Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born in Delhi on October 17, 1817. He belonged to a family which held important positions during the reign and life of the Mughal emperors, and sir syed ahmed khan himself was conferred the titles of Jawad al-Dawla and Arif. -E-War by Bahadur Shah Zafar II. But he soon realized the declining position of the Mughals and their deviation from religion and therefore distanced himself from them.
The Educational Movement of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan:-
Sir syed ahmed khan began his life career in 1837 with the East India Company as a Sergeant, managing judicial affairs and keeping records. His educational reforms began when he founded a madrasa (Muradabad Panchayati Madrasa) in Muradabad in 1859, one of the first religious academies to incorporate religious as well as scientific knowledge. Here Hindu and Muslim students were taught English, Urdu, Persian and Arabic. The school was run with Hindu and Muslim funds.
After a short gap of four years, he established another English high school in Ghazipur in 1863 based on the principles of religion. His great achievement, while stationed at Aligarh, was the establishment of MAO (Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental) High School in 1875. Inaugurated by William Moyer. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan wanted to upgrade his level to a college, and to this end, he expedited fundraising. Eventually, his approach proved fruitful, and Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India, raised him to the level of a college on January 8, 1877.
Religious education was necessary without compromising with modern education. Its students were encouraged to engage in healthy discussions while avoiding sectarian issues. But this college failed to impart knowledge to millions of Muslims spread across the subcontinent. lots of them had been ignorant of its life. Sir Syed's aim was not only to establish a college in Aligarh but also to spread a network of Muslim-run educational institutions across the country. He found the Muhammadan educational convention in 1886. Great personalities like Maulana Shibli Nomani, Maulana Hali, Maulana Nazir Ahmed, Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk and others enriched the intellectual atmosphere of this institution and created a wave of enthusiasm among many Muslims.
Sir Syed himself remained active in politics, yet he advised Muslims to stay away from it. He was aware of the educational backwardness of the Muslims and their ignorance of the political situation. He also urged Muslims to distance themselves from the Congress as in their legitimate opinion it was a party dedicated only to Hindus and harmful to Muslims and their ideology. It later paved the way for the formation of the Muslim League in 1906.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a universal personality. He made memorable contributions in the field of writing. At the age of 23, he began his career as a religious writer. He was the first Muslim to offer a commentary on the Bible in which he tried to show that Islam was very close to Christianity in some respects. His other valuable pamphlets, such as a series of essays on the life of Muhammadan, Tabein-ul-Kalam, and Muhammad (SAW) in India, and their sub-books, were instrumental in bridging the gap between the British and the Muslims. Some of his religious works which are worth mentioning are Ahkam Tamm Ahl-e-Kitab, Al-Du'a wa'l-Istjaba, Al-Nazar fi Baaz Masaal Imam Al-Ghazali, Tafsir Al-Samoot, Tahrir Fi. Usul al-Tafsir, translation of Fawad al-Afkar fi Amal al-Faraj, along with various other works such as on the use of Shabah (Urdu), Sayyid al-Akbar, Qul Matin Dar Abtal. Harkat Samin, Tashil Fi Jarsaqal, The Story of an Ignorant God-worshiper and Wise World, Kalmat-ul-Haq.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan breathed his last on March 27, 1898. He is buried near Sir Syed Mosque inside Aligarh University. Not only thousands of Muslims but also British officials attended his funeral. He revived the passive consciousness of Muslims and through his educational and social reforms he went down as one of the most influential Indian politicians of the 19th century in Muslim history.
