Muslim Reformers - A Peek Into the Past

Thank you BD for this article. There are a few ommissions - I will not dwell on it.

It is timely. not only is it timely but different and highly relevant.

It is telling that this article has had to be written by a Britisher of Indian descent and a Hindoo to boot.

Be prepared for brickbats and other assorted verbal stuff coming yourway. At worst you will find it ignored at best you will be questioned regarding your authenicity to write such an article.

Well done Chowk staff. You do have a knack of coming up trumps from time to time.

One disturbing fact is that the institutes established by Sir Syed now seems a far cry from the very principles of modernity and progressive vision on which these were based.They now seem to be stuck in an era of some typical filmi awadhi or lukhnavi culture with people speaking in urdu emanating from the inner depths of one`s throat.Be it Aligarh or Jamia millia Delhi same feeling of frozen in time captivates you.Whatever be the reason, discrimination or lack of able leadership and funds to maintain the academic excellence, the once producers of giants are now churning out mediocrity.
It was the selfless and tireless efforts of Sir Syed which made possible this scholarly muslim rennaissance possible by avoiding the path of confrontation with the Company Bahadur and learning modern arts and sciences.He was also the originator of modern muslim thought which was further developed by Iqbal,Maulvi Abdul Haq and other eminent muslim scholars.
I think we need another Sir Syed now who should lift these veils of suspicions and mistrust among hindus and muslims and marks the beginning of a new India free from religious riots and hate crimes.

AADMI SE DARTAY HO
AADMI TAU TUM BHI HO
AADMI TAU MEIN BHI HUN
ZINDAGI SE DARTAY HO
ZINDAGI TAU TUM BHI HO
ZINDAGI TAU MEIN BHI HUN

---

(Noon Meem Rashid)

bhaskar,

thanks for writing this article related to my alma mater.

considering the implications of AMU to Indian Muslims, I would argue that efforts of Muslim reformers has not been in vain.

Yes but it can be said that there have been very few commendable reformers. What Indian Muslims needed was few more individuals like Sir Syed but that did not happen.

[On top of all the events of 1857 branded Muslims as traitors, hunted from door to door, and publicly executed in the bazaars.]

Hey, not a bad course of action. We should have followed it after 9/11.

A man who previously said, “``I look to both Hindus and Muslims with the same eyes and consider them as my own eyes. By the word nation, I only mean Hindus and Muslims and nothing else. We Hindus and Muslims live together under the same soil under the same government. Our interest and problems are common and therefore I consider the two factions as one nation” slowly changed his view and after the language riots, ended up saying ``I am now convinced that the Hindus and Muslims could never become one nation as their religion and way of life was quite distinct from one and other`` and ``I am convinced that both these communities will not join whole heartedly in anything. At present there is no open hostility between the two communities but it will increase immensely in the future.``

This I think sums up the beginning of the evolution of the two nation theory.

Bongy, (you are it I assume), I wonder why comparable instituttions like AMU, Delhis Jaamia have not sprung up in other places. Today AMU and Jaamia in Delhi are producing the new middle classes from the Muslims and are highly competitive.

Syed`s lasting impact has got be the ideas he sowed, and the institutions he set up.
he might have made statements to the effect of what what Mantolives quoted in #5, but the quality of the people on both sides is to rise above these and go back to his original views.

#5 But later in life he also said

(1)
``Remember that the words Hindu and Mahamedan are only meant for religious distinction—otherwise all persons, whether Hindus or Mohammedans, even the Christians who reside in this country, are all in this particular respect belonging to one and the same nation.``

(2)
Nothing is more disgraceful for any nation than to throw into the oblivion its historical heritage and the works of its ancestors

(3)We (Hindus and Muslims) should try to combine our hearts and souls and act in unison. If united, we can sustain.

(4)How good is the saying , whoever may be its author , that a humanbeing in composed of two elements – his faith which he owes to God and his moral sympathy which he owes to his fellow – beings Hence leave God’s share to God and concern yourself with the share that is yours.

#7 further

(5)The basis of all (progress) is that you should bring all treasures of knowledge under your control.

ironmask,

Actually... the whole issue is more nuanced than that...

What I quoted from the article above in #5 was central to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan`s achievement. It must be remembered that the quote- in my opinion - is from 1867 .... if not earlier. Once having reached the conclusion (that many others would as well), Sir Syed Ahmad Khan set about the task of imbuing the Muslim elite with modern education ... Aligarh Anglo-Muslim University was the result of this train of thought in #5 and not prior in time.

