94
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Sayyid also spelled Syad or Syed, Ahmad also spelled Ahmed, (b. October 17, 1817, Delhi — d. March 27, 1898, Aligarh, India), was a Muslim educator, jurist, and author. He was also the founder of the Anglo-Mohammedan Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, and the principal motivating force behind the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century. His works, in Urdu, included Essays on the Life of Mohammed (1870) and commentaries on the Bible and on the Qur'an. In 1888, he was made a Knight Commander of the Star of India.
Sayyid’s family, though progressive, was highly regarded by the dying Mughal dynasty. His father, who received an allowance from the Mughal administration, became something of a religious recluse. His maternal grandfather had twice served as prime minister of the Mughal Empire of his time and had also held positions of trust under the East India Company. Sayyid’s brother established one of the first printing presses at Delhi and started one of the earliest newspapers in Urdu, the principal language of the Muslims of northern India.
The death of Sayyid’s father left the family with financial difficulties, and, after a limited education, Sayyid had to work for his livelihood. Starting as a clerk with the East India Company in 1838, Sayyid qualified, three years later, to become a judge and served in the judicial department at various places.
Sayyid Ahmad had many interests, and his position in the judicial department left him time to be active in many fields. His career as an author (in Urdu) started at the age of 23 with religious tracts. In 1847 he brought out a noteworthy book, Athar assanadid (“Monuments of the Great”), on the antiquities of Delhi. Even more important was his pamphlet, “The Causes of the Indian Revolt.” During the Indian Mutiny of 1857 he had taken the side of the British, but in this booklet he ably and fearlessly laid bare the weaknesses and errors of the British administration that had led to dissatisfaction and a countrywide explosion. Widely read by British officials, it had considerable influence on British policy.
Sayyid's interest in religion was also active and lifelong. He began a sympathetic interpretation of the Bible, wrote Essays on the Life of Mohammed (translated into English by his son), and found time to write several volumes of a modernist commentary on the Qurʾan. In these works he sought to harmonize the Islamic faith with the scientific and politically progressive ideas of his time.
The supreme interest of Sayyid’s life was, however, education — in its widest sense. He began by establishing schools, at Muradabad (1858) and Ghazipur (1863). A more ambitious undertaking was the foundation of the Scientific Society, which published translations of many educational texts and issued a bilingual journal—in Urdu and English.
These institutions were for the use of all citizens and were jointly operated by Hindus and Muslims. In the late 1860s there occurred developments that were to alter the course of his activities. In 1867 he was transferred to Benares, a city on the Ganges with great religious significance for the Hindus. At about the same time, a movement started at Benares to replace Urdu, the language cultivated by the Muslims, with Hindi. This movement and the attempts to substitute Hindi for Urdu in the publications of the Scientific Society convinced Sayyid that the paths of the Hindus and the Muslims must diverge.
During a visit to England (1869–70), Sayyid prepared plans for a great educational institution. The plans called for the creation of “a Muslim Cambridge.” On his return to India, Sayyid set up a committee for the purpose of founding the educational institution and also started an influential journal, Tahdhib al-Akhlaq (“Social Reform”), for the “uplift and reform of the Muslim.” A Muslim school was established at Aligarh in May 1875, and, after his retirement in 1876, Sayyid devoted himself to enlarging it into a college.
In January 1877, the foundation stone of the college was laid by the viceroy. In spite of conservative opposition to Sayyid’s projects, the college made rapid progress. In 1886, Sayyid organized the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference, which met annually at different places to promote education and to provide the Muslims with a common platform. Until the founding of the Muslim League in 1906, the All-India Muhammadan Educational Conference was the principal national center of Indian Islam.
Sayyid advised the Muslims against joining active politics and to concentrate instead on education. Later, when some Muslims joined the Indian National Congress, Sayyid came out strongly against that organization and its objectives, -- objectives which included the establishment of parliamentary democracy in India.
Sayyid argued that in a country where communal divisions were all-important, and where education and political organization were confined to a few classes, parliamentary democracy would work only inequitably. Muslims, generally, followed his advice and abstained from politics until several years later, when they had established their own political organization.
Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, Sayyid Ahmad Khan became the pioneer of Muslim nationalism in India and is widely credited as the father of the two-nation theory for the Indian sub-continent, which formed the basis of the Pakistan movement. Born into a family with strong debts to the Mughal court, Sayyid studied the Qur'an and Sciences within the court.
In 1838, Sayyid Ahmad Khan entered the service of East India Company and went on to become a judge at a Small Causes Court in 1867, retiring in 1876.
During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, Sayyid remained loyal to the British Raj and was noted for his actions in saving European lives. After the rebellion, he penned the booklet The Causes of the Indian Mutiny – a daring critique, at the time, of various British policies that he blamed for causing the revolt. Believing that the future of Muslims was threatened by the rigidity of their orthodox outlook, Sayyid began promoting Western-style scientific education by founding modern schools and journals and organizing Islamic entrepreneurs.
In 1859, Sayyid established Gulshan School at Muradabad; Victoria School at Ghazipur in 1863; and a scientific society for Muslims in 1864. In 1875, founded the Anglo-Mohammedan Oriental College, the first Muslim university in Southern Asia. During his career, Sayyid repeatedly called upon Muslims to loyally serve the British Raj and promoted the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca of all Indian Muslims.
Sayyid Ahmad Khan maintains a strong legacy in Pakistan and among Indian Muslims. He strongly influenced other Muslim leaders including Allama Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the "Father of Pakistan". Sayyid Ahmad Khan's advocacy of Islam's rationalist tradition and of a broader, radical re-interpretation of the Qur'an to make it compatible with science and modernity continues to influence the global Islamic reformation. Many universities and public buildings in Pakistan bear the name of Sayyid Ahmad Khan.
Aligarh Muslim University celebrated Sayyid Ahmad Khan's 200th birth centenary with much enthusiasm on October 17, 2017. As the first person to theorize the idea of a separate nationhood for Muslims on the Indian subcontinent, the celebration of Sayyid Ahmad Khan would appear to have been quite appropriate.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
Abdullah, S. M. (1940). The spirit and substance of Urdu prose under the influence of Sir Sayyid Ahamad Khan; Muhammad Ashraf, Lahore.
Baljon, J.M.S. (1964). The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan; Lahore: S.M. Ashraf.
Engineer, Ashgar Ali (2001). Rational Approach to Islam; Gyan Publishing House.
Hali, Altaf Husain (1994) [1901]. Hayat-i-Javed (A Biography of Sir Sayyid); New Delhi: Rupa and Company.
Hasan, Tariq (2006). The Aligarh Movement and the Making of the Indian Mind, 1857-2002; Rupa & Company.
Khan, Sir Sayyid Aḥmad; Muhammad, Shan (1973). Writings and Speeches of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; Nachiketa Publications.
Kidwai, Shafey (2010). Cementing Ethics with Modernism: An Appraisal of Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan's Writings; Gyan Publishing House.
Kidwai, Shafey (2020). Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion and Nation; Taylor & Francis.
Lapidus, Ira M. (2014). A History of Islamic Societies; New York City, New York, Cambridge University Press.
Malik, Hafeez (1980). Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muslim Modernization in India and Pakistan; Internet Archive. New York : Columbia University Press.
Muhammad, Shan (1969). Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; a political biography; Internet Archive. Meerut, Meenaksi Parkashan.
Troll, Christian W. (1978). Sayyid Ahmad Khan: A Reinterpretation of Muslim Theology; Vikas Publishing House.
888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
No comments:
Post a Comment