Sir Syed: Zartab Haider

October 17th reminds us of a great Muslim reformer, educationist and a legendary figure, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who was born on this date in 1817 in Delhi.

Aligarh Muslim University which became a symbol of Muslim quest towards modern education was the brain-child of this great personality.

Born in a noble family of Mughal empire, Sir Syed was more in influence of her mother than his father. His mother Aziz un Nisa took great interest in the education and upbringing of Sir Syed and her rigid discipline and supervision guided him in his character formation.

The death of his father in 1838 left the family in difficulties. Thus young Syed Ahmad was compelled at the early age of 21 to look for a career. He entered the service of the East India Company. He started his career as Sarishtedar in a court of law. He became Naib Munshi in 1839 and Munshi in 1841. In 1858 he was promoted and appointed as Sadar-us-Sadur at Muradabad.

While working as a Jurist he developed an interest toward writing and he published a series of treatises in Urdu on religious subjects in 1842. Though it was his book Athar Assanadid (Great Mounments) which won him a national fame and he was being considered as a cultural scholar. His other Literary works include Jila-ul-qulub bi -Zikr-il Mahbub, Tuhfa-i-Hasan,Tahsil-fi-jar-e-Saqil, Namiqa dar bayan masala tasawwur-i-Shaikh, Silsilat ul-Mulk, Asbab-e-Bhaghawath-e-Hind (The Causes of the Indian Mutiny), Loyal Muhammadans of India, Tabyin-ul-Kalam, A Series of Essays on the Life of Muhammad and Subjects Subsidiary Therein. Apart from that he also wrote a commentary on Bible and Quran.

There were many inspirations which were the binding force behind his many literary works, like the commentary on Bible was written by him suggesting that Christianity is the closest religion to Islam in terms of culture and traditions, also Asbab-i-Bhagawat-i-Hind was inspired by the unethical expansion of British colonial rule and the massacare of Indian mass in the aftermath of 1857 mutiny by the Britishers.

During 1850’s Sir Syed Ahmad Khan began developing a strong passion for education. He thrived hard to inject the western style of education among the Indian masses and worked throughout his life to achieve this goal, he was against the traditional dogma and religious orthodoxy which were the influential themes among the muslims at that time. He was criticised by many religious zealots at that time and even been termed as kafir for his efforts.

Committed to working for the upliftment of Muslims, Sir Syed founded a modern madrassa in Moradabad in 1859; this was one of the first religious schools to impart scientific education. He established another modern school in Ghazipur in 1863. Upon his transfer to Aligarh in 1864, he founded the Scientific Society of Aligarh which were on the lines of Royal society and Royal Asiatic society. He enrolled many renowned personalities across India in this society and held annual meetings of the same which in turn decide about the allocation of fund for educational causes across India. He published two journals also, Aligarh Institute Gazzette and Tehzeeb-ul Ikhlaq. Tehzeeb-ul-Ikhlaq succeeded in infusing a desire among Muslims towards acquiring modern Education and it also gave muslims a new social and political thought.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan also advocated Muslims against joining the political parties without getting the parity in Education with the Hindus.

On May 24th 1875 Sir Syed Ahmad Khan laid the foundation of Muhammadan Anglo Oriental college in Aligarh with an aim of having a Muslim Cambridge University. MAO attracted a large student body, mainly drawn from the Muslim gentry and middle classes. The curriculum at the college involved scientific and Western subjects, as well as Oriental subjects and religious education. The first Chancellor of the college was Sultan Jahan Begum, a prominent Muslim noblewoman, and Sir Syed invited an Englishman, Theodore Beck, to serve as the first college principal. The college was originally affiliated with Calcutta University but was transferred to the Allahabad University in 1885. Near the turn of the 20th century, it began publishing its own magazine and established a law school. In 1920, the college was transformed into Aligarh Muslim University, after 22 years of Sir Syed’s death.

Tilll his death on 27th March 1898, Sir Syed strived towards the upliftment of Modern education among the Indian mass esand his efforts have successfully broken the shackles of religious orthodoxy and traditional dogma of Indian Muslims and encouraged them to attain a more successful and respected life style by adopting the modern and scientific education.

He was buried besides Sir Syed Masjid inside the campus of the Aligarh Muslim University.