By Prof Akhtarul Wasey, Tr. New Age Islam
(Translated from Urdu by New Age Islam Edit Bureau)
23 October 2020
Sir Syed's birthday (17 October) has recently passed but the
significance of his institutional work remains like something freshly minted.
Sir Syed established the first institution of modern secular education in the
Islamic world which had a humble beginning in a madrasa with only 5 students in
Sami Manzil in Aligarh in 1875. In less than two years, it was developed into
the MAO College in February 1877 and subsequently after the demise of Sir Syed
Ahmad on March 27, 1898, an institutional movement to make his madrasa into a
university commenced in 1920. It achieved great success and that is why we
celebrate it every year.
Sir Syed's legacy is like a canopy in the life of
Indian Muslims without which one would not be able to visualise their
religious, literary, cultural, social and educational imprints. He is the
father of modern Urdu prose, the proponent of a new era in Urdu journalism, the
inculcator of rationalism in theology and the initiator of modernist reforms
and enlightenment in a society that was on the verge of civilizational decline
and cultural decay.
Also, a proponent of Hindu-Muslim unity and
forerunner of modern secular education in the Indian Muslim polity, Sir Syed
engaged with great integrity in his missions. Patience, perseverance and a
never-say-die approach were the core of his persona. He was not afraid of the
tyrant rulers or the pressure from common people. Notwithstanding his rational
enlightenment and free thinking, he was an orthodox Muslim at the same time, so
much so that he defends Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) intellectually in his sharp
rebuttal titled 'Ahmadiyya Sermons' to the blasphemous book 'Life of Muhammad'
by Sir William Peacock. It should be noted that this refutation work was
published in both English and Urdu and is considered among the seminal and
cogent literature written on this subject.
In addition to all this, Sir Syed had an
intellectual temerity and incredible tenacity to establish the Scientific
Society in a traditionalist environment and he also published his newspaper
namely, “Scientific Society”. More to the point, he wrote the exegesis or
Tafseer of the Gospel in Urdu titled, “Tabee’in-ul-Kalam [also available in
English as “Mohammedan Commentary on the Holy Bible”) in a way that fostered
inter-religious understanding and a genuine scriptural dialogue in modern
times. The salient feature of his Biblical commentary is that he let the
subject matter speak for itself.
Sir Syed did not study the Holy Bible through the
prism of a Muslim, but rather he looked at the religious scripture the its
followers view it. He selected texts of the Bible in Hebrew with its
translation into Urdu and English and recognised the authenticity of the Bible
in these words: “Now, we Mohammedans believe from our heart that the Tourait,
Zuboor and the Injeel are all true and sacred records”. He turned the tables on
the contemporary ulema by declaring that the Christian scriptures, however
distorted or diluted, still contain the messages revealed to the Prophets. That
is precisely what prompted the famous German Christian scholar and a Jesuit Dr.
Christian W. Troll to conduct a research on Sir Syed’s study of Christianity.
No doubt, Sir Syed sided with the British in the
First War of Independence and wrote “Tarikh Ki Sarkashi, Bijnor” (a rebellious
history of Bijnor) in which he levelled scathing criticism against the
anti-British scholars. But concurrently, only he had the audacity to also write
“Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind” (Causes for Uprising in India) in which he candidly
exposed the policies of East India Company and the Christian missionaries. He
strongly criticized the atrocities of the British against Muslims in
particular. It was only after this book was translated into English and was
sent to the members of the British Parliament and to Queen Victoria that the
East India Company was expelled from India. It should not be forgotten that Sir
Syed refused to accept the perks and privileges that the British, after their
complete domination, wanted to grant to him such as a jagir (an estate
with revenues). After the fall of the Mughal Empire in 1857, Sir Syed emerged
as someone dedicated to only his nation and his community.
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Sir Syed's
intellectual followers the world over perpetuate his memories in different
possible ways. One form of commemoration is that a national and an
international personality or institution in the name of Sir Syed is awarded a
prize in his tribute. It is a great pleasure to see that the award this year
was given to Anjuman-e-Islam Mumbai at the national level. I heartily
congratulate the Award Selection Committee and the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh
Muslim University, Prof. Tariq Mansoor, not only because this award has been
given to a major educational institution but more significantly, because by
honouring Anjuman-e-Islam, the people of Aligarh have in fact pragmatically
dealt with the ill-wishers who attempt to negatively project the disagreements
between Sir Syed or the Aligarh movement and the founder of Anjuman-e-Islam
Badruddin Tayyab ji. The fact is that both of the thinking leaders were sincere
in their intellectual services to the community and homeland. Both wanted to
lay the foundation for a new world for Muslims and to great extent they
succeeded.
Also, there was a logical justification for the
disagreement between Sir Syed and Tayyab ji. After the 1857 uprisings in Delhi
and northern India, Sir Syed had witnessed with his own eyes the barbaric
brutality of the British against the freedom fighters, especially the Indian
Muslims. He was well aware of the sentiments and the temperament of the Muslims
in northern India, which often blurred the delicate lines between courage and
imprudence.
On the other hand, in Western India, especially in
Mumbai, this was not the case. Further to the point, Tayyab ji was also invited
to chair an annual meeting of the Aligarh Educational Conference. In the early
sixties, his grandson Badruddin Faizul Hassan Tayyab Ji was elected as the Vice
Chancellor of Aligarh University. That Anjuman-e-Islam has now been awarded by
the AMU for making concerted efforts for the education of Muslims should be
taken in good faith. The people of Aligarh have proved that they greatly
appreciate sincere efforts of an institution for the educational upliftment of
Muslims in India, which is getting a new direction and a gradual momentum under
the guidance of Dr. Zaheer Qazi. This, in essence, is a step towards the
actualisation of Sir Syed's dreams.
Now Aligarh Muslim University is not the movement
but the result of the patience and perseverance of Sir Syed in his
indefatigable struggle of the cultivation of an intellectual and scientific
society. Therefore, it is highly important that the thoughts and writings of
Sir Syed and his comrades be made public. The Sir Syed Academy, established
through the efforts of Prof. Khaliq Ahmad Nizami during the tenure of the late
Prof. Abdul Aleem, has been doing tremendously remarkable work on Sir Syed.
Even outside Aligarh, Sir Syed's admirers are promoting his scholarly works in
their own capacity. A valuable announcement in this regard has come from the
Chairman of the Aalami Urdu Trust, Advocate A. Rahman Alig in which he desired
to publish Sir Syed's works in the style of late Ismail Panipati with the
determination that the second edition will be better than the first in every
respect. We congratulate A. Rehman Sahib for this noble endeavour. On this
occasion, we kindly request Prof. Tariq Mansoor to publish it from the AMU
Publications Division so that it could reach a large circle of readers.
In this regard, they can form a working group
consisting of people like Prof. Abdur Rahim Qidwai, Prof. Ali Muhammad Naqvi,
Prof. Shaaf’e Qidwai, Prof. Abdul Aleem, Prof. Saud Alam Qasmi, Prof. Hashim
Ali under whose supervision this work can be accomplished. This will be a
timely tribute to Sir Syed to mark centenary celebration of the Aligarh Muslim
University for which Prof. Tariq Mansoor will always be remembered.
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Urdu Article: Jamia Millia Islamia: Journey of a Century جامعہ ایک صدی کا
سفر: ابھی عشق کے امتحان اوربھی ہیں
Courtesy:
Inquilab, New Delhi, October 19, 2020
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/sir-syed-movement-encouraging-scientific/d/123242