUsh
training, we want to get preserve of it. He favored that Muslims want to acquire religious as
nicely as Western training.
3. Social Aspect:
Sir Syed become now no longer handiest a wonderful instructional truth seeker but moreover a
wonderful social reformer. He had the deep notion of the evils triumphing withinside the society.
He favored to reform the society thru his movement. Prof. Shan Mohammad has rightly said,
"Since 1857 social reforms and English training a number of the Muslims have been the nook
stones of Sir Syed’s philosophy. Prof. Khaliq Ahmad Nezam identified important worrying
conditions in advance than Sir Syed, as an extended manner as social reforms of the Muslim
Community have been involved. He said, "Sir Syed’s task withinside the field of social reform
become -fold: first he had to persuade people to give up conduct and practices which stood
withinside the way of social advancement, and secondly, he had to persuade them to accept the
modern-day clinical technique in all matters".
4. POLITICAL ASPECT:
The Mughal Empire came to an stop, and the Britishers had been given whole possession and
manipulate ever India and with the popularity quo of the modern-day rule, the Muslims had to
face an extensive type of political problems. Writing on the political problems of the Muslims,
Tara Chand said, "Of all the Indian communities, the worst victim have been the Muslims. Their
political powers have been exterminated forever and their aristocracy almost completely
decimated", ^s Sir Syed belonged to a personal own family which had the close to connections
with the Mughals for more than centuries. His political mind have been the very last
consequences of his prolonged political experience. His an extended manner sighted eyes had
seen that the Mughal Emperor may now no longer be in a function to preserve his employees
withinside the closest future so he took agency preference to enroll in the issuer of the East
 India Company. This preference become taken, maintaining in view, the financial worries
handiest. He joined the issuer of East India Company in 1838 and till that time he had no
political views.
5. Religious Aspect: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan have been brought up in regions atmosphere. His
father Mir Mutai "become a follower of the mystic Shah Ghulam Ali",fifty and on the maternal
side, "all the people of the personal own family of Sayyad’s maternal grandfather have been
fanatics of Shah Abudl Aziz”. Fifty 3 Thus, we find out that Sir Syed’s personal own family had
close to connections with wonderful religious parents and the effect of this become inevitable on
Sir Syed. As mentioned in advance, Sir Syed’s mother had the most exceptional gift for citing
and educating her children. She gave her children a top notch schooling of man or woman and
developed a sense of right or wrong in their childhood. After the failure of Mutiny of 1857, the
most important hassle in advance than Sir Syed become to installation excellent members of
the family some of the Muslims and the Britishers. "Missionary propaganda in the direction of
Islam, portray it due to the fact the most backward religion, become a few different hassle with
which Sir Syed had to contend with-^-^ The Missionary writers have been making attack on
Islam with the reason to shake the faith of the younger generation of Muslims in their religion.
"Sir William Muir wrote Life of Mohammad in four volumes at the instance of Dr. P. Fender who
become the soul of the Christian Missionary sports activities in India."fifty 5 in this ee-e-book
William Muir made charges in the direction of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and on Islam. Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan wrote the Khutbat-i-Ahmadiya to refute the charges made via William Muir.
In this way, Sir Syed become able to clarify the misconception about Islam and the Prophet
Mohammad (PBUH). 177 One of the features of Sir Syed’s religious belief become that, "The
artwork of God [Nature and its fixed Laws] is identical with the Word of God [The Quran]"56
Inspired via this idea Sir Syed attempted to deliver reconciliation some of the clinical theories of
his age and the thoughts of Islam. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan beefed that the Muslims may now now
no longer get due location withinside the modified situation besides they learnt to regulate
themselves to the changing conditions. He believed that the liberal mind want to be
accompanied via them. He felt that the reinterpretation of the Islamic values become the
immediate necessity of the time. Sir Syed said, "The Indian Muslims steerage masses of
superstitious beliefs which they think to be the highest religious acts despite the fact that they
have got in reality now no longer something to do with the Islamic religions? About the
conservatism of his community, he wrote to Mohsin-ul-Mulk from London, "I frankly say that if
people will now no longer give up conservatism and could now now no longer are looking for the
moderate that comes from the Quran and Hadith and could now now no longer compare the
religion with contemporary-day literature, Islam will wither away from India".

To assess the Aligarh moment:

This look at has proven that the socio-spiritual reform actions of the 19th and 20th centuries had
been extensively unique from comparable actions with inside the past. It changed into in large
part formed through the colonial discourse on modernity. Colonialism changed into an awful lot
extra than another account of financial and political imperialism in human history. It changed
into visible and applied as a “civilizing mission,” an ideology primarily based totally on an
epistemology created through Europeans to legitimize their exploitation of the “other.” Colonial
discourse brought European classes and ideas into ordinary conduct of concept and set the
schedule for reformers. That is, thoughts expressed through Orientalists have become the
framework for the reformers to recognize and interpret their very own spiritual and cultural
traditions. They argued that the major topics of colonial discourse, consisting of the concept of
progress, the spirit of clinical rationality, the equality of women, reforming Oriental degeneracy,
contemporary-day training as “beneficial knowledge,” and the inevitability of an earthly nation-
state, had been absolutely well suited with their very own. Western canons, which had been
taken into consideration as universally legitimate and culturally neutral, eleven though originated
in Europe, have become all of the extra crucial for them due to the fact modernization changed
into the general purpose in their reform actions. However, eleven though they stimulated people
to include modernity, they held pretty ambivalent attitudes closer to its inclination, closer to
individualism, materialism, intolerance, and secularization. The colonial discourse on modernity,
therefore, desires to be taken significantly whilst studying socio-spiritual reform actions of the
19th and 20th centuries