Services of Sir Syed Ahmad khan for the Muslims of India

Sir Syed Ahmad khan’s services

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s services to the Muslim community are remarkable. He took the following significant steps for the achievement of his objectives.

Causes of the Indian mutiny

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (RA) wrote a book titled “Asbab-e- Baghawat-e-Hind”, especially meant for reading by the members of the British Parliament. In this book he tried to prove that the uprising of 1857 was, by no means, a war of independence; this had been just an upheaval spurred by a few trouble mongers.

He said that specific unwise policies of the British Government also paved the way for the unrest that resulted in this unfortunate incident. The Muslims, generally, liked to label the 1857 events as the “War of Independence”, but Sir Sayyid (RA) always called it a mutiny.

The loyal Muhammadans of Indian

In 1860 Sir Sayyid (RA) launched a magazine titled “Loyal Muhammadans of India”. In this magazine, he started highlighting the services of those Muslim nobles who had put their lives in danger to save the lives of the British officials and citizens.

Some other reconciliatory efforts

To bring the British rulers and the Muslims closer to each other, Sir Sayyid (RA) wrote several books and tracts; most notable among these were:

            Tehqiq-e-lafz-Nasara, Tobin-ul-Kalam (a commentary of the Bible), Risala-Ehkam-e-Toem-Ahle-e-Kitab, and Aligarh Institute Gazette.

Establishment of Schools

During the days of his service, Sir Sayyid (RA) opened schools in different places, i.e. Murad Abad (1859) and Ghazipur (1862).

 Establishment of the Scientific Society

Sir Sayyid (RA) launched an institution to translate important scholarly works from English to Urdu; he named it “Scientific Society”.

 Study of the British Education System

 Sir Sayyid (RA) visited England in the year 1869. He used this opportunity well by visiting the most prestigious British educational institutions. He made a deep study of the curriculum of these institutions and, on his return to India, established a committee named “Khawastgaran-e-Taraqi-e-Taleem-e-Muslmamnan-e-Hind”.

 Establishment of the M.A.O School

As the first step, the committee Khawastgaran-e-Taraqi-e-Taleem-e-Musaslamana-e-Hindesatablished a school at Aligarh in 1875 named “Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School”.

Establishment of the M.A.O College

The MAO School was upgraded to the level of college in 1877. Viceroy Lord Lytton laid the foundation stone of the College and donated a sum of Rupees ten thousand of his own pose.

 Establishment Of The Muhammadan Educational Conference

To motivate the Muslims to acquire modern knowledge, Sir Sayyid (RA) established Muhammadan Educational Conference in 1886. Annual meetings of the Conference were held at different important places throughout India. The Muslim League was founded in 1906 in an annual meeting of the Conference held at Dacca.

Political Services and the Two Nations Theory:

Sir Sayyid’s (RA) services in the field of politics are highly meritorious, the following two are the most significant:

• As a member of the Imperial Legislative Council, he took up the Indian problems very effectively with the Indian Government.
• In the year 1867, the Hindus of Benaras launched a movement to demand that Urdu should be replaced by Hindi as an official language. Sir Sayyid (RA), a great protagonist of Hindu-Muslim unity, was utterly disappointed at this unfriendly gesture. His demand for a separate electorate was a direct corollary of Hindu overtures. He demanded the number of Muslim seats in the Viceroy’s Council should be fixed; the Hindu voters should elect Hindu members, while the Muslim members should be elected only by the Muslim voters.