It is said that what Raj Rammohan Roy did for the Hindus, the same work was done by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan for Indian Muslims. Sir Syed Ahmadkhan is credited with taking the self-reliance of Muslims, towards English education and modernization, and his Aligarh movement is its center point.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Aligarh Movement
Sir Syed Ahmedkha was born in 1817 in Delhi. At the age of 20, he went to government service At the time of the rebellion of 1857, he made special service to the British, from which he received the goodwill of the British and used this goodwill in the interest of Indian Muslims. He kept himself separate from English education and civilization. Their relation with the British was also not so good and that was the main reason for their decline. Therefore, Sir Syed Ahmadkhana made two main goals of his life – First to correct the relations of the British and Muslims and Second to spread modern education among the Muslims.
In order to fulfill these objectives, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan explained to the Muslims that their loyalty to the government could fulfill their interests. And he explained to the British that Muslims are not against the English rule with heart and with few sympathy of English they will become loyal to the government. The British thought , it is advisable to express goodwill towards Muslims, because they could use Muslim communalism against the growing nationalism in the Hindus. They did this even further. So Sir Syed Ahmed Khan got success soon in the first purpose.
In order to fulfill his second mission, he established an English education school in Gazipur in 1864. After one year, the science society was established to translate English books into Urdu. After that he went to London.
After the end of his London visit in 1869, he started a movement to improve the social status of Muslims. In December 1870, he started publishing a magazine named Tehzeeb-ul-Akhlaq and conveyed the changing circumstances to the Muslims. He did not consider ancient social values and ways of living as friendly for time. Since Muslims used to understand their social life based on the Qur’an and Hadith, therefore, Sir Syed Ahmadkhan must be forced to initiate a religious dispute.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan interpreted Qur’an in his way to explain the meaning of Qur’an, the main basis of which was that the creator of all creation is a God(Allah), and that is the author of the Quran. So the Qur’an can not be different from the actual situation. Similarly the Hadith can not be against the Quran nor it can be different from reality. To begin the new interpretation of the Quran, they started writing Tafsil-ul-Qur’an( तफसील-उल-कुरान ), which could not be completed. In his letter, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan said that the purpose of Tehzeeb-ul-Akhlaq is to make Muslims civilized. He said that the Muslim society can not be civilized until they leave ancient traditions and adopt new traditions. He had a clear belief that each tradition is proved as per time and circumstances. He strongly condemned Hajj, distributing ZAKAT, constructing Mosques etc. and advised Muslims to adopt Western civilization and practices.
The Aligarh movement did an important work for the education of Muslims, whose main objective was to popularize western education among Muslims. There was apathy among the Muslims towards Western education. Muslims considered Arabic, Persian and religious education more important and considered the cause of the primacy of the English state was because of their compulsions. So they kept themselves separate from any organization connected with the English state.
Apart from this, Mullah and Maulvi also wanted that Arabic, Persian and religious education should be given more encouragement. But Syed Ahmadkhan has described the defects of the English education system was the reason of the dislike of the Muslims. In 1882 he testified before Hunter Commission that Muslims do not want to go to such educational institutions where people of other sects also read, because they (Muslims) considered them low level. It was the belief of the Muslims that wrongdoing is by obtaining Western education increased and also they used to understand English as accepting Christianity. Therefore, Muslims had the fear that they could be called infidels by receiving English education.
Sir Syed Ahmedkhan established Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College in Aligarh in 1875, experiencing the need for a special educational institution for the education of Muslims, whose initial form was a primary school. In January 1877, Lord Lytton duly inaugurated this college. Governor of Uttar Pradesh, William Mure provided the land for this college. Thus, from the very beginning, this institution was pleased with the British. This college further changed to Aligarh University. This is where modern ideology of Muslims got education and later it became the center of the Aligarh movement.
He also founded a Mohammedan Educational Conference and joined many such Muslims who were keen on bringing Muslims in contact with Western civilization. Aligarh Mohammedan College was not only a educational institution of Muslims but also a center for social and political reform. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was of the view that the students studied from this institution will be able to bring changes in society. The college was given more emphasis on the overall development of the student.
Debate competition, Sports, Essentially staying in the hostel, and increasing the ties with English teachers and officials was part of college curriculum. Syed Ahmed Khan emphasized on English education because it needed to get government jobs. He had a clear belief that a person’s reputation in a community can be recognized on the basis of what he has got in the state service. He emphasized higher education than elementary education, and this fact was responsible for the weakness of the Aligarh movement. Students studying here were more diligent for the interests of their own community. In 19th century the main purpose of social reform in Muslims was limited to men’s English education.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan considered education to be unnecessary for women. And they were also in favor of screening in women. They considered multi-marriages logical. They wanted women’s education to become skilled mothers and housewives. They did not like women getting jobs. Therefore, the Aligarh movement was not in favor of women to change traditional education and the way of life. The Aligarh Movement was a key to adopting a new approach towards Western civilization among Muslims. But the Aligarh movement proved to be helpful in increasing Muslim sectarianism. With the inspiration of Aligarh College’s first principal Theodore Beck, in 1893, he formed an organization of Muslims, whose goal was to keep Indian Muslims separate from politics.
After Beck, when Morison became the Principal of the college, he started mobilizing the Muslims to oppose the National Congress. Syed Ahmed Khan himself became a staunch opponent of the Congress. The Muslim League was established in 1906 with the inspiration of Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk ( Minister of Aligarh College ) and William A.J. Archbold (Principle of Aligarh College) . Therefore, the Aligarh movement remained in opposition to Indian nationalism and politics. There were many reasons for this protest.
Reason behind opposition of Aligarh Movement
- Syed Ahmad Khan and his Aligarh movement were dependent on the sympathy of the British from the very beginning. Therefore, it was necessary that they support British diplomacy against progress and national Hindus.
- Ahmedkha was heavily influenced by Western civilization and therefore they started to support the British much more.
- Ahmad Khan feared that minority Muslims would not be able to fight against the majority of Hindus. Therefore, to support the British and to rely on their support was essential for the interests of the Muslims.
Reference :https://www.indiaolddays.com/
