• Sir Syed is referred to by many as the “man who knew tomorrow”.
• He was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist.
• He believed that the future of Muslims was threatened by the rigidity of their orthodox outlook. Muslims should first concentrate on education and jobs and try to catch up their Hindu counterparts.
• He opposed political activity by the Muslims. As per him, active participation in politics would invite hostility of the government.

Teachings and contributions

• Religion should be adaptable with time or else it would become fossilized.
• He believed in liberal interpretation of the Quran in the light of rationalism. But the Quran is be the ultimate authority.
• Unity of religions or ‘practical morality’.
• He also preached the basic commonality of Hindu and Muslim interests.
• Women empowerment: better education, opposed purdah and polygamy, consent of women for divorce, condemned piri and muridi.
• He was a great educationist. He opened schools in towns, translated books into Urdu, started Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College (later, the Aligarh Muslim University) at Aligarh in 1875.
• He promoted western–style scientific education by founding modern schools and journals and organising Islamic entrepreneurs.

Pro British

• During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, he remained loyal to the British Raj.
• In his book, “The Causes of the Indian Mutiny”, he blamed various British policies for causing the revolt.
• After the revolt of 1857 and due to the activities of the Wahabis, the British became anti-Muslims. Hence, they adopted the policy of divide and rule. An intellectual section of Muslims was provided the official patronage by the British.
• Sir Khan was a loyalist member of the judicial service of the British. He was a member of the Imperial Legislative Council in 1878.
• For his loyalty, he was awarded with title knighthood.
• Magazine: Tahdhib-ul-Akhlaq
• Though initially believed in Hindu–Muslim unity, he became the pioneer of Muslim nationalism in India. He is widely credited as the father of the two-nation theory.
• He strongly influenced many Muslim leaders including Allama Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Syed Ahmed Khan as a modernizer

• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), a gifted initiator of sociocultural transformation, has largely been recognised as a protagonist of socio-religious reform in Islam and merely as the founder of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College that got the status of a university in 1920.
• The widespread adulation for his educational endeavours and sustained campaign for religious and social reforms and cultural practices makes his significant contribution to the collective life of India.
• He founded the Scientific Society in 1863 at Ghazipur, in Uttar Pradesh. The basic objective was to translate scientific literature into Urdu to increase the reach of scientific education in India.
• In this project, he was supported by all including several Hindu friends, The subjects such as mechanics, electricity, pneumatics and natural philosophy received particular emphasis.
• Sir Syed extended support to the moderate constitutional policies of the British.
• Certainly, more than a Muslim social reformer and proponent of modern education, Sir Syed, with a well-laid strategy, tried to empower his fellow citizens by engaging with people in a discourse on self-discovery.
• Sir Syed’s deliberations pertaining to faith, spirituality, morality, social customs, cultural practices, nationalism, blasphemy, universal voting rights, female education, alien rule and language still evoke admiration and retribution with almost equal intensity.

Work towards education

• He pushed for educational and social reforms and was a champion of democratic ideals and freedom of speech.
• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan is best known for the Aligarh Movement —a systemic movement aimed at reforming the social, political and educational aspects of the Muslim community.
• He founded the Scientific Society in 1863 to translate major works in the sciences and modern arts into Urdu.
• He released two journals to this end — The Aligarh Institute Gazette, which was an organ of the Scientific Society, and the Tehzibul Akhlaq, known as the Mohammedan Social Reformer in English.
• He developed an idea that in order to improve educational standards of the Muslims of India, there must be modern educational institutions for them.
• This was the larger objective in mind with which he founded Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College in 1875.
• It was proposed that here, modern education would be imparted to the Muslims.
• It is interesting to note that while MAO College was founded for Muslims with its doors were open to all. Many graduates in the early years of this college were Hindus.
• Its aim was promoting social and economic development of Indian Muslims, popularizing scientific temperament and western learning.
• He began modernizing by promoting progressive ideas and thoughts through his journals.
• He founded the Mohammedan civil service association and demanded for representation and appointment of Muslims in higher posts.
• In 1886, he set up the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Education Congress, later renamed the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Educational Conference, to bring together education and culture.
• He emphasised the need for an autonomous Muslim institution free of any government funding.
• Since the decline of the Mughal dynasty, Sir Syed promoted the use of Urdu through his own writings.
• Under Sir Syed, the Scientific Society translated Western works only into Urdu.
• The schools established by Sir Syed imparted education in the Urdu medium.

Two nation theory

• Sir Syed is considered as the first person to theorize the idea of separate nationhood for Muslims in subcontinent.
• In a speech at Meerut in 1866 he presented on overall scenario of post colonial phase in which he described Muslims and Hindus as two nations.
• He''s regarded as the father of Two-Nation Theory and the pioneer of Muslim nationalism which led to the partition of India.
• Urdu-Hindi controversy is seen as the transformation of Sir Syed''s views towards Muslim nationhood which he expressed in his speeches during later days.
• While fearful of the loss of Muslim political power owing to the community''s backwardness, Sir Syed was also averse to the prospect of democratic self-government, which would give control of government to the Hindu-majority population.

Views on the active participation

• Sir Syed discouraged the active involvement of Muslims in politics.
• He regarded the attainment of higher English education as the first priority for the upliftmeant of the Muslim community as opposed to political pursuits.
• He declined to lend support to the National Muhammadan Association, a political organisation founded by Syed Ameer Ali in 1887 and refused to participate in the Muhammedan National Conference at Lahore which he regarded as a political agitation.
• Sir Syed advocated the use of constitutional machinery such as participation in administration for expressing grievances to the British government.
• He supported the efforts of Indian political leaders Surendranath Banerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji to obtain representation for Indians in the government and civil services.
• In 1883, he founded the Muhammadan Civil Service Fund Association to encourage and support the entry of Muslim graduates into the Indian Civil Service (ICS).
• In 1883, he established the Muhammedan Association to put forward grievances of the Muslims to the Imperial Legislative Council.
• He was nominated as a member of the Civil Service Commission in 1887 by Lord Dufferin.
• In 1888, he along with Raja Shiv Prasad of Benaras established the United Patriotic Association at Aligarh to promote political co-operation with the British and Muslim participation in the British government.