Pakistan Studies - Lecture 4

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Lecture 4

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, his services and


The Aligarh Movement
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s personal life

 After the War of Independence 1857, the Muslims emerged as a backward


nation. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan came forward to guide the Muslims when they
were on the verge of elimination from the Indian society as a result of Hindu
and British domination.
 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was born in a noble family on 17th October 1817 in Delhi
in a highly respectable family. At the age of 21 he lost his father and he was
suddenly faced with the problem of livelihood. After the War of Independence,
he had rescued the British population of Bijnaur district and had almost lost
his life in doing so. The title of Sir is the most prestigious title that is given to
a very respectful personality regarding his works and contribution to humanity.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s work for Education
(Aligarh Movement)
 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s Aligarh Movement was based on a two fold program for the
Muslims renaissance which included modern education for the Muslims and co-
operation with the British government. He realized that the condition of Muslims
couldn’t be improved without education.
 In the beginning of his work Sir Syed Ahmed Khan laid down the foundation of
Persian school at Moradabad (UP) in 1859 where English language was also taught.
He established another school and founded a scientific society in Ghazipur in 1864.
The scientific society translated the modern works in Urdu for the benefit and
convenience of the people, this society issued a journal in 1866 titled as the
‘Aligarh Institute Gazette’ published in Urdu and English languages. The main
purpose of the journal to arouse the sentiments of good will amongst the British for
the Muslims.
 In 1866 he founded the British Indian association which worked for the safeguard of
the rights of the Indian people. He went to England in 1869, and stayed there for 17
months. During his stay he thoroughly studied the British Universities ,especially
Cambridge and Oxford impressed him the most. He made up his mind to setup an
educational institution on the pattern of these universities.
 He established Mohammedan Educational Conference which was to take steps for
the educational uplift of the Muslims of India. The Conference held its meeting at
 On 24th May 1875 Mohammedan Anglo Oriental(MAO) High School was established at
Aligarh where modern and eastern education was imparted. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
worked very hard to raise the school to the college level. In 1877 the school
upgraded to the status of a college. The college offered both western and eastern
learnings, Islamic education was also given. The college was opened for both the
Muslims and the Non-Muslims. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan earnestly desired to see the
college raised to the level of a university(Aligarh University) which was fulfilled 22
years after his death in 1920.
 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan wrote many books and pamphlets for the revival of the
glorious times of the Muslims. In 1846 he wrote his famous book ‘Asar us Sanadeed’
which was all about the antiques of the Muslims.
 In 1855 he compiled the history of Bijnaur. After the War of Independence he wrote
the pamphlet for the causes of the Indian Revolt in order to remove the
misunderstanding among the British about Muslims. The British had put the entire
responsibility of the war on the Muslims and considered them their greatest
enemies. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan explained the real causes of the war and put the
responsibility of the war on the government and declared that the dictatorial and
oppressive policies of the government contributed a great deal towards the
outbreak of the uprising. He translated the pamphlet in English language and
dispatched copies to high officials of the government and the members of the royal
family.
 He wrote the explanation of Bible entitled as ‘Tabeen al Kalam’ and pointed out the
similarities between Islam and Christianity. He wrote the Loyal Mohammedans of
India in which he gave a detailed account of the services which the Muslims had
rendered to the British rulers.
 He published the most influential magazine ‘Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq’ in which he described
ethical aspects of the Muslim culture. He worked diligenlty for the promotion of
Urdu which was the language of the Muslims and gave new tone and color to the
Urdu literature.
 He founded ‘Anjuman-e-Taraki-eUrdu’ which worked for the protection of Urdu as
the language of the Muslims. He wrote a magazine as ‘Ahkam-e-Ta’am-e-Ahle-Kitab’
in which Islamic principles and etiquettes of eating and dining were discussed and he
wrote that it was not against Islam to eat with the Christians on the same table.
 He wrote a book Khutbat e Ahmedia in which he countered the allegations levelled
against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in the book ‘ The Life of Muhammad’
written by Sir William Muir.
Political services of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
 The Indian National Congress came into existence in 1885 which gradually grew
to be the most powerful political organization in India. At the time of tis
inception it had claimed that it would strive for the safeguards of the interests
of all the communities in India irrespective of their religion or political
tendencies. But with the time it turned into a pure Hindu body. The demand
which were projected form the Congress platform appeared very innocent and
democratic but actually were aimed at the complete elimination of the
Muslims. The first demand which came from the Congress was the introduction
of representative democracy on the lines and patterns of Britain. He
vehemently objected and said that western democracy could not be
introduced in India as India was inhabited by many nations and the second
demand was for the appointments in the government service should be by
competitive examinations. Since Muslims were not receiving education of a
standard similar to that received by Hindus, by making these demands
Congress in fact wanted oust Muslims from the Indian society. That’s why Sir
Syed Ahmed Khan wanted the Muslims to stay away from the Congress politics.
 Sir Syed worked tirelessly to restore relations with the British and played a
vital role in improving the status of the Muslim community in India.
Two Nation Theory
 The entire freedom movement revolved the Two Nation Theory which was
introduced by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He was a staunch patriot and loved India
very much because it was his beloved country. He considered all those who lived
in India as one nation and was a great advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity. Speaking
at the meeting of Indian association he said
“I look to both Hindus and Muslims with the same eyes and considered them as
my own eyes by the word ‘nation’ I mean only Hindus and Muslims and nothing
else”
 But after some time the Hindu Urdu controversy began. The attitude of Hindus
compelled Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to reshape his idea about one nation. He
extremely hurt to see Hindus working against the interest of Muslims, he was now
convinced that the Hindus would never be friendly with the Muslims as their
religion and way of life was quite distinct from each other.

 Urdu became the official language in 1825. the Hindus for their eternal jealousy
and hatred towards the Muslims and their culture did not like the rapid progress
of Urdu. In 1867 they demanded that Urdu should be replaced by Hindi language
than Sir Syed Ahmed Khan developed his ‘Two Nation Theory’ it was only a small
step to call for partition. For this reason he can rightly be called ‘ The Father of
the Pakistan Movement’.

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