NEW DELHI :

As we celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, it’s a good time to remember his contributions to society as a social reformer, educationist, and philosopher

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born into a noble Syed family in Delhi, which was then the capital of the Mughal empire. His family was well connected and both his maternal and paternal side of the family had connections with the Mughal court. Sir Syed was raised by his mother, Azis-un-Nisa, with a disciplined upbringing. His mother laid  strong emphasis on modern education. He was well versed with Persian, Arabic and Urdu and his education consisted of orthodox religious subjects as well as modern subjects like mathematics and astronomy.

Sir Syed was also well-known for his physical strength. He enjoyed swimming and archery and was particularly good at both. He was born at a time when there were a lot of rebellious Governors and religious insurrections aided and led by the East India Company. Together, these factors were diminishing the power of the Mughal empire. He saw this as an opportunity and used his education prowess to stand up and make an impact in such dire circumstances.

Social reform: Sir Syed is referred by many as the “man who knew tomorrow”. He played a very influential role in bridging the gap between the Oriental and the Western world. He knew what changes were required in the society in order to move forward and keep up with the rest of the world. He dedicated his life to strike a balance between tradition and modernity and strived for traditional Oriental and Western scholarship.

Emphasis on English: Sir Syed encouraged the society to keep up with the rest of the world by stressing on the importance of English language. Many of his contemporaries were against his ideology and felt that this was a disservice to their own culture. However, Sir Syed saw the importance of English as a step through which the society could make major advancements.

At that time, most knowledge about modern arts and sciences were available only in English. Previously, Muslim scholars had adopted the use of Persian and Greek language to study science and art. Sir Syed argued that people shouldn’t disregard a whole treasure of knowledge in English just because English was the language adopted by the Westerners. He rightly believed that there is a lot of benefit that can be gained from learning the language. His advocacy of English didn’t mean he wanted to move people away from the Arabic language.

Sir Syed was, in fact, a strong supporter of Arab culture and Arabic language. He stressed on the importance of another language, English, because of the plethora of knowledge bases it opens up.

Sir Syed was also very practical with his school of thought. After the revolt in 1857, he saw how the British empire was taking shape and that English education style was taking charge. He realised that learning English was absolutely necessary in order to keep up in those days and that was a school of thought that was very different than other scholars of his era. This was one of Sir Syed’s biggest social policies.

Modern, pragmatic views: Another important factor that differentiates Sir Syed’s social policy is that he always stood by his principles and defended what he thought was right. He did not succumb to pressure from the people around him. His advocacy of English was, of course, one example of that. Sir Syed also proposed a modern take on Islamic education, which included present-day science. This was not the norm at that time. He also had forward-looking views on women and their rights. He was a strong voice, defending women’s rights and recognised their potential to contribute to the society, which again never used to be the case. Sir Syed was termed as a “collective individual” by French sociologist  Pierre Bourdieu. He successfully managed to take up roles of a free-thinker, an administrator, reformer, educationalist, religious scholar and a devout family man.

Educational reform:  As mentioned earlier, Sir Syed was a major proponent of Western style education and gaining a modern outlook of the world. He believed that this was the fundamental driving force the Muslim community needed in order to match the rest of the world. He displayed his devotion to education by founding various educational institutions in India and also contributing to the community by writing his own journal and writings on different topics.

Dedication to scholarly work: Sir Syed was himself one of the most respected scholars of his time. Despite heavily being involved in the political scene and being an active social reformist, Sir Syed always found time for his academic pursuits. His topics of interest included history, politics, archaeology, journalism, literature, religion and science. Sir Syed felt like the future of Muslims would be in jeopardy if they continue to avoid modern science and technology. That is why he published many writings that promoted a liberal, rational and pragmatic train of thought. Most Muslim scholars disagreed with his views on issues such as jihad, polygamy and animal slaughtering but Sir Syed stood his ground and stuck by his belief. He started facing increasing pressure from orthodox Muslims about his views and, hence, he eventually stopped discussing religious subjects and instead focused on improving the education system.

Sir Syed was then posted in Aligarh in 1864 and that is where he founded the first scientific association in India called the Scientific Society of Aligarh. Sir Syed gathered Muslim scholars from different parts of the country and modeled it after the Royal Asiatic Society. The society held several conferences and even collected and spent money for different educational causes. The purpose of this society was to translate Western works into Indian languages so that Indian scholars can learn from the Western world. Sir Syed was appointed as the fellow of Calcutta University in 1876 and fellow of Allahabad University by the Viceroy in 1887.

Bridging education and politics: Sir Syed was the leader of the Aligarh movement. He founded the Mohammadan Anglo Oriential College in 1875 and this came to be known as the Aligarh movement. This move marked the birth of the first Muslim university in South Asia and drove modern Muslim education to make a large political impact on Indian Muslims in all parts of India. Sir Syed modeled this college after Oxford and Cambridge after he took a trip to England. He wanted to build a college that aligned with the British education system without compromising on any Islamic values. This movement encouraged poets and writers to switch from a romantic style of prose and poetry to a more cultural and political mindset which influenced the common life of Indian Muslims. Aligarh Muslim University is a creation of this movement.

In 1878, Sir Syed was nominated to the Viceroy’s Legislative Council. He later asked the education commission to establish more colleges and schools across the country. He also organised the All India Mohammadan Educational Conference in Aligarh where he encouraged people to give more importance to modern education and Muslim unity. Sir Syed’s valiant efforts never went unnoticed.

(This is the first article in a two-part series on Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. The second part will appear in these columns on Tuesday, October 17. The writer is a well-known linguist, author and columnist)

source: http://www.dailypioneer.com / The Pioneer / Home> Columnists> OpEd / by M J Warsi / Monday – October 16th, 2017