Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

A Legendry Educationist and Social Reformer of Modern India

After the ‘squashed rebellion’ of 1857, the Muslim community bore the brunt of British imperialistic designs and was assumed as the sole perpetrator of that bloody episode. They were declared, in present term the “axis of evil.” Not only their homes were ransacked but their hopes also and not only their blongings were looted but their courage too. The whole community was swaying on the threshold of present, that was complete darkness and the future, that was too bleak. Their visions was hemmed in on all sides by the dust of their ‘crumpled to earth’ havelies. They had to answer the call of their past but were bound to move to an extreme opposite direction.
At this time a man came to show the way to that flummoxed group of people. A man who resurrected them from the smouldering ashes of defeat, fear, anger and hoplessness. That man is known as ‘Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.’
Sir Syed, the stout-hearted man who not only dared to take the challenges of outsiders but fought with inner voices of his own co-religionists who were crying foul for resentment against the Britishers was riding high on the minds and touching new water-marks with every passing day. The memories of bodies, hanging from the branches of trees, were engraved in every minds and the stench of rotten corpses was not faded away yet. At this time he decided to pull chestnuts of the fire and made a call to get familiar with the western sciences, a diplomatic feet to pay the Britishers back in their own coin, but it was not an easy task to make the Muslims convinced in that unfathomable condition. But he did it.

The Revolt of 1857: Turning Point
To understand the social reforms initiated by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan should be seen in their history of socio-political context. He had been an eye-witness of the great upheaval and its aftermath indiscriminate killings and blood-curdling hangings perpetrated by the British forces where countless men and women were put to death on the slightest suspicion of disaffection, with unprecedented ruthlessness and savagery.
The first 5 to 10 years after later half of the 19th century the situation was very much alarming and chaotic. The socio-political and economic conditions of the Indians, that of Muslims in particular, was deplorable at that time. The Muslims were backward and conservative in their outlook and traditional in their approach, unaware of the ongoing changes and developments elsewhere in the world. The Muslims were standing on the crossroads and they didn’t know to where they have to proceed. The problem of educational backwardness was much acute amongst the Muslims than amongst the Hindu community because the Muslims psyche had not willing to move with the times and had remained in the hangover of the hey days of Mughal Empire. The Muslim society was passing through, at some extent we can call it as, the dark ages. They were lagged behind their non-Muslim brethren in all spheres of life including education and employment because of the indiscriminatory policies of the British rule.
After internal deliberations he reached the conclusion that ups and downs lies in the logic of history and the solution, he thought wisely and judiciously, did not lie in further confrontation with the Britishers, but in rapprochement in forging bonds of mutual understanding because the conditions are not favourable for further taking up arms. He was a great farsighted man whose ‘vision told him that if Muslims qualified themselves they would sit beside Britons at the level of decision makers.’[1] He concluded that Muslims society needed a reform to be existed with dignity and honour. Sir Syed took up the challenge with indomitable spirit and embarked on the path of educational advancement and social upliftment of the Indian masses. He believed that education is the sole panacea to all backwardness — social, political and economic — of the contemporary Indian society.
For the overall development of the society Sir Syed accepted the framework of educational and social reform. He proposed and worked out a three pronged agenda: establishment of modern educational institution based on Western style with Oriental essence (a target achieved in Aligarh in 1977), organisation of Scientific Society and formation of an apex body (All Indian Mohammadan Educational Conference) to look after the educational affairs of the Muslims in India.

