CONTRIBUTIONS OF SIR SYED AHMED KHAN AND ALIGARH

MOVEMENT IN UPLIFT OF MUSLIMS AFTER WAR OF

INDEPENDENCE

INTRODUCTON:

After the War of Independence of 1857, Muslims of the subcontinent were held
responsible by the British for the war and a cruel policy was adopted against them.
They were ruthlessly punished by the British, their properties were confiscated and their
jobs withdrawn. Persian was replaced by English as the official language.
To make matters worse Muslims also boycotted the British education as they had the
misconception that getting British education was against Islam. Hindus were quick to
adopt the British education and thus superseded Muslims in every field.
Thus Muslims became further alienated and victimized, and were the most
downtrodden community cruelly subjugated by British and Hindus.
Sir Syed felt sad on the deplorable conditions of Muslims in the subcontinent and
wanted Muslims to regain their past stature and glory in subcontinent.
The work that Sir Syed Ahmed Khan did for Muslim revival was multi dimensional and is
known as ALIGARH MOVEMENT in the history.

START OF ALIGARH MOVEMENT BY SIR SYED:

Sir Syed identified that the reason for such a deplorable condition of Muslims was their
own extremist, conservative and rigid attitude.
This attitude of Muslims had made them stay away from British, thus great deal of
misunderstandings were created between the two.
He knew that British were here to stay for sometime hence Muslims should adopt a
lenient attitude towards them, so their condition can improve. This way they could also
counter the Hindu propaganda, which was constantly pitching the British against the
Muslims.
The ideas of Sir Syed for the betterment of Muslims and the main objectives of Aligarh
movement may be summed up as follows
To create an atmosphere of mutual understanding between the British
government and the Muslims.
To motivate Muslims to get Western education.

 To persuade Muslims to abstain from agitational politics as Muslims were

politically immature compared to Hindus and thus will not be able to confront
them.
Though Aligarh movement was a multi dimensional movement, these can be
summed as the main objectives behind it.

Fortunately Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was able to attract number of sincere friend towards
Aligarh movement who shared his views and helped him. Among them were well known
figures like Nawab Mohsin ul Mulk, Nawab Viqar ul Mulk, Hali, Shibli, Chiragh Ali,
Muhammad Hayat and Zakaullah.
Aligarh movement can be divided into following aspects
Educational
Political
Religious
Social Services

EDUCATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS:

Sir Syed knew that Muslims were not able to compete with Hindus as they were not
equipped with modern education.
Sir Syed encouraged Muslims to get modern education and removed the
misunderstanding, created by orthodox Ulemas that getting western education was
against Islam.
School at Moradabad: In 1859 a school in Moradabad was setup where Persian and
English were taught.
School at Ghazipur: Another school at Ghazipur was established in 1863.
Scientific society at Ghazipur: It was established in 1864 and it translated modern works
from English to Urdu and Persian languages so that they could be understood easily by
the Muslims. The scientific society published a journal in 1866 known as Aligarh institute
gazette. It was published in Urdu and English languages and its objective was to bring
British and Muslims closer.
Anjuman-e-Taraqi-e-Musalmanan-e-Hind:
This organization was setup in 1870 for
imparting modern education to Muslims of India.
Muhammadan Educational Conference: It was setup in 1866 to spread Sir Syeds ideas
among masses. It had sub committees and it held meetings all over the country. It

included eminent scholars like Hali and Shibli. This conference discussed and suggested
improvements in educational standards.
Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School: During Sir Syeds stay in England he studied the
British educational system and when he came back he wanted to setup an institution in
India on the pattern of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. In 1874 MAO high school
was established which imparted both eastern and British education and this school was
upgraded to college in 1877. Some English professors like Bech, Morison, Raleigh and
Arnold also contributed greatly in building up the Aligarh college into a first rate
institution. The college was open to both Muslims and Non Muslims. This institution was
upgraded to the level of university in 1921. This institution was breeding ground for the
future political leaders of Pakistan movement. This institution educated Muslim youth
and the fruits of this venture of Sir Syed were seen in less than 50 years when its
graduates took part in Pakistani movement. The Muslims, who at one time were not
even getting a job in the government, were able to get independence from the British.
This was the evidence of the far reaching impact of MAO College and Aligarh University.

