Book Review: Dispelling Myths And Misconceptions Around AMU바카라�s Founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion And Nation 
By Shafey Kidwai  
Routledge, pp. 258

It is a fact that the Muslim renaissance in India began with the advent of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), the founder of Anglo-Oriental College, which eventually became the Aligarh Muslim University. Before Sir Syed, there was no scholar among Muslims whose educational and reformative endeavour took the form of a movement. Since Sir Syed바카라�s time to the present day, various books and articles have been written about his works and his personality. From biographical books like Khwaja Altaf Hussain Hali바카라�s 바카라�Hayat-e-Javed바카라� (바카라�Immortal Life바카라�, 1903) and Col. Graham바카라�s 바카라�Life and Works of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan바카라� (1885) to Surayya Hussain, many books can be adverted. Undoubtedly, Sir Syed바카라�s reformative and educational services can be better understood from these books. But one of the foremost problems with Sir Syed studies has been that it has always lacked proper equipoise. Perhaps this is the reason why the researchers on Sir Syed were either devout or hostile. Shafey Kidwai바카라�s book 바카라�Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion and Nation바카라� is not only an invaluable addition to Sir Syed Studies, but it also establishes a new paradigm of research.  

In my opinion, if research is not capable of refuting a scientific assumption, it cannot be called research. Kidwai is an eminent bilingual critic of literature whose critical essays are regularly published in reputed Urdu and English journals. For his book 바카라�Sawaneh-e-Sir Syed: Ek Bazdeed바카라� (Biography of Sir Syed: A Revisiting), he received the highest award in Urdu, 바카라�Sahitya Akademi Award.바카라� In his latest biography of Sir Syed, which is an excellent example of academic research, Kidwai demolishes all circles of devotion and enmity drawn around Sir Syed by his scholarly evidence. As stated earlier, those studying Sir Syed swung between devotion and enmity for a long time. Therefore, two opinions have prevailed in the studies around him: One strain is devotional and the other hostile. And that바카라�s because Sir Syed바카라�s sacrosanct notion has been controversial.  
The society in which Sir Syed was raised was basically brassbound. This was the reason why Sir Syed's studies either refuted or confirmed his religious views. As soon as Sir Syed started debating on the rational basis of religion, a large group of opponents became active in his response. The first objection was raised by Jamaluddin Afghani (1838-1897).  His article was published in the Journal 바카라�Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa바카라�(1884) under the title 바카라�Al-Dahriyun Fi Al-Hind바카라� (Atheist in India), in which Sir Syed바카라�s rationalism was made the subject.  After Jamaluddin Afghani, a big list of Sir Syed바카라�s antagonists became prominent. The name of Maulvi Imdad Ali of Kanpur was also in it. As a result, every work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan which was related to social and educational oscillations is marked dubious. A significant aspect of Kidwai바카라�s book is that it does not read Sir Syed with blind devotion nor does it exhibit any hostile attitude towards him. It consists of six long chapters which describe Sir Syed바카라�s various reformative efforts and refute all misconstructions around his life that were fabricated through unverified sources.  In 바카라�Seerat-e-Faridiya (1896), the biography of his maternal grandfather, Khwaja Fariduddin Ahmad (1828-1747), Sir Syed wrote that he held the position of superintendent of Madrasa-e-Alia, Calcutta.  Kidwai writes with reference to 바카라�Seerat-e-Faridiya바카라�:
 

In 1797, Khwaja Fariduddin again went back to Lucknow.  At that time, the Madrasa-e-Calcutta was set up, and the British officials looked for a superintendent at the salary of Rs 700.  (P-14)

 

But Kidwai has denied the fact and termed the research of Mahmood Ahmad Barkati as authentic as he has come to the conclusion that there was no post of superintendent in Madrasa-e-Alia. Kidwai elaborates the possibility which was first pointed out by Iftikhar Alam. He writes: 바카라�It does not endorse Sir Syed, but Iftikhar Alam makes a case for this lapse by saying that Sir Syed wrote it at the age when memory tends to fade (P-15).바카라� Iftikhar Alam바카라�s opinion seems to be appropriate to some extent.  In a somewhat similar case, Justice Javed Iqbal writes in his autobiography, 바카라�Apna Gariban Chaak바카라� (Our Torn Collar, 2002), that Allama Iqbal (1877-1938) used to take very few baths in the last phase of his life and his room was also very grubby (P-33). These words were written by Javed Iqbal from the memory of the time when he was only eleven years old, not an age of maturity. Therefore, his statement cannot be considered authentic.

The strongest objections to Sir Syed came when he started writing a rational commentary on the Qur바카라�an. Kidwai has discussed this chapter in full detail.  He quotes Sir Syed as saying that Abraha바카라�s army was not forced to flee from the Ka바카라�bah because a flock of birds, at the command of Allah, started raining small but deadly stones 바카라� which ensured the Ka바카라�bah was protected 바카라� but it retreated because of smallpox.  An important event in this regard is related to the physical entity of the 바카라�angel바카라�. Sir Syed did not consider angels to be feather creatures, nor did he recognise them as birds of human existence because this is against reason. Sir Syed did not accept the separate entity of 바카라�angels바카라� and 바카라�jinns바카라�.  Similarly, he did not agree with the miracle of the 바카라�twig of prophet Musa바카라� (Moses). Sir Syed, in the light of geographical lore, proves that Prophet Moses crossed the sea because he was aware of its high and low tides unlike Firaun (Pharaoh). Obviously, there is less room for agreement and more space for disagreement with Sir Syed바카라�s religious views. But it is also important to keep in mind that Sir Syed바카라�s religious debates take forward the arguments by scholars before him. The scholarly manner in which Kidwai has illumined the religious thought of Sir Syed proves that after Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624) he was the first person to establish the virtue of religious discourse: of purely scientific nature.

One of the great qualities of Kidwai바카라�s book is that it rights every misrepresentation that was made about Sir Syed바카라�s life.  Of course, Hali바카라�s book, 바카라�Hayat-e-Javed바카라� is an authentic biography of Sir Syed, but wherever he is inaccurate with facts, Kidwai illuminates it with a strong argument.  He has also denied the charge that was levelled against him after the revolution of 1857. Sir Syed does not recognise this revolution as a military deposition but calls it a popular uprising in which both Hindus and Muslims joined, forgetting their differences. The misconception about Sir Syed that he was a votary of communalism was also spread when he started publishing the bilingual magazine, 바카라�An Account of the Loyal Muhammadans of India바카라� in 1860. Among those who considered Sir Syed a communal was Raja Jai Kishan Das (1832-1905) but when he saw Sir Syed helping the victims irrespective of religion, caste and creed during the famine in Muradabad, he changed his view and became a friend. 

An important chapter of this book is related to female education. Sir Syed바카라�s position on the education of Muslim women was not very clear, which gave rise to many misconceptions about his concept of female education. Kidwai has refuted these assumptions with his scientific arguments. Jawaharlal Nehru writes in 바카라�Discovery of India바카라� (1946) that Sir Syed was against the veil system. But the fact remains that Sir Syed does not seem to oppose anywhere. Kidwai is the first researcher to refute Nehru바카라�s hypothesis because Sir Syed was a proponent of a society where the veil was very important among Muslim women. Kidwai mentions some English women who benefited from vocational education. One of them was Mary Carpenter (1807-1877). She was a surgeon by profession when she came to India. Her social and medical services were not only warmly welcomed by Sir Syed, but he also wrote an editorial in the 바카라�Institute Gazette바카라�. It proves that he was an advocate of women바카라�s education but never seemed to be active in practice. To conclude, Kidwai바카라�s extensive research in Sir Syed studies is shorn of prejudices.

(Meraj Rana is Assistant Professor at Halim Muslim PG College, Kanpur (UP))