Establishment of the Scientific Society:
The establishment of the Scientific Society on 9th January, 1964 at Ghazipur is one of the milestone in the educational movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. The objective of this society was to acquiring proficiency in English language which might be helpful in transmission of knowledge from the West to the East and become a source of enrichment. In 1863, he published and appeal regarding improvement in educational system of the country. The aim of this appeal was to persuade people to establish an organization for translating standard classical works of English into Urdu language and thus attract the people to the study of English literature. This would help the Indians to develop a sense of respect for western literature and scholarship. This, he argued, would also provide mutual understanding and co-operation between the British and Indians.
In order to propagate the aims and objectives of the society Sir Syed regarding the importance of Scientific Society, he delivered a speech one at the Mohammedan Literary Society at Calcutta:
“The reason, gentleman, why we are all also backward nowadays, is that while we are learned in and benefited by the philosophy, sciences, and arts of antiquity, we are almost entirely ignorant of those of modern times, which the youths of the present age seems so much to admire. Many grand works have been written in German, French and other languages. These, however, are all to founded translated into English. Now, as we are not likely to become proficient in German, French and as Hindustan, is governed by the English. I think it very clear that English is the language to which we ought to devote our attention. Is it any prejudice that prevents us from learning it? No, it can be so with us. No religious prejudices interfere without learning any language spoken by any of the many nations of world. From remote antiquity have we studied Persian, and no prejudice has ever interfered with the study of that language: How, then, can any religious objection be raised against our learning and perfecting ourselves in English?”[2]
Two months after the establishment of the Scientific Society, Sir Syed established a school at Ghazipur with the help of Raja Dev Narain Singh and Maulana Muhammad Fasih. On this occasion he delivered a historic and vigorous speech, describing the new venture as a means “of spreading the light of learning amongst our countrymen and removing the clouds of darkness and ignorance which were enveloping us and this great country. This noble work will be not only profitable to ourselves and our contemporaries but to the coming generations, our sons and sons’ sons. What gives me greater happiness and an occasion to congratulate you is the fact that this school has been brought into being by you without outside help.”[3]
In the same year he transferred to Aligarh. Although since he was the driving force behind the Scientific Society, it could not survive at Ghazipur without his presence and was shifted to Aligarh. Sir Syed made Scientific Society as a very active institution. Its meetings were held several times a month and papers were presented on various topics of popular and academic interests. The society also established a department of translation, where many important and valuable English works were translated into Urdu. On mathematics alone he assigned 17 books for translation to Maulvi Zakaullah, one of his close friends. The subjects on which Sir Syed gave more importance included Mechanics. Electricity, Pneumatics, Natural Philosophy, Agricultural Sciences, Physiology, Masonary. History had a great emphasis for him because he looked upon history as a living and breaking account of human achievements and failures which could help in avoiding conflicts and errors in our present day life.
As Sir Syed formed the Scientific Society as a part of his mission to awaken the people from their slumber and sloth, simultaneously he also felt the urgent need of a journal to communicate the messages to masses. In this regard, he started Aligarh Institute Gazette (earlier know as Indian Institute Gazette) in 1866. The Gazette discussed all issues pertaining to human interests. Religion, ethics, agriculture, commerce, health, social problems were discussed with profound insight. The journal started by Sir Syed made a sustained effort to keep sentimentalism at bay and introduced a new spirit of enquiry. In this discourse, “Sir Syed blazed a new trail in journalism when his bilingual weekly proffered a full discussion on the fundamentals of life.”[4]
On 1st of August, 1867, 15 days prior to his transfer from Aligarh to Banaras, he made a request in a memorandum to the Governor-General of India for the establishment of an institute of higher learning, in which the instructions in different branches of arts and science could be given in the vernacular languages. He demanded, examinations should also be taken in the medium of Indian languages along with the English language and no discrimination should be happened in granting degrees in this regard. And that either an Urdu faculty should be established in North Western Province for imparting education in Indian languages.
The most interesting aspect of Scientific Society is that after few years, the branches of the Society were spreading out beyond the borders of North Western Provinces. One of them was Bihar Scientific Society which was established on 24th May, 1868 at Muzaffarpur by one of the Sir Syed’s friend and counterpart Nawab Syed Imdad Ali Khan, who was also a Sadr-i-Amin of Muzaffarpur. Numerous developments were initiated by this very society.[5]

Encounter with the West:
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s journey to England (1869-1870) was a landmark in the formulation of his educational programmes to be implemented in near future. This sojourn made a deep impact on the whole academic life of Sir Syed. His first face-to-face encounter with the western civilization happened during his stay in England. There he visited many educational institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge, studied their organizational set up and met large number of scholars. These interactions gave him a thorough insight into the educational system of the Western World. He compare it with the Indian scenario which was in a worsening position. He strongly felt that the secret of Europe’s supremacy lay in the sciences and technology developed during the period of renaissance after coming into contact with Muslim Arabs.

