Why AMU founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's teachings are important today
Founder of Aligarh Muslim University, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, whose 199th birth anniversary is being celebrated on October 17, conceptualised the emancipation of Muslims, one of the most deprived communities of his time, in the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic Revolt of 1857, with a deeply thought-out aim and well-planned strategy.
The aim was to acquaint Muslims with the Renaissance breeze in order to extricate them from the decades of slumber and sloth, and the plan was to utilise the emancipatory potential of modern education to enlighten them.
At a time when it was not just difficult but seemingly impossible for Muslim thinkers to favourably respond to the new impulse of the time, Sir Syed, with his perceptive eyes and visionary mind, not only just charted out the strategy of survival for the Indian Muslims but also helped them inculcate the spirit to carve their own independent niche in those difficult times.
Skillfully, he devised a meticulous plan, through the establishment of scientific societies and educational institutions, initiating translation of scientific texts, bringing out magazines and popular write-ups exhorting social reform and so on. He wanted Muslims to imbibe progressive ethos and discard the decadent aspect of their culture, while remaining rooted in their own distinct identity.
A strong votary of judicious harmonisation between tradition and modernity, Syed helped initiate the progress of his reluctant community from the inhibiting influence of the "medieval" to the liberating current of the "modern".
While his reformist fervour and missionary zeal, of course, left a lot wanting, particularly when we judge them in terms of the current ethics, it would be short-sightedness at best on our part to sweepingly generalise Syed’s contributions as a part of the "colonising project" or to consider him to be a cunning "collaborator" or a shrewd "elitist" or a thorough "patriarchal" person.
For example, in political terms, his views regarding Congress party; in religious affairs, his extra-liberal extensions of the basic tenets of Islam; in social reforms, his exclusive emphasis on the elite; or in terms of gender justice, his less-than-liberal attitude, may — at the face of them — provide enough fodder to the doubting Thomases to belittle Syed’s contribution.
However, on a closer contextualised scrutiny of the facts in their entirety, one may easily make out the importance of the lasting legacy of Syed’s message which has become even more crucial in the current scenario.
In the prevailing atmosphere of the world, when the intellectual bankruptcy collaborated by viciously powerful global interests, is creating the divisive image of "us" versus "them", when a senseless and illogical view of "Clash of Civilisation" - basically a misplaced supposition but unscrupulously being promoted as a theory - is being readily offered to appropriate the emergent violence and extremism, the roots of which actually lay in variedly diverse reasons, Syed Ahmad’s strategies and teachings become all the more important.
His fervent belief in the immense transformative power of education, his insistence on the powerful resolving capacity of "dialogue and discussion", his rational interpretation of religious texts etc, all requires an urgent recall.
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| Sir Syed’s views on diversity would be apt as growing intolerance has become dangerously rampant not only in our country but the whole world, apparently visible in the wake of the recent anti-migrant sentiments. (Photo: Reuters) |
At a time when the world is witnessing an all-time rise in religious tensions, when the various economic, geographical and psychological grievances, particularly of religious groups, finding no other recourse, are getting diverted in extremism and intolerance, further leading to a vicious cycle of strain and trauma, and when no viable solution looks seemingly possible, Sir Syed’s teachings provide a refreshingly welcome site to begin anew the process of building peace, amity and tolerance in the society.
Inter and intra-religious dialogue, searching and promoting the commonness present in different religions, reaching out to masses in the language they understand, proper education etc, as was highlighted by Sir Syed, still remains the best strategy to counter all sorts of violence and terrorism espoused by the likes of ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
The futility of the overwhelming confidence on the power of force to bring changes in society has become clear to all, particularly after the disastrous consequences of America’s "Global War on Terror". Persistent belief in diversity, tolerance, peace and amity will only lead to a better future.
To conclude, Sir Syed’s views on tolerance and diversity would be apt as growing intolerance towards others, once again, has become dangerously rampant not only in our country but the whole world, apparently visible in the wake of the recent anti-migrant sentiments.
Writing in Tahzibul Akhlaq, in 1870, a journal he specially brought out to bring social awareness, Sir Syed emphatically underlined, "There is not a single nation in the world which acquired excellence, material progress and spiritual happiness entirely by virtue of its own efforts. Nations always benefit from each other. Only bigots deny themselves the fruits of their fellow men’s labour. They are like wild animals happy in (the narrow life of) their own flock, and are deaf to the sweet melody of the nightingale, and chirping of little sparrows and know not how the garden (that is, the world) was laid out and what makes the flower bloom."