After his death, his Muslim and British friends began raising funds to fulfill Sir Syed's dream of setting up an MAO college at a Muslim university. People loved him because he was like a shade tree to them in his life and after his death he remembered him and his love for him by striving to raise his college status to university. Which finally came to light in 1920.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: The Spirituality of Educational Thoughts:-
The 19th century was the century of decline of Indian Muslims in general, during which revolutions took place on a global scale, which made Muslims a marginalized nation as a whole, their political power was lost, intellectual structure was hit, intellectual centers were colonized. The Muslims were left with nothing but the monuments of the past. All this happened, but another special thing of the century was that the foundation of the revival of the intellectual revolution in Indian Muslims was laid very soon. The situation was deteriorating, accidents were occurring step by step in new cases, the British who came here for the purpose of trade and business. Now they had become the colorful power of this country and the real citizens of this country were at their mercy, politically they had invaded India and now their intention was to make the intellectual resources of Indians completely useless. In order to prolong the rule of his government and its people in this country for a long time, but it did not work out.
Because the emergence of Deoband (1866) on the religious front in those days and the emergence of Aligarh nine years later (1875) as a symbol of the vitality of Indian Muslims in particular. In spite of many attempts, the two institutions have not been able to establish the closeness that can be termed as harmony. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the founder of the Garh Movement, and his invaluable efforts in inculcating the spirit of education in Indian Muslims.
Despite Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was many religious and intellectual tendencies and differences of opinion, his admirers and critics all admit that he designed the education of Muslims in view of the circumstances, it was necessary and he wanted the next generation's life of Indian Muslims to have knowledge and civilization. Sir Syed's ideology regarding the resurgence of Indian Muslims was very clear, transparent and brilliant in the field of refinement and excellence. There is no room for any doubt about it. After his hair was cut off, a series of cash crises began in his life , but he continued his mission, trying to convince Muslims through his knowledge and vision that the future of nations depends on knowledge. Muslims cannot move forward, conditions are changing, patterns of civilizations and structures of national identity are changing. While the majority of the country is taking advantage of the opportunity and gaining supremacy in all fields of higher knowledge and practice, it was clear to them that politically, Muslims are suffering from inferiority; Didn't get a chance to get up. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Chandabhab and Wham started working with the Musharrafs. In 1859, he established a madrassa in Muradabad, where English was taught along with religious studies. In 1863, a Scientific Society was established in Ghazipur. The knowledge was to be transferred to Urdu and Persian so that the Indians could be acquainted with the new sciences and also keep abreast of the latest developments in the fields of science. To inform the feelings and their problems and needs, In 1869, Sir Syed traveled to England with his son, and during that time, Cambridge and Oxford took a closer look at the teaching methods, subjects, and education system of Cambridge and Oxford. Was given the status of and then in 1920 it got the status of university.
The impact that the Aligarh Movement or Aligarh Muslim University has had on the academic and social life of the Muslims of the subcontinent is not difficult to gauge; The relationship of the thinkers has been directly or indirectly with the Aligarh Muslim University. Provide resources to compete. Those who disagreed with his movement at that time, today his ethnic and intellectual heirs are also forced to admit that keeping Muslims away from access to new scientific horizons in the name of modern sciences was not a commendable act and because of this Muslims per se are harmed. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan views on air, religion and thought are contradictory to many aspects; You have to agree. The people themselves, who were opponents and critics of the Aligarh movement or the beginning of Yasir Syed, when they saw the situation from the inside, they too became convinced of its importance and necessity and did not remain without appreciating the struggle of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He is a great critic. From various angles, he slammed the movement, satirized its education system, took the curriculum and the clear curriculum in stride. And in general, in which he has compared Deoband, Nadwa and Aligarh in very short words:
It goes without saying that Deoband's work is most significant in protecting Islam and the identity of Muslims in India and since its inception it has played a pivotal role in promoting religious knowledge and its various fields. Similarly, Nadwa is also moving towards the fulfillment of its founding objectives. However, the Akbaralabadi thought about Aligarh was the same as expressed by Indian scholars and many people, and apparently it seemed to be the same; The goodwill of the Muslims was hidden in what Sir Syed did and then he had to say:
Allama Iqbal was also influenced to some extent by the ideas of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan regarding the education of Muslims.