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS:

Sir Syed warned Muslims not to compete with Hindus in politics as Muslims were not
mature enough and Hindus will outwit them in politics.
Sir Syed viewing the biasness of Indian National Congress advised Muslims not to join it
as it was working for the interests of Hindus and had turned into a purely Hindu body,
working on complete elimination of the Muslims.
He asked Muslims to concentrate on their educational and economic revival and stay
away from political activity as it may divert their attention from constructive tasks and
revive British mistrust.
Steps for creating better understanding between Muslim and British:
After War of Independence a lot of mistrust had been created between Muslims
and British and Sir Syed took steps to bridge this misunderstanding.
He wrote Rasala-e-Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind. In this pamphlet he explained the
real causes of the uprising and told British that Muslims were dragged into war
and it was not their fault alone. He also wrote that partly the responsibility of the
war lied with the British, as their oppressive policies coupled with complete
disregard of the customs and sentiments of people of subcontinent resulted in
the uprising, thus to hold Muslims as completely responsible for the uprising was
unjustified.
British India Association at Aligarh was established in 1866 with purpose of
conveying the feelings of Muslims of the subcontinent to the British Parliament
and government.

 Sir Syed wrote Loyal Mohammedans of India in which he gave detailed services
of Muslims who had risked their lives to help the British civilians during War of
Independence.

RELIGIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS:

The Aligarh movement rendered services for the safeguard of religious rights of Muslims
in India.
Sir Syed Ahmed wrote a rebuttal of William Muirs book Life of Muhammad known as
Essays on the life of Muhammad and got this book published and distributed at his
own expense.
Sir Syed also met John Devenport and translated his book An apology for Mohammad
and Muhammadans in Urdu and got it published and distributed.
Tabaeen-ul-Kalam was written by Sir Syed in which similarities between Islam and
Christianity were pointed out.

SOCIAL SERVICES:

Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq was published by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in which ethical aspects of
Muslim life were highlighted. Through this magazine Sir Syed advised Muslims to
abandon their conservative attitude and adopt modern ways of life.
Anjuman-e-Tariki-Urdu was established which worked for protection of the Urdu
language as it was an identity of Muslims of the subcontinent.
Ahkam-e- Taam-e-Ahle-Kitab was published which highlighted the eating etiquettes of
Muslims and showed that eating with the People of the Book was allowed in Islam. This
was a way to bring the British and Muslims closer.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan also opened a number of orphanages for Muslim children as he
didnt want orphans to go to Christian missionaries and adopt their customs and
traditions.

HINDI URDU CONTROVERSY AND TWO NATION THEORY:

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan loved India and was a great advocate of Hindu Muslim unity in the
beginning however some events led him to reevaluate his stance.
The treatment of Muslims in the Hindu dominated Congress disappointed him a great
deal.

In 1867, Hindu leaders demanded that the Hindi should replace Urdu as the court
language and the government agreed to this demand.
After this event Sir Syed gave the famous Two Nation theory where he used the word
nation for Hindus and Muslims separately. This famous theory was the foundation of the
Pakistan Movement which didnt gain momentum till the early 1900s.
The credit goes to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who foresaw the wicked Hindu designs and
talked about the Hindus and Muslims as two different nations when no one could
imagine it. What he had told Muslims in 1868, as the Muslims became to understand it
after observing the Hindu behavior the Pakistan Movement gained momentum and in
less than 100 years time a separate homeland for Muslims of subcontinent was created.

CONCLUSION:
I think Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was a brave visionary who stood against the conservative Ulemas
to tell Muslims that it was not against Islam to get western education for their social and
economic uplift. He was the one who planned the Muslim revival carefully and didnt make a
short term plan. His plan was a long term plan which started to bear fruits in early 1900s when
Muslims were mature enough to stand against Congress and demand their own political party
and then later asked for Pakistan. His educational endeavors created leaders like Liquat Ali
Khan for Pakistan movement. He was a true patriot who didnt want any power. All he wanted
was the uplift of his nation for which he worked at all fronts along with a team of his like
minded dedicated friends like Maulana Hali and Nawab Mohsin ul Mulk. According to me
Aligarh movement was the forerunner of the Pakistan movement as this movement made
Muslims educationally and economically capable to stand against the Hindus and British to
demand their separate homeland.