Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Vision and Mission

Assessing the vision and mission of historical figures is complex business. Ideas exist in space and time. Ideas crystallize into vision; vision determines the mission and is in turn influenced by it. This was true of Syed Ahmad Khan.

Sir Syed focused on the Indian Muslim Condition. Altaf Hussain Hali, who was a contemporary of Sir Syed, described the condition in a poem written in 1877:

Pinhaan nahi hai yaro sab par khula huwa hai

Jo haal aaj apna aur apni quam ka hai

Hai ek lakeer baqi jis ke faqeer hain ham

Khood saanp warna yaan se kab ka chala gaya hai

Sir Syed had lived through difficult times, introspected on them, and arrived at some hard conclusions. He sought to uncover the causes of the Muslim backwardness. He identified these in the absence of modern education.

Giving evidence before the Education Commission in 1884, he dilated on the causes of Muslim’ aloofness from modern education and identified four factors: ‘their political traditions, social customs, religious beliefs, and poverty’. He concluded that all available means be used to introduce Muslims to modern education and rational thinking.

His intentions were doubted, his methods faulted. The measure of his success is the Aligarh Muslim University, established and nurtured in the teeth of opposition.

The vision of Syed Ahmad Khan was to restore vibrancy to the community of Indian Muslim; the mission was to do it through modern education. There is no dispute today about either; there is however a serious debate about the measure of his success. Sir Syed succeeded to a point; it has to be admitted that the movement faltered beyond it.

One hundred and thirty years after the founding of the M.A.O. College, the tangible results of his efforts to bring the fruits of modern education to the Muslims of India are graphically reflected in the Sachar Committee Report.

Two questions arise:

• Can we, dispassionately, analyse the successes and failures of Sir Syed’s initiative?
• Can we return to the drawing board and re-set the agenda in terms of the requirements of today and tomorrow?

The most important aspect of Syed Ahmad Khan’s mission was self-help. The primary impulse was individual initiative, and the dedication of a visionary. He challenged prevailing attitudes and sought to overcome them through persuasion and personal example. He succeeded in transforming his vision into a movement.

On the other hand, his quest for modernity anchored in Islamic tradition was not understood, or was misunderstood.

One result of the latter was that the movement itself lost its way. Another was that the problem of educational backwardness and the resultant social handicap persists.

Consequently today, in the first decade of the 21st century, we are confronted by a set of six challenges. I had mentioned these when I participated in the inaugural session of the seminar in AMU and I wish to reiterate them today:

• Of learning from Syed Ahmad Khan’s dedication and experience.
• Of conceding that ignorance is not bliss.
• Of facing a highly competitive knowledge society with receding horizons.
• Of accepting that education, relevant education, is a pre-requisite of participation in this exciting venture.
• Of finding that mediocrity means irrelevance.
• Of discovering that failure means marginalisation.

A couplet of Iqbal is of abiding relevance:

Is dour main taleem hai amraz-e-millat ki dawa

Hai khoon-e-fasid ke liye taleem misl-e-naishtar

We have to accept the existence of amraz-e-millat and khoon-e-fasid. Correct diagnosis is the first step to successful treatment. We lost a whole century in debates of lesser relevance.

Syed Ahmad Khan suggested a methodology; it is for us to use it imaginatively. Interestingly enough, this is being done in good measure in southern and western areas of the country; there is no reason why it cannot be emulated by others. Community priorities, and effort, must be adjusted to derive maximum benefit from the affirmative action by the state.

I do hope that the erudite papers assembled in this volume would also be a contribution to the achievement of this objective. I commend Prof. Iraqi’s effort.