Q: What was the Aligarh Movement? [4] ANS: Sir Syed wanted to see the Muslims united and prospering. He made this ambition his life s work and because so much of his effort revolved around a Muslim renaissance taking place in Aligarh, he is said to have founded The Aligarh Movement. The central aims of the Aligarh movement were to: Improve relations between the British and Muslims communities by removing British doubts about Muslim loyalty and Muslims doubts about British intentions. Improve the social and economic position of Muslims by encouraging them to receive Western education and take up posts in the civil service and army. Increase the political awareness of the Muslims community in order to make them aware of the threat to their position from the Hindus policy of cooperation with the British. Q: Why did Sir Syed Ahmad Khan wrote The causes of Indian revolt? [7] ANS: Sir Syed was extremely unhappy about the position of the Muslims in the Sub-Continent. Since the days of the Mughal Empire their social and economic status had declined sharply. The role of Muslims in the War of Independence had led to further decline in their fortunes as the British took measures to ensure that their control would not be subject to further challenge. Sir Syed felt that the poor status of the Muslims was due to the way they were treated as second class citizens by British and the Hindus, but that they also had to take some of the responsibility themselves. Many Muslims considered the British to be little more than invaders in India and wanted nothing to do with them. Sir Syed believed that the Muslim community had to accept that the British were rulers who intended to stay for many years. The Muslim s position could only be improved if they adopted a more positive approach to the British. They needed to accept more British ideas and to take advantage of British education. If they did not, the Hindus would continue to prosper because of their more cooperative approach.
Sir Syed wanted to see the Muslims united and prospering. He also wanted to see an improvement in their social, economic, political and religious fortunes. In order to convince the British that they were wrong to put the full blame for the events of 1857 on the Muslims, Sir Syed wrote a pamphlet called The cause of Indian revolt. In this he pointed out the main reasons for the uprising were: The lack of representation for the Indians in the government of the country. The forcible conversion of Muslims to Christianity. The poor management of Indian army. He also listed many other measures taken by the British which created dissatisfaction and led to resentment among the Muslim community. This pamphlet was circulated free amongst the British officials in India and was also sent to the members of parliament in England. Even members of the royal family received copies. Some British officials were angered by what Sir Syed wrote as he seemed to be blaming them for the uprising. Others read what he wrote with sympathy and accepted that there was truth in his words. Q: Do you agree that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan s most important contribution to Muslim community was his support for education? Give reasons for your answer? [14] ANS: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan took steps to change Muslims attitude towards receiving British education. Sir Syed stressed on that the backwardness of the Muslims was because of lack of modern education. He opened schools at several places started the scientific society and published a magazine called the Aligarh institute Gazette. This was to introduce modern sciences among the Muslim public. Sir Syed went to England in 1869 to observe the working of British educational institutions. He stayed there for 17 months and observed the system of the British universities. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan opened the school at Aligarh which became M.A.O (Mohammaden-Anglo Oriental) school in 1875 where English, Modern sciences and as well as Islamic teachings were taught. It was later raised to the status of university in 1920. Following the lead for Sir Syed Ahmad many Muslim high schools and Islamia colleges were opened in many big cities of India for Muslim students. Sir Syed established Mohammaden educational conference which was an organization to discuss the problems of the Muslims education in India. This greatly helped the Muslims who started getting good jobs, improved their economic condition and improve their status in the society. Although encouraging
the growth of western education was his most important contribution but he made other contributions too. Sir Syed believed that the position of the Muslims in the Sub-Continent could only be improved if the relations with the British were improved and Muslim gained higher quality education. Sir Syed had realized that the Muslims were going down economically, socially and educationally. Muslims were sidelined because great mistrust and suspicion had developed between the British and the Muslims. Sir Syed made a two pronged effort to bring the British and Muslims closer. On one side he advised the Muslims not to think of armed struggle because the British were too strong. He further advised the Muslims to pay attention towards receiving modern and English education and also not to hate Christianity because there were many similarities between Christianity and Islam and to sit and eat with Christians was not forbidden in Islam. On the other side, Sir Syed explained to the British that the Muslims were not responsible for the war of Independence 1857. In the book he wrote for this purpose (called the causes of Indian revolt), Sir Syed explained that the wrong British policies were the cause of uprising. He further explained that the British did not understand the needs and desires of Indian people while making laws and policies because there were no Indian members in Viceroy s legislative council. He also explained that the British Indian army was mismanaged and solders rose up against their officers. In another book Sir Syed described at length the loyalty of the Muslims to the British. Sir Syed also founded the British Indian association to bring the British and Muslims closer. Sir Syed was successful in his effort and the misunderstanding was greatly removed. Muslims started coming towards English and modern education. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan guided the Muslims in political sphere as well. He advised the Muslims to keep away from congress and to put all their attention towards acquiring education. He opposed Western type of democracy because it meant that the Muslims will always be in minority and will be at the mercy of Hindus. Muslims asked for separate electorate later on. Sir Syed also strongly opposed the replacement of Urdu by Hindu in 1867. He always kept the interests of Muslim supreme in his mind. Although, Sir Syed s contribution towards improving relations between the Muslims and British and increasing political awareness was important but his contribution towards western education was very important contribution for the Islamic society. Because it helped the Muslims in getting jobs and it made their status in the society.
Q: What was the the two nation theory? [4-7] ANS: The Two Nation Theory means that the Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations in the Sub-Continent. These two nations had their distinct religious, culture, civilization, literature, history and special values. Sir Syed was the first man to understand and recognize this. In 1867 the Hindi-Urdu controversy started when Hindus demanded that Urdu should be replaced by Hindi as official language at lower level. Sir Syed strongly opposed it. He also rejected the Congress demand for a representative government based on a democratic vote in Europe. Sir Syed realized that under a democratic system the Muslims (a minority) would always be at the mercy of Hindu majority rule. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was the first person who used the words my nation for Muslims and the words two nations for Muslims and Hindus. Therefore, Sir Sued is said to be the originator and initiator of the Two Nation Theory in the Sub- Continent. His main idea was the protection and safeguard of rights of Muslims in the Sub-Continent. Q: To what extent did Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) contribute to the literature of the Sub-Continent? [4-7 -14] ANS: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a reformer, a scholar and a man of learning. He is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of Urdu prose. He opposed a lucid style devoid of all decorative ornamentations. He preferred matter over form. He was first to write business like prose which was later adopted by all succeeding writers such as Hali, Shibli, Nazir Ahmad and others. He was basically an essayist and wrote a large number of essays for the Aligarh Institute Gazette and magazine Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq. His style was simple because he wrote for the benefit for a common man. He chose moral, cultural, social and ethical topics which concerned the daily life of people. His essays aimed at guiding, educating and uplifting the morals of Muslim public. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan never indulged in personal dialogue, argument and counter argument against any person. He was very much interested in history. He wrote books on history of medieval India specially the Muslim rulers. His first important work was Athar-al-Sanadeed in which he gave detailed account of historical monuments of Delhi. Sir Syed s approach to religion was rational and scientific. His reasoned approach greatly influenced later scholars of Islam who studied the Holy Quran from different angles. Sir Syed wrote about 25 books. His contribution to Urdu literature cannot be forgotten or overlooked.