Sir Sayyid Research Articles

A Nineteenth-Century Blueprint for Recasting the Muslim Mindset in British India

Abstract The reformist endeavour famously known as the Aligarh Movement, initiated by the prominent Muslim intellectual Sir Sayyid Aḥmad Ḫān in the wake of the fateful happenings of 1857, indisputably represents a significant modernist movement among Indian Muslims in nineteenth-century British India. Despite having a limited base among the community, given its elitist character, the role that this movement played in shaping the Muslims’ destiny during the twentieth century cannot be overstated. As a reformist project, this movement set as its main objective the remodelling of the Muslim mindset as well as the resuscitation of the hitherto moribund community to bring it back to the mainstream. In line with this intention, the reform-minded Sayyid Aḥmad put forward an elaborate three-pronged scheme. This article, therefore, seeks to shed light on the Aligarh’s ambitious programme which targeted every aspect of Muslim life, political, religious and socio-cultural.

استشراقی فکر:سرسید احمد خان اور ابوالکلام آزاد کے نقطۂ نظر کا جائزہ

One of the most consequential byproducts of Colonialism was the rise of Orientalism. The Orientalists, almost all of whom were Christians and Jews, studied the cultures of the Orient, bringing their own cultural baggage in the process. Needless to say, this generated a variety of responses from the insiders of those cultures. In the Indian subcontinent, Sir Sayyid Aḥmad Khān was one of the first Muslim scholars who critically analyzed and responded to the works of Orientalists on the Sīrah of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) through his book al-Khuṭbāt al-Aḥmadiyyah. Another prominent scholar of the Indian subcontinent is Abū’l-Kalām Āzād. This paper examines the understanding of these two scholars of the Orientalist scholarship on Islam and compares their responses to it.

Translating Science—Comparing Religions

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) was a prominent South Asian reformer of Islam who focused on the reconciliation of science and Islam in his most influential texts. This article aims to analyze the implications of science becoming the dominant discourse in nineteenth-century South Asia for the conception of Islam and religion in general. Sayyid Ahmad is an intriguing example because he actively participated in religious as well as scientific discourses since as early as the 1830s. After a concise outline of his early writings, his stances toward science and reason shall be compared with his later writings, primarily those written after 1870, to uncover the impact of the increasing influence of science in South Asia during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In his later writings, Sayyid Ahmad accomplishes a complex effort of translation, claiming mutual compatibility of science and Islam. The question of how this influences his conception of Islam and religion will be addressed, exploring whether this process should be described as a mere adoption of foreign discourse? Or does it trigger transformative effects?

The Post 9/11 Enlightenment of Pakistan: An Analysis of Musharraf’s Policy Perspective

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Allama Iqbal were supporters of enlightened and moderate thoughts and were in favor of the modern interpretation of Islam. They provided the right path to Muslims of the sub-continent at the time when they were suppressed and experiencing a critical phase of history. Both these intellectuals set practical examples for the emancipation of the Muslims of the sub-continent, accepting the challenges at the time and successfully achieving their objectives. Since 9/11, Muslims across the world, as well as in Pakistan, has been receiving a great deal of criticism, as terrorism has been associated with Muslims and their religion. President Pervez Musharraf then presented his policy of ‘Enlightened Moderation’ (EM) for the emancipation of the Muslim world and he also addressed the West stating that Islam was an enlightened religion and beseeched the West justly to resolve the political disputes of Muslim countries. This research analyses the perspectives of Musharraf’s policy of EM, based on socially constructed views of political analysts and academic scholars. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the version of reality on EM and its current relevance.

Muslim Historical Literature in the Era of Early Muslim Nationalism

Mid-nineteenth century Muslim historical literature, particularly onthe mutiny-rebellion of 1857, presents an interesting contrast, and offersa fascinating study of the state of Muslim mind before and after 1857.This clearly comes out in the writings of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan(Risalah Asbab-i Baghawat-i Hind,‘ Tarikh Sarkashi Dil ’a Bijnawr,Hunter par Hunter, Loyal Mohammedans of India,), FatehMuhammad Ta’ib (Tarikh-i Ahmadi), Asad Ullah Khan Ghalib(Dastabu in Kulliyat-i Nathr-i Ghalib), Mawlana Altaf Hussain Hali(Hayati-i Jawid), Sayyid Zahiruddin Zahir Dihlawi (Dastan-i Ghadr),Faqir Muhammad (Jam’ al-Tawarikh), Allamah Fadl-i Haq (BughiHindwtan), Mu’inuddin Hassan Khan (“Narrative of Mainodin” inCharles T. Metcalfe’s Two Native Narratives of the Mutiny in Delhi).”Curiously, all of the above writers presented different interpretationsof the revolt of 1857. Indeed this had to be the case. During the revoltIndia lost freedom of the press; known different interpretations of the“mutiny” by natives were tantamout to treason and were visited bycondign punishments. This was particularly true of the Muslims. ManyMuslim newspapers were suppressed and their editors jailed. After the“special” treatment which the Muslims received upon the fall of Delhi,the followers of Islam could not be sure of their destiny in South Asia inthe post mutiny-rebellion period. It was so because the British assignedthe primary responsibility for the revolt to Indian Muslims and rightlyso. The reality of the excessively harsh British treatment of IndianMuslims is beginning to dawn upon the present-day British historians aswell. Professor Peter Hardy in his very recent book, The Muslims ofBritish India, observes: ...