Tahzibul Akhlaq:
On his return to Indian in October, 1870 with full of exuberance and new vision he started a journal named as Tahzibul Akhlaq (The Mohemmadan Social Reformer) which was intended to persuade Muslims to come out of its medieval thinking and putting them back on the road to progress. The first issue of the paper was started on 24th December, 1870 and the price was fixed to 4½ rupees per annum.
Earlier, on 07th May, 1870, Sir Syed wrote a letter to his compatriot Nawab Mohsinul Mulk Mahdi Ali Khan from England in which he expressed his desire to publish a newspaper on lines of similar to the Richard Steele’s Tattler and Joseph Addison’s Spectator, which worked as a catalyst and an effective instrument to revolutionize eighteenth century English society by creating socio-political awareness, with the objective of making the Muslims realizes the need of change in thinking and develop a positive attitude towards western education.
The sole objective of Tahzibul Akhlaq was to overcome to those religious prejudices and dogmas which were preventing the society from advancing and which, really had nothing to do with Islamic practices. His aim, as he made clear in the very first issue wrote:
“The aim of publishing this magazine is to persuade the Muslims of India to adopt the values of a perfect civilization, to remove all those vagaries for which they are looked upon by the civilized nations, so that they also may be regarded as one of the respected and civilized people of the world. It is true that sometimes a religion which are hindrance to civilization. We have to analyse whether the religion of Islam is one of them? Those customs and habits which are unfortunately adopted and assimilated as a part of progress should be given up. All this should be compared with the original teachings of the religion and checked whether omission or reform is in conformity with the injection of the Sharia. In this way we and our religion many escape the contempt of other religions.”[6]

