Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi
THE Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Jeddah chapter celebrated Sir Syed Day on November 21 at the Indian Consulate in Jeddah where hundreds of AMU old boys with their families attended the function. Naseem Ahmad, chairman of the minorities’ commission of India and former VC of AMU, was the chief guest and Indian Consul General in Jeddah B.S. Mubarak and Shahzad M. Khan were guests of honor who spoke of the life and work of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Consul General Mubarak shared his experience of meeting some Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who had studied at AMU and who still have good memories of Aligarh and India. It is difficult to cover the story of Aligarh without saying something about the great man who worked hard for its foundation.
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan is one of the architects of modern education in the Indian subcontinent. He was born in Delhi in 1817 into a wealthy family which followed strict Mughal tradition which exposed him to politics from an early age. His mother Azis-u-Nisa played a formative role in Sir Syed's early life. She applied rigid discipline with emphasis on modern education as well as traditional studies. Although he studied Arabic, Persian and Urdu and learned to read and understand the Holy Qur'an and Islamic jurisprudence, Sir Syed also studied law and obtained a degree in law and was appointed as a clerk in court and later promoted to the rank of judge in the East India Company.
When the Indian mutiny took place he was working in the court and was not involved in the mutiny and was able to save many British lives which gave him a strong position when later he defended the cause of Muslims. After the mutiny Sir Syed authored the booklet "The Causes of Indian Revolt" in which he discussed the causes of the revolt and came to the conclusion that it was not true that it was a conspiracy of the Muslim elite. In fact he put the blame on the British East India Company and the ignorance of British politicians of Indian culture. One of his friends asked him to burn the copies he had already printed of the booklet as he thought it would endanger his life. But Sir Syed replied that he was bringing the matter to the attention of the British for the good of his own people, for his country and for the British government itself. The work was accepted by some British officials as a sincere report but some others, like the foreign secretary, were against it calling it seditious. They demanded an inquiry and said that if the author did not give an accepted justification, he should be punished severely. However, no harm came to Sir Syed because his sincerity, integrity and selflessness were recognized by those who were in power.
The range of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's literary interest was very wide: history, politics, archaeology, journalism, literature, religion and science. He made contributions in these fields, but his main interest was education because he was deeply concerned with the state of backwardness of Muslims of India. After the failure of the Indian mutiny, Muslims suffered the most. They isolated themselves because the British put the major part of the responsibility on them as they were accused of planning the rebellion. Sir Syed worked hard to change the concept of the British toward Muslims while he also endeavored to convince Muslims to adopt modern education. He recognized the critical role of education in the empowerment of the poor and backward Muslim community. He started preparing for the formation of a Muslim university by opening various schools. He opened a modern school in Muradabad in 1859 and in 1863 he founded another modern school in Ghazipur. When he was transferred to Aligarh in 1864, he established the scientific society of Aligarh which was the first of its kind in India. He wanted it to be on the model of the Royal Society of England. He made a trip to England and visited Oxford and Cambridge universities with the dream of establishing a similar university in India. When he established Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, he had the intention of turning it into a fully fledged university as prestigious as Cambridge or Oxford. He planned to build a mosque attached to every college and to make it mandatory for every Muslim student to offer prayers. Bad and abusive words and smoking cigarettes were strictly prohibited. It was also strictly enforced that Shia and Sunni boys would not discuss their religious differences in the college or in the boarding house. The college became the present Aligarh Muslim University which is one of the best universities of India accommodating students from all over the world.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com
