Remembering Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: The AMU Founder Who Changed The Way Western Education Was Received

Alig Fraternity, around the globe, celebrates Sir Syed Day on 17^th October every year. It is the birth anniversary of the founder of Aligarh Muslim University, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The day is also known as ‘Eid-e-Alig’ and is celebrated with great splendor and spectacle.

However, beyond the establishment of the Aligarh Muslim University, Sir Syed’s contribution to the betterment of the society is hardly remembered. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the messiah of Muslim education, born on 17^th October 1817, had worked in an era when the rational and traditional aspects of education system got intertwined and had taken the form of theological education.

Awakening the community and convincing it for the new education system was like introducing a new religion to a society which was very devoted to its own religious beliefs.  In 1835, when the entire Muslim community had filed a petition against the new education system introduced by the British Government and declared that the new system would convert the entire nation to Christianity, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was the first person to understand the benefits of English education for Indians. He believed that the English rule should be opposed but not the English education.

In 1859, he established a Madrassa in Moradabad which was equipped with modern education along with religious teachings. Later, in 1863, he started another Madrassa in Ghazipur which later on was known as Victoria High School. For the educational reforms of the society, he had established ‘Scientific Society’, however, on arriving Aligarh in 1865 he shifted the Scientific Society as well and named it ‘Scientific Society Aligarh’.

Having observed the educational backwardness of the Muslim community, Sir Syed decided to reconcile his community with the Western Education. He investigated about the causes that were preventing the community from joining the Government schools and found out that the strange fear of English education was the main cause. He decided to bring them into the main stream.

He knew that with the help of Western Arts and Sciences, Indians could achieve higher goals. But his journey was not easy. He was criticized, rebuked and condemned. The Maulvis and other orthodox people of the community blamed him for launching the community on the wrong path. They believed that ‘English-Education’ would take Muslims away from their religion and would spoil their minds. They did not even hesitate in calling him a non-believer.

But, a man of an unshakeable determination and unwavering concentration, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, did not move from his resolution. He put his best foot forward and stood tall. He formed a committee to achieve the goal of education for the masses. The committee had to face much opposition and it was alleged that the influence of English education would produce a generation devoid of beliefs and moral-values. Still, neither Sir Syed nor his supporters lost hope.

Eventually, their efforts resulted in the establishment of the ‘Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College’ (MAO College) in 1875, which was transformed into Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. He had travelled to England and spent time there to observe the minute details of educational system there. As he could not afford any reputed architect, so, Sir Syed, himself, drew the designs of the buildings for this college. His vision was of an educational institution based on the pattern of Oxford and Cambridge. He proposed his vision in an article in 1872, which got re-printed in the Aligarh Institute Gazette (which he had been regularly publishing since 1866) in 1911.

Having established his MAO college, he realized the dire need of financial support for educational institution. He wrote letters to numerous renowned people and went door to door to ask for donations. His efforts did not stop here. Sir Syed did not even hesitate in going upon the stage during a Nautanki performance and pleading the people to give one rupee for the education of the children. Once a woman, angrily, threw a tattered slipper towards Sir Syed while he asked her for a donation. Very humbly he accepted and mended that slipper and sold it in the market. The earning from that selling was used as a donation and the receipt of this donation was sent to the woman. There were many such incidents when he was insulted and humiliated by the people, yet he did not shake from his resolution.

He was not only an educator but a remarkable writer also. After the revolt of 1857, Sir Syed in his book Asbab-i-Bagawat-e-Hind, had proved that the real cause of the revolt was dissatisfaction and discontent of the soldiers which resulted in a revolt throughout the country against the British Government. The causes reflected by him in his book were debated and were unanimously accepted by the government, eventually.

Sir Syed’s writing insight got a display in another book Asar-us-Sandid. While Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a Munsif in Delhi, he thought of researching about the buildings in Delhi and its suburbs. Though the task was not an easy one, yet he was determined to accomplish that. Many of those buildings were in such a dilapidated condition that the inscriptions on them were illegible and many others had turned into ruins. Measuring the length, breadth and height of those buildings and reproducing a copy of all those inscriptions was a hard nut to crack.

He adopted different measures depending upon the requirement of his task. Such as, in order to read the inscriptions on the Qutub Minar, which were too high to reach, Sir Syed used to sit in a basket which was suspended between two scaffolds parallel to the inscriptions. When he used to sit in that basket, people, around him, would get greatly worried.

No one had ever imagined that one day this commonplace child would become a renowned leader of the community. Sir Syed had achieved an exemplary success in a period of thirty years; however, the success did not come easy. His ways and teachings are still relevant. Sir Syed had shown us the ways of a true scholar.

When the entire Muslim community throughout the world was protesting against William Muir’s book, Life of Mahomet, Sir Syed refused the idea of joining that debate. He knew that violent reactions would conclude the image of the religion and the community as intolerant. Therefore, he decided to visit England and cross-check the sources used by Muir in his book.

He too was offended and hurt, yet he adopted a contemplative consultation of books and resources, cited by Muir, available at various libraries and at British Museum. Still, instead of penning down his anger, instantly, he took eight long years to come up with an erudite rebuttal, Khutbat-e-Ahmadiya in 1870. He got the book translated into English also. This work deflated the misconceptions, arisen by Muir’s book.

Sir Syed had always believed in communal harmony and had been a promoter of Hindu-Muslim unity. He had called these two communities, ‘two eyes of the nation’. He close association with Swami Vivekanand, a philosopher, author and monk, as well as with Debendranath Tagore, a philosopher and religious reformer of the 19^th century, is widely known. To encourage the religious tolerance and harmony, Sir Syed had opposed ‘cow-slaughter’ on the occasion of Eid-al-Adha. 

There are many other incidents which talk about his love for humanity and peace. In 1873, there were vehement reactions against the intolerable and offensive remarks in a book translated by some Parsi person. Sir Syed wrote an editorial in his The Aligarh Institute Gazette that a violent outrage arose due to blasphemy could never be justified. He believed that thoughtless violence would lead to further clashes only. Just one year before his death, in 1897, when a Christian wrote a book against the four wives of the Prophet (PBUH)  Sir Syed wrote a scholarly refutation to it.

Sir Syed was a contemporary of Mirza Ghalib and Akbar Allahabadi. He met Ghalib for writing a foreword for his commentary on Ain-e-Akbari. This meeting impacted him greatly. While Ghalib instructs him for paying more attention on the present condition of the community, Akbar Allahabadi writes;

Humari batein hi batein hain, Sayyad kaam karta tha

Na bhulo farq jo hai kahne waley, karne waley mei

(Sayed had laboured hard for the upliftment of the society, unlike people who only boast about. There is a vast difference between actions and words)

However, the commemoration of Sir Syed must not be limited to Sir Syed Day only. we need to replicate him in our behaviours. Sir Syed, a reformist, progressive thinker and an advocate of humanity is the need of the hour. The path and judicious ways shown by Sir Syed are still relevant for the new generation. He taught us the true lesson of humanity which should be followed to make the world a better place for the future generations.  

Dr. Sadaf Fareed is an Assistant Professor at Women's College, AMU, Aligarh. Her area of work is Diaspora Studies, Dalit Literature and Gender Studies. She can be reached at fareed.sadaf@gmail.com