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Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and

The Aligarh Movement

Sir Syed Ahmad, Khan October 17, 1817 Delhi

Sir syed Ahmad and his family

Life timeline
The death of his father in 1838 left the family in
difficulties
He started his career as Sarishtedar in a court of law
He became Naib Munshi in 1839 and Munshi in
1841
1857 (Important) Syed life
In 1867 he was promoted and posted as the judge
of the Small Causes Court
And spent 20 years in judicial services

Sir Syeds Role: an over view

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817 1898)

Initially worked for East India Company as a Jurist
After the 1857 Independence war , he published The
Causes of Indian Mutiny ( Rasala asbaab baghaawat e
Hind) a daring critique at the time,
To promote Western style education , he established
Aligarh Muslim University( 1875)
Founded Scientific Society of Aligarh
Denounced Congress for being pro-Hindu and established
Muslim League
Sir Syed was criticized by Ulema at the time for his
approach towards religion

Sir Syeds Ahmed Khans Goal

Sir Syeds first and foremost objective was to modernize

the Muslims following the Western cultural values that
could create friendly atmosphere for the two
communities. He motivated his community to learn the
Western philosophy and English literature to get along
with the ruling people. Therefore, in order to fulfill this
desire he started the Aligarh movement. He had two
immediate objectives in view:
1) To remove the state of tension between the Muslims
and the British government, and
2) To induce them to get jobs and other facilities under
the new government.

Thus, Aligarh created a socio-political religious

force in Muslim Community against the other
competitive community of the Hindus.
The
Muhammadan Educational conference
brought a new consciousness which led to the
establishment of Muslims school all over India.
The Urdu language was purified and enriched
due to the annual reports of the conference.

OBJECTIVES OF ALIGERH MOVEMENT

The ideas of Sir Syed may be summed up as
following:
1. To create an atmosphere of mutual
understanding between
the British government and the Muslims
2. To motivate the Muslims to learn Western
education
3. To persuade Muslims to abstain from agitational
politics

MUSLIMS AFTER 1857 WAR

Killed, properties confiscated,
Expelled from government jobs and jagirs,
Doors of government educational institutions
closed
Crushed socially and economically
Masjids and madaris were locked
Made a suppressed nation

POLITICAL SERVICES

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Urdu Hindi Controversy

Urdu grew as common language of all the

Indians regardless of origin or religion but in
1867 the Benarsi Hindus started campaign to
replace Urdu by Hindi. The followers of Sir Syed
tried their level best to save Urdu language.
Mohsin ul Mulk was the outstanding person who
organized the Muslims in defense of Urdu.

Muslims as a Nation (Two Nations)

Sir Syed used the word nation for the Muslims.
He said: Hindus and Muslims should try to be of
one mind in matters which affected their
progress. He favored separate electorate for
the Muslims in 1883 saying that the majority
would override the interests of the minority.
In 1888, he set up the Patriotic Association to
meet the propaganda of the Congress.

SIR SYEDs VIEW ABOUT BRITISH

Sir Syed was of the view that Muslims should

have friendship with the British if they want to take
their due rights. To achieve this he did a lot to
convince the British that Muslims were not against
them. On the other hand, he tried his best to
convince the Muslims that if they did not befriend
the British, they could not achieve their goals.

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LITERARY SERVICES

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Books Sir Syed wrote

Sir Syed wrote many books and journals to
remove the misunderstandings between Muslims
and the British.
The most significant of his literary works were his
pamphlets Loyal Muhamadan of India and
Cause of Indian Revolt. Khubat-e-Ahmaddya,
Tabb-in-ulkalam,Ain-e-Akbari,Tafseer-eQuran,Risala Tehzeeb ul Ikhlaq.

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Books others wrote

Shilbli Numani:Seerat un nabi (saw),Al-Farooq,AlGazali.
Nazeer Ahmad:Maraat ul Uroos,Tobatun
Nasooh,Ibnul waqat
Maulana Hali:Mussadas e Hali,Dewan e Hali

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SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICES

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His writings pertaining to

Social,Economical Issues
Essay on the Causes of the Indian Revolt
Loyal Muhammandans of India
Tabyin-ul-Kalam
Khutbat-i-Ahmadiya

EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

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War of independence?

The British had held the Muslims responsible for

the war of independence

Therefore adopt a cruel policy to polish to punish

them for their role in the war..

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Ali-Garah Movment

The 1857 revolt was one of the turning points of

Syed Ahmeds life. He clearly foresaw the
imperative need for the Muslims to acquire
proficiency in the English language and modern
sciences if the community were to maintain its
social and political identity, particularly in Northern
India.

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Ali-Garah Movement
Educational institutions at: Muradabad
(1858),Ghazipur (1862).
He was one of those early pioneers who
recognized the critical role of education for the
empowerment of the poor and backward Muslim
community.
He instituted Scientific Society in 1863 to create a
scientific temperament among the Muslims and to
make the Western knowledge available to Indians
in their own language.

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Ali-Garah Movment

1875, Sir Syed founded the Madarsatul Uloom in

Aligarh and patterned the MAO College after
Oxford and Cambridge universities that he visited
on a trip to London in 1869

MAO= Muhamadan Anglo Oriental

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Ali-Garah Movement
The aim of Sir Syed was not merely restricted to
establishing a college at Aligarh but at spreading a
network of Muslim managed educational
institutions throughout the length and breadth of
the country.
All India Muslim Educational Conference in 1886
that revived the spirit of Muslims at national level.
The Aligarh Movement motivated the Muslims to
help open a number of educational institutions

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Ali-Garah Movement

Allama Shibli Nomani used to give Dars-e-Quran

for about half hour from 1887 to 1895 and later on
the responsibility was handed over to Maulana
Abdullah Ansari, the founder Nazim-e-Diniyaat.

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Rules and Duty

Tarbiyat of the students living in Hostels were part

of the duties of Principal and Manager of Hostels.
For Islamic and moral education, Sir Syed created
a position of Nazim-e-Diniyaat for MAO College
who was responsible for Islamic and moral
education of the students.

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The End Of life

The beginning of 1898 he started keeping
abnormally.
Medical aid proved ineffective
His condition became critical on 24th of March
He expired the same evening
He was buried the following afternoon in the
compound of the Mosque of Aligarh College

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SIGNIFICANCE
In short, Aligarh movement created a recognized
identity of the Indian Muslims with the revival of
the spirit of the Ummah.
Aligarh became the symbol of Muslim politics
particularly after it was made the famous Aligarh
Muslim University.
Undoubtedly Aligarh created a nation as it can not
be denied that the Pakistan idea is the out come
of Aligarh Movement.

The foundation of the educational institution at

Aligarh gave that beacon of light to the Indian
Muslim with a synthesis of Islamic values and
western knowledge which produced such young
men who developed those traits of character
which build empires.

Any Question ?

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Thanks for your time

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