Another great Muslim reformer who is often forgotten is Syed Ameer Ali, who sat on the Privy Council in London in the early 1920s... a Muslim modernist par excellence, the author of ``History of Saracens``, moderniser, liberal ... and also the originator of the idea of separate electorates interestingly enough - at a time when others like Jinnah were committed to joint electorates.



The impact of modernity on communal consciousness ... both in forms of Hindu reformers and later Muslim reformers.... is often downplayed.... but it goes without saying that communal consciousness and a desire for the consociationalist two nation theory was formulated by men like Syed Ameer Ali and Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

-YLH

#10 Thanks YLH for that. However, your #10 loses it sheen, W.R.T. Ameer Ali, when you emphasise his claim to fme as being ``sat on the Privy Council in London in the early 1920s``
Now what exactly was his claim to fame W.R.T. reform?

#10 YLH - getting in TNT will not really solve the problem. It just massages your own ego and you mess things up. If I could quote Bongy from the article

The most common comments I have received after writing about Muslim reformers is that they are unable to really do much to reform, liberalise or effect change. That is a fair comment and to reply to that, the only way is to look at what happened to the reformers and liberals of the past, and see what has been their impact on life in the Muslim world today, what can we learn from them and what lessons can the modern living reformers take from the wins and losses, threats and opportunities which faced our ancestors. In this first of a series of essays on muslim reformers of the 18th and 19th century, I explore the remarkable story of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, a polyglot, agricultural scientist, lawyer, judge, scientist, author, publisher, political leader, and most of all an educator (his greatest achievement which has survived up till now).

YLH - as I said 180 Vs 1200 the score. For a subject of immediate interest to Muslims and people of the subcontinent...khair....

Dear Ironmask,

Please read my post again. That was not his claim to fame... but a measure of how highly he was regarded to be given a seat on the Privy Council.

Jurist and educationist by profession, Syed Ameer Ali`s claim to fame was his approach to the history of Islam and its spirit. He wrote two books which became the manifesto of Muslim modernism...

1. History of Saracens

2. The Spirit of Islam

These books stirred millions of young Muslims around the globe... the young Turks and their revolution was directly inspired by Syed Ameer Ali for example. In India, he was one of the main patrons of Aligarh Muslim University and tried to organise the Muslim community enmasse under the ML flag....


I quote from Banglapedia:


His progressive stance on the status and rights of women in Islam was one of his most notable contributions. While he was admired by Islamic `modernists` for his leadership in these causes, he was criticized by others for his disinterest in the concerns of the Bengali masses. However, his voice, particularly in the crucial period of the 1870s, when Muslim spokespersons were few, was very influential in countering much misinformed or prejudiced Western criticism of Islamic history and society.

http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/A_0186.htm

#14 you needed to be a lackey of the brits and able to hold the Knife and fork right, and hold the G&T in your hand at the right angle! That was the key requirement for ``Privy Council``.

So from a desi PoV that cannot be his Claim to fame - rather should his claim to infamy!

On the other hand, what you said below in 2nd half of 14 suggests that he had something more in him. AS to AMU foundation etc, what about these guys


Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari (Delhi)

Mufti Kafayattullah (Delhi)

Maulana Abdul Bari Farang Mahali (UP)

Maulana Sulaiman Nadvi (Bihar)

Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani (UP)

Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni (UP)

Chaudhury Khaleeq-uz-zaman (UP)

Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan

Tasadduq Husain Khan (UP)

Dr. Mohammad Iqbal (Punjab)

Maulana Sanaullah Khan Amritsari (Punjab)

Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew (Punjab)

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Bengal and Bihar)

Dr. Syed Mehmood (Bengal and Bihar)

Saith Abdullah Haroon Karachiwale (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)

Abbas Tyabiji (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)

Sait Miyan Mohammad Haji Jaam Chhotani (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)

Maulavi Abdul Haq (Sindh, Bombay and Hyderabad)



you donot hear of them much - maybe becoz they were not part of the Privy Council!

YLH you are pretty widely read - tell us why have most of the refomers, failed at some level. Their impact has been felt on sections of the society other than their own community?
(I am again harking back Bongy`s first paragraph).

P.S I read #15, #10 etc and realise the nuanced nature of the arguments. However, the real question which needs to be answered is as bove.

Even bongy, having raised the question left that damn thing dangling!