SIR SYED AHMED KHAN AND HIS SERVICES FOR THE MUSLIMS OF THE SUB-CONTINENT PERSONAL LIFE Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was a great Muslim scholar and reformer. He came forward to guide the Muslims who were destined to be ruined and eliminated from the Indian society as a result of Hindu ang British domination. Sir Syed awakened the Muslims from their Slumber to put up a Struggle for the revival of their Past position of eminence. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was born in a noble family on 17th October, 1817 in Delhi. Scanned with CamScanner(atrat & Historical He got his primary education from h maternal grandfather which included the Study of Holy Quran, Arabic and Berean { flerature. He also acquired excellence in | history, mathematics and mecicine, ‘After completing his education, Sir syed joined government service in 1837 and was posted as Naib = Munshi in Sommissioner’s office in Agra. He served in Gifferent capacities in Fatehpur Sikri and Mainpuri before he was elevated to: the sition of Chief Judge in 1846 and posted Fr pelhi where he wrote his famous book ‘asar us Sanadeed”. In 1854 he was transferred to Bijnaur where he compiled the history of Bijnaur in 1855. During the War of independence of 1857 he was working in gijnaur and saved the lives of many British women and children at the risk of his own life. He was offered an estate for his services he rendered to the British during the War of Independence, which he refused to accept. ALIGARH MOVEMENT sir Syed always felt aggrieved over the deplorable social and economic condition of the Indian Muslims. He desired to see them (Muslims) at a respectable position in society and decided to guide them in their struggle for the revival of their past position ‘of glory and eminence. The services which Sir Syed rendered for the renaissance of Muslims are known as the Aligarh. Movement in the history of Muslims of India. He was conscious of the miserable state into which Muslims had fallen over the years. He also realized that the present deplorable condition of Muslims was partly ‘own extremist and round found to the Pakistan Movement : 37 chaviour toward ; ards the Bish, opinion that the British ware the rulers ot he ules ofthe country and the Muslim: county ard attitude toward \ was undesirable. Sir Syed felt that the Muslims should extend co-operation te tne on to the British because the ritisl E and likely to stay aN Toth oan He was also of the opinion that. Hindu: would get closer to the British if the ‘cuit continued with their policy of hatred towards thé Brtish rulers. He emphasised on the Muslims to change their policy of keepin away. fromthe: BrKN an cBe Clear to them because only then they would be able to counter the Hindu and Congress propaganda to win back their position in society. EFFORTS TO REMOVE MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND THE BRITISH PAMPHLET ON THE CAUSES OF INDIAN REVOLT Sir Syed believed that the first essential step towards the betterment of ‘Muslims was to restore mutual trust between Muslims and the British. Without it, he felt, any plan for the renaissance of the Muslims would be useless. He wrote a pamphlet on the causes of the Indian revolt in order to remove misunderstanding amongst the British about Muslims. The British had put the entire responsibility ‘of War of Independence on the Muslims and considered them as their greatest enemies. When the war ended the British adopted a licy of mass extermination against the Muslims to punish them for their involvement in the war. The Hindus and other nations, who were equally responsible for the war were forgiven and ignored. i f Sir Syed ‘explained the real causes © the war in this pamphlet and said that ims were as much eae the other nations. He wrote that it dragged into the war a aed we = Muslims alone for ul yy to blame Mus the war. He put the responsibility of the war Scanned with CamScannerota: ; ae ‘and declared that the ae “and oppressive policies of the erent ‘contributed a great deal ane the out break of the uprising against ___ the government in 1857. He pointed out in the pamphlet that as there was no link between the rulers and the ruled, the government could not know the grievances of the people, which resulted in fhe hatred and misunderstanding between the people and the government. He wrote fat’ because of the ignorance and oppressive policies of the government the cpiers of discontent continued to smolder esutting in the armed clash with the government. The armed rebellion, Sir Syed frote, was in fact the manifestation of the discontentment found amongst the people Sbout the tyrannical rule of the British, He gaia that in these circumstances, to hold the Muslims responsible for the war was unjustifiable, as they were dragged into the war alongwith other nations. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan attributed the following reasons to the out break of War of {1 According to him the major causes of the war were: +. non-epresentation of the Indians on the legislative councils, forcible conversion of Indian people to 2. Christianity, 3. mismanagement of Indian army, and 4. many other ill-advised measures of ment which created large the govern scale dissatisfaction amongst the various classes of society. Sir Syed translated the pamphlet in English language and dispatched copies to the high officials ‘of the government and the members of the royal family so that the British government ‘should come to know the real causes of the revolt. Sir Syed gave explanation of the word ‘Nadarath’ in a magazine to remove the misunderstanding of the British about the Muslims. The British were annoyed with * $8___New tenn ineoveven to Pakistan Studies Muslims bec word ‘Na degrading themselve: did not use this degrade them. He gave the me word ‘Nadarath’ and wrote that the word ; been taken from the Arabic word Nase which means benefactor or helper. The Muslims, therefore, Sir Syed explaingg used this word for the British because the. useSidered them as their helper arg benefactor. Sir Syed said that Mustims india had always held their British rulers in the highest esteem and veneration He wrote the explanation of the Bibl entitled as ‘Tabaeen al Kalam’. In this wor inted out the similarities betweer Sir Syed poi Islam and. Christianity. He wrote Loya Mohammedans of India’ in which he gave a detailed account of the services which the Muslims had rendered to the British rulers. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES Sir Syed's Aligarh movement was based on a two-fold programme for the Muslim renaissance which included modem education for the Muslims and co-operation with the British government. He persisted to it even in the face of extreme opposition from the conservative elements. The next vital step for the uplift of the Muslims, he considered, was the acquisition of modem knowledge by the Muslims of India to prepare them for taking due place in new Society. Modern education, he felt, was ver) essential to equip Muslims to compete with the Hindus. He was of the opinion that the present deplorable state of Muslims was mainly because they lagged behind in the modern and English education. The Muslims could not compete with the Hindus because they did not acquire English ‘education out of extreme hatred about the British. He clearly told the Muslims if they did not acquire English and modern education they woul not be able to get their due status in the and would be ruined for ever. He told the people that Hindus progressed because h Scanned with CamScannerthey were well advanced in education, S Nemoved the misunderstanding of the Ye, created by the ort Ox nservative ulema, and said that it w gains islam to acquire English educato sir Syed took practical ste i ment of educational standard of the re {n 1859 he opened a school at Muradabad where Persian was taught. He established another school and founded a society at Ghazipur in 1864. The society translated the modern in Urdu for the benefit, and noe of the people. The scientific society issued a journal in 1866 entitled as ‘Aligarh institute Gazette’ published in eh and Urdu languages. The main purpose of this journal was to arouse the ‘of goodwill amongst the British for the Muslims. In 1866 Sir Syed founded the British Indian Association which worked forthe safeguard of the rights of the Indian for the 4 Sir Syed went to England in 1869 with his son Syed Mehmood who was given ‘sonolership for higher studies in England. Sir Syed observed the educational set up of tis institutions and was greatiy impressed by ‘the systems of and Cambridge Universities. He up his mind to set up an educational jin India on the pattern of ‘and Cambridge. He countered the allegations levelled against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in the book "The Life of Muhammad’ written by Sir Williarn Muir. MOHAMMEDAN EDUCATIONAL ar EE ‘he established ‘Mohammedan Cultural & Historical Background to the Pal nent 30 MOHAMMEDAN COLLEGE ANGLO — ORIENTAL re eotebiehinent of Colle at Aligarh 877. was achieveme yed Ahmed Khan w regard to the educational s vices for the Muslims of India During his stay in England Sir Syed decided to set up an educational institution in India on the patterry of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. When he returmed to India he set up a committee which was to explore the possibilities of the establishment of a college for the educational advancement of the Musiims of india. A fund committee