Muslim Volte-Face

The post-1857 revolt era represents one of the highly eventful phases in the history of the Muslims in British India. Perhaps the most striking event was the U-turn that occurred in the minds of the Muslim elite by the turn of the century whereby they became convinced that the old advice preached by the late community leader, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, regarding aloofness from politics was no longer helpful to the cause of their co-religionists. This change of heart was, in fact, spurred by new challenges that the Muslims of India were facing in the light of the new context in the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, the aim of this work is to look into these challenges which brought the followers of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan face to face with the option of entering politics, as an inevitable move in order to survive.

The Aligarh Miracle A Reappraisal in Context of the Causal Dimensions of Contemporary Social Movement Theories

Social movements are considered to be a modern phenomenon but they have existed in the past as well. Aligarh movement initiated by Sir Sayyid Ahmed khan is a typical social movement from 19th century, aimed at modernization and uplift of the Muslim community of India. It emerged in a period when the Indian Muslims were facing a sharp decline in their socio-economic and political status. This decline had created a psychology of retreat among them wherein they suspected any attempt to reform their lot. For instance, the introduction of modern education by the British rulers was adopted by the Hindu majority for obvious economic benefits. Conversely, the Muslims remained wary of modern education, particularly the English language as a conspiracy to destroy their age-old culture and religion. In this backdrop Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan’s tireless drive to inculcate modern education proved to be a miracle that transformed the Muslim middle classes for the next century. Although Aligarh movement has attracted tremendous scholarship, there has been virtually little attempt to theorize it as a social movement. In this context the present paper aims to study Aligarh Movement on the parameters of contemporary theories highlighting the causal dimensions of social movements. It will particularly explore the relevance of the elements of deprivation, resource mobilization, political processes, structural strain and those highlighted by the new social movement theory as causal factors in the emergence and evolution of Aligarh Movement.

The solidarity agenda: Aligarh students and the demand for Pakistan

Since its founding by Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the educational institution at Aligarh functioned as an incubator of Muslim aspirations. During its early years, future leaders of the Indian National Congress, the Khilafat Movement, and the Pakistan Movement emerged from its classrooms and playing fields. Aligarh students participated in all of these movements, and from 1937 to 1947 it was a key site of pro-Pakistan activism. Student activity during this later period, and especially election work, at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been interpreted as part of a state-centred history of Muslim nationalism that culminates in Pakistan. However, by separating Aligarh students’ activism in the period 1930s–1940s from the creation of Pakistan, it actually becomes possible to discern their motivations and to differentiate them from post-1947 statist narratives. This framework exposes the central priority of Muslim uplift as a separate objective from that of independent statehood. Interviews of former Aligarh students, in both India and Pakistan, reveal the complexity of their allegiance to politics, the university and the community. What drew students to political movements in Aligarh? Why did the Pakistan movement attract so many students in this elite institution? I argue that the Pakistan movement was substantively similar to earlier political movements of Muslim empowerment at AMU and that the solidarity agenda driving student activity was not tied directly to the creation of a separate state of Pakistan. This examination moves away from the 1947 borders to investigate the objectives that drew students to the movement for Pakistan long before a notion of Pakistan as a territorially sovereign state actually existed.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1818-1897) - A Stalwart of Islamic Ideology in the Subcontinet

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1818-1897) - A Stalwart of Islamic Ideology in the Subcontinet

Christian Responses to Ahmad Khan's Commentary on the Bible

When Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan began publishing a commentary on the Bible in 1862, he intended the work to dispel the distrust between the Muslim and Christian communities that the Revolt of 1857 had heightened. While the Christians who responded to his efforts did laud his clarification of the traditional Muslim position on the trustworthiness of the Christian Scriptures, they generally interpreted the commentary in light of their own efforts to bring Christianity and civilization to India. They saw Ahmad Khan’s work to be a sign that Muslim prejudices and defences against Christianity were crumbling, and that the conversion of India was progressing. However, they were not prepared to consider it as increasing their own understanding of the Bible or even their understanding of Islam.