Towards Establishing a College:
At the same time, when he was engaged with the publishing of Tahzibul Akhlaq, Sir Syed along with his compatriots formed a committee known as “The Committee for the Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning Among the Mohammadans of India” at Banaras on 26th December, 1870. The objective of this committee was to find out the causes that why so few Muslim students were enrolled at Government educational institutions; secondly, why the old learning was on the verge of decline amongst the Muslims; and thirdly, why the Muslims had not taken to new sciences and learning. The most important finding which came out after extensive deliberations was that it was necessary to establish their own institution for education if they were to acquire knowledge. The British government promised of their assistance in its implementation. The work of collecting funds for the proposed college was then taken up and Sir Syed was elected life secretary of a committee, Khazinat al Bazaat La-Tasis Madrasat al Muslamin, formed for the purpose of launching a nationwide campaign for the collection of funds.
The time has came to establish Madrasatul Uloom-i-Mussalmanan which had been propsed earlier by the committee. When all the members were unanimously agreed on selecting Aligarh for proposed institution, in January, 1873, later a committee was formed to choose a proper place suggested that the institution should be establish as quickly as possible and the sub-committee headed by Moulvi Samiullah Khan at Aligarh also endorsed the decision. They took up this project on high priority and went on with full commitment. Syed Mehmood, son of Sir Syed, drafted a detailed blue-print under his guidance about the organization of the institution and submitted it to the committee. After two and half years of hardwork and painstaking job the Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College was established on 24th May, 1875 and regular classes were started a week later. One year after this event Sir Syed decided to retire from government service and devote himself exclusively to look after the affairs of the college—his sole concern. On 08th January, 1877, Lord Lytton, the Governor General of India, laid the foundation-stone of the college.
This was a historical event which is going to ready for playing a crucial role in the future course of history. This was, according to famous orientalist, H.A.R. Gibb, organiz“The first modernist ation in Islam”[7]. This event, we can say, was a very remarkable one in the life of Sir Syed because it was a life long desire of him to set-up an educational institution for the social upgradation of the Muslims in India has been fulfilled. In lauding Sir Syed, Maualana Abul Kalam Azad, himself a great visionary, while delivering the convocation address to Aligarh on 20th February, 1949, said:
“Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established in Aligarh not only a college but an intellectual and cultural centre in time with the progressive times.”
Though M.A.O. College was established, primarily, for the education of Muslims, but Sir Syed always kept its doors wide open to all people irrespective of their caste or creed and affiliations. He worked for the betterment and upliftment of all Indian people and not merely the Muslims. After two years of its inception the number of students on roll at that time was 158 out of which 129 were Muslims, 27 Hindus, one native Christian and one Parsi in the college. How Sir Syed was very much secular in his outlook, it has been corroborated by this statement when he addressed a meeting of the Indian Association of Lahore in 1884, he said:
“My friends! You have alluded to Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in your address. I would be sorry if anyone were to think that this college was, founded to mark a distinction between the Hindus and Mohammadans. …………….. But I am happy to be able to say that both brothers receive the same instruction in that college. All the rights at the college which belong to one who calls himself a Mahomedan, belong without any restriction to him also who calls himself a Hindu.………………There is not the least distinction between the Hindus and the Mahomedans. I regard the Hindus and Mahomedans as my two eyes.”[8]
In 1882, Sir Syed appointed as a member of the Education Commission constituted by the British Government but he resigned from it later. In 1883, Sir Syed’s ambition went further and he formed Mohammadan Civil Service Fund Association for helping Muslim Students to go to England to appear at the Civil Service Examinations or to study there. In 1886, he realized that only one institution (M.A.O. College) was not enough for the education of the entire community of India. So, Sir Syed strengthened and consolidated his movement through an extremely strong vehicle called the All India Muslim Education Conference. Through this agency, Sir Syed wanted to extend the scope of Aligarh’s influence to Muslims throughout India.
In his gigantic task of making social and educational enlightment, he faced strong resistance from many quarters, especially from the clergy. Nothing could demoralized him and he never deviated from the axis of his ‘silent revolution’ and moved ahead fearlessly in the same proportion as the opposition was.
Sir Syed’s whole life spanning 81 years (from 1817 to 1898), witnessed the most decisive period, a period characterized by transition in almost every sphere of life. He was a great visionary and reformer of 19th century who appeared on the social horizon as a boon for a community. He was one of the shining star of the galaxy of reformers who realized the decadence in Indian society at that time and made a pragmatic approach by setting off the Aligarh Movement. He merely not founded the institution but create a healthy scientific attitude of mind, without no human progress is possible. He was among the early pioneers of modern India who dedicated his whole life to what he thought to be the supreme need of the hour – education for the emancipation of Muslim society by convincing them to maintain its social and political clout in the British Empire. He worked tirelessly day and night to spread awareness among Muslims who had been in the clutches of obscurantism, superstition, ignorance, inertia and conservatism. The Muslims, ‘were helped by the fresh memory of a man who had restored the morale of a crushed qaum’.[9] Certainly, his great endeavours make him a “legendary educationist and social reformer of modern India”.
The tulip that saw Autumn and languished,
Syed once again gave it moisture of morning tears.

(Iqbal)

References:
[1] Raj Mohan Gandhi, Understanding the Muslim Mind, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1987, p.45.
[2] Graham, G.F.I.; Life and works of Sir Syed Ahmed, Edinburgh, William Blackwood, 1885, p.p.:74.
[3] Quoted in K.A. Nizami, Sayyid Ahmed Khan, Publications Division, New Delhi, 2002, p.57.
[4] Shafey Kidwai, “Sir Syed as a Journalist” in Asloob A. Ansari (ed.) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: A Centenary Tribute, Adam Publishers, New Delhi, 2001, p.389.
[5] For details see: Dr. Mohammad Sajjad, Sir Syed’s Movement for Muslim Education in Muzaffarpur (Bihar); [ed.]: Shahabuddin Iraqi, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: Vision and Mission, 2007, Manohar Publishers, New Delhi, p.p.:181-197.
[6] Tahzibul Akhlaq, 1870; Tamheed, Vol. I, pp.:1-2.
[7] Gibb, H.A.R., Mohammadanism, P.181
[8] Sayyid Iqbal Ali, Sir Syed ka Safar Namah-i-Punjab, Aligarh, pp.:159-160.
[9] Raj Mohan Gandhi, Understanding the Muslim Mind, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1987, p.45.