was also set up which was to collect funds for the college. The committes toured whole of India to collect funds for the establishment of the college. A request for financial assistance was also made to the government. On 24th May, 1874, M.A.O. High School was established at Aligarh where modern and eastern education was imparted. Sir Syed worked very hard to raise the school to the college level. In 1877 the school was upgraded to the status of a college and inaugurated by Lord Lytton. It was a residential campus and offered both western and eastern leamings. Islamic education was also given to the students. The college was open for both Muslim and non-Muslim students. Sir Syed earmestly desired to see the college raised to the level ‘of a University which was fulfilled after his death in 1920 when the college was made a university. The college at Aligarh was more than. an educational institution. It was @ symbol of ‘a broad movement affecting every phase of Muslim life, The actions taken by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan for the ‘educational uplift of the. ‘Muslims, left a far-reaching impact on the economic, political and religious ects. of Muslims. His precepts and examples revived hope and self-confidence, showed new ways to progress and opened the doors to modern education and; ‘Scanned with CamScanner40__New Aitennium nnroduction o Pakistan Stuctes economic prosperity for the Muslims of the ‘sub-continent. POLITICAL SERVICES ‘The Indian National Congress came into existence in 1885 on the initiative of a retired British civil servant Allan Octavian Hume. Indian National Congress which gradually grew to be the most powerful political organization in India, was originally intended to provide a forum for the Indian politicians to meet yearly and point out to the government in what respects the administration was faulty and how it could be improved. It had claimed at the time of its inception, that it would strive for the safeguard of the interests of all the communities in India irrespective of their religion or political tendencies. For some time in the beginning, Congress did adhere to its promise and displayed @ posture of a national organization. But with the time it turned into @ pure Hindu body working for the safeguard of the interests of Hindus only. The demands which were projected from the Congress platform, appeared very innocent and democratic but actually were aimed at the complete elimination of ‘Muslims from the Indian society. The first demand which came from the Congress was the introduction of representative democracy on the lines and patterns of Britain. Sir Syed vehemently objected to this demand and said that western democracy could not be introduced in India 2s India was inhabited by many nations whose thinking, way of life, culture and history was different from each other. Congress made another demand for the appointments in the government service on the basis of competitive examination, By making this demand the Congress, in fact, wanted to oust Muslims from the government service. The acceptance of this demand would have rendered the Muslims ‘economically destroyed and ruined. Sir Syed Ahmed opposed this demand and said that Muslims could not compete with Hindus who were better educated. He demanded equal opportunities for Mu enhancement of their before they could be a , Hindus in the competitive r amination” ™ The attitude of Congr perturbed Sir Syed Ahmed Khe, advised Muslims not to join it. sip opposition to Congress was basaq view that the Congress was , organization. The Hindus had advance education, wealth = and pj, consciousness to dominate Congress t, it for voicing demands which would suit ja” and were against Muslim interest. Sir s, felt that Muslims should concentrate some time on the acquisition of educariy, and economic rehabilitation befor. competing with Hindus in the political fay He firmly believed that political activigs would divert their (Muslims) attention from the constructive tasks and revive Brtis, mistrust which had been removed to 4 greater extent by that time. He, therefore emphasised on Muslims to fully concentrats on the acquisition of knowledge and equip themselves with the modern techniques of politics, and only then they should embark upon the political participation. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan took several steps for the revival and betterment of Muslims in the sub-continent. He published the most influential magazine Tahzib-u)- Akhlaq’ in which he described ethical — aspects of the Muslim culture. In_ this ‘magazine “he criticised the conservative attitude of the Muslims and urged them to adopt new trends of life. He worked diligently for the ion of Urdu which was the language of s, and gave new tone and colour to the Urdu literature. He founded ‘Anjuman-e-Tariki-e-Urdu’ which worked for the protection of Urdu as the language of the Muslims. He wrote another magazine as ‘Ahkam-e-Ta'am-e-Ahle-Kitab’ in which the Islamic principles and etiquettes of eating and dinning were discussed. In this magazine Sir Syed wrote that it was not against Islam to eat with the Christians on the same table. He gave references from the Scanned with CamScannerCultural & Historical Backg: Holy Quran and proved that it was not un- Islamic to eat with a nation who was the bearer of a Holy book. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan died on 27th March, 1898 after rendering - invaluable services for the Muslim cause in India. He laid the foundation stone for a movement which turned into the Pakistan Movement In the later stages. Scanned with CamScannerQuran and proved that it was not un io to eat with @ nation who was the of a Holy book Holy islam bearer Sir Syed Ahmed Khan died on 27th 1898 after rendering invaluable Mrwices for the Muslim cause in India, He jaid the foundation stone for a movement Minich turned into the Pakistan Movement in the later stages. TWO-NATION THEORY The entite freedom — movernent revolved around the two-nation theory which wwas introduced by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, ‘sir Syed Ahmed was an open minded and a jarge hearted person. He was a staunch patriot and loved India very much because it wwas his beloved country. He considered all those who lived in India as one nation and was @ great advocate of Hindu-Musiim unity. Speaking at the meeting of Indian ‘Association he said, “4 look to both Hindus and Muslims with the same eyes and consider them as my own eyes. By the word ‘Nation’ | mean only Hindus and Muslims and nothing else. We, Hindus and Muslims, live together on the same soil under the same government. | consider the two factions as one nation.” The attitude of Hindus and Congress, however, compelled Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to re-shape his ideas about one nation. He wes extremely hurt to see both Congress and Hindus working against the interests of Muslims. Congress had turned into a pure Hindu body and was working on the lines which would have erased the Muslims completely from the Indian society as a nation. Sir Syed always advocated Hindu- Muslim unityrand made every effort to bring them closer on one single platform. For this purpose the membership of British Indian Association was kept open for Hindus and Muslims. In spite of the sincere efforts by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to create an atmosphere of amity and brotherhood, the Hindus never came forward with open mind and always Cultural & Historical Background to the Pakistan Movement at adopted a policy to damage the Mustim HINDI-URDU CONTROVERSY Urdu was nearly 300 years old and considered as the language of the Muslims in the sub-continent from the early times. The amalgamation of Arabic, Persian and Turkish gave birth to a new language which was called Hindustani, Shahjahani and finally Urdu. It was also called as Lashkari by the infusion of other languages. Gradually the new language of Urdu became the media of expression of the sub- continent. They adopted this language for the expression of their social, cultural and regional feelings, Urdu soon passed through stages of development and became’ the symbol of Muslim unity and culture. The Muslim and Hindu writers worked a lot for the development of Urdu. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan also rendered valuable services for the development and protection of Urdu. The Muslims, therefore, developed an emotional attachment with Urdu which had attained a status of their national language. The Hindus, for their eternal jealousy and hatred toward the Muslims and their culture, did not like the rapid progress of Urdu. Urdu was introduced as an official language of the sub-continent in 1825 which aroused Hindu antagonism against this language. The British too, were not in favour of any measure which was to promote Muslim cultural values in the sub-continent, The British rulers in order to please the Hindus, began to oppose Urdu to eliminate the influence of Muslim culture. > The Hindi-Urdu controversy began in the year 1867 when Hindus demonstrated against Urdu and demanded its replacement with Hindi as an official language. Some prominent Hindu leaders organized an agitation against the use of Urdu as official language and demanded that Hindi written in Davanagri soript should be introduced in the offices and courts as official language. Sir Syed was extremely disappointed to see the Hindus behaving in a prejudicial manner. Scanned with CamScanner