The Trans-Border Traffic of Afghan Modernism: Afghanistan and the Indian “Urdusphere”

In October 1933, two motorcars drove out of Peshawar towards the Khyber Pass carrying a small delegation of Indian Muslims summoned to meet the Afghan ruler Nadir Shah in Kabul. While Nadir Shah had officially invited the travelers to discuss the expansion of the fledgling university founded a year earlier in Kabul, the Indians brought with them a wealth of experience of the wider world and a vision of the leading role within it of Muslim modernists freed of Western dominance. Small as it was, the delegation could hardly have been more distinguished: it comprised Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), the celebrated philosopher and poet; Sir Ross Mas‘ud (1889–1937), the former director of public instruction in Hyderabad and vice-chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University; and Sayyid Sulayman Nadwi (1884–1953), the distinguished biographer and director of the Dar al-Musannifin academy at Azamgarh. The three were traveling to Kabul at the peak of their fame; they were not only famous in individual terms but also represented India's major Muslim movements and institutions of the previous and present generations. Ross Mas‘ud, grandson of the great Muslim modernist Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817–1898), had fifteen years earlier been the impresario behind the foundation of Osmania University in the princely state of Hyderabad. A decade earlier, Sulayman Nadwi, the heir of the reformist principal of the North Indian Nadwat al-‘Ulama madrasa Shibli Nu‘mani (1857–1914), had been among the leading figures of the pan-Islamist, Khilafat struggle to save the Ottoman caliphate. And eighteen months earlier, Muhammad Iqbal had represented India's Muslims at the Round Table Conference in London that would shape India's route to independence.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Framework for the Educational Uplift of the Indian Muslims during British Raj

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Framework for the Educational Uplift of the Indian Muslims during British Raj

The Interpretation of the Birth of Jesus and his Miracles in the Writings of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-98) was a leading figure among the Muslims in India. He broke the old tradition of the cultural isolation of his community and began to build intellectual relations with the West, appearing as a moderate who represented a new Muslim attitude after the 'mutiny' of 1857. His writings on biblical studies and his moderate view towards Christian scriptures received attention from both Christian and Muslim scholars. This article discusses his view regarding the birth of Jesus and his miracles, and examines how he exercises ijtiha ¥ d to interpret these and other theological issues.

Sayyid Mumtaz Ali and ‘Huquq un-Niswan’: An Advocate of Women's Rights in Islam in the Late Nineteenth Century

Sometime in the late 1890s, Sayyid Mumtaz Ali visited Aligarh and happened to show Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan the manuscript of his treatise in defense of women's rights in Islamic law, Huquq un-Niswan. As he began to read it, Sir Sayyid looked shocked. He then opened it to a second place and his face turned red. As he read it at a third place, his hands started to tremble. Finally, he tore up the manuscript and threw it into the wastepaper basket. Fortunately, at that moment a servant arrived to announce lunch, and as Sir Sayyid left his office, Mumtaz Ali snatched his mutilated manuscript from the trash. He waited until after Sir Sayyid's death in 1898, however, to publish Huquq un-Niswan.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and the Indian National Congress

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and the Indian National Congress

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Contribution to the Development of Muslim Nationalism in India

By a general consensus among historians, the modern age is characterized as the age of nationalism. Despite this general agreement, however, the phenomenon of Muslim nationalism in India, which finally fulfilled itself in establishing the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, has remained misunderstood. In the first decade after the partition of India, the creation of Pakistan was explained away in terms of the divide and rule policy of the British and/or the religious fanaticism of the Muslims. This was so because Indian nationalists of all descriptions had assumed that Indian nationalism was a single and unified movement working for the unity or homogeneity of Indian civilization.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan's Doctrines of Muslim Nationalism and National Progress

In the hundred years before 1857, the last vestiges of the crumbling Mughal power in India slowly vanished. When forceful resistance to the British was no longer expedient or possible, the Muslims, who had been the rulers, withdrew into a purposive cultural isolation. Under the leadership of the—‘ulama’ (religious teachers), contacts with the British and Hindus were discouraged and the introduction of new cultural elements into Muslim life was severely eschewed. The result was that while the British were introducing a new administrative system, a new language and a new technology into India, and the Hindus, finally released from Muslim rule, were rapidly adopting the British offerings, the Muslims chose not to participate in the professional, governmental or educational life of the country.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Urdu

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Urdu

The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan

The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan