Sir Syed Ahamed Khan as A Protagonist of Interfaith Dialogue

By Rajib Shaikh, New Age Islam 14 February 2024 Sir Syed Ahamed Khan ------ Abstract ‘Some are born great’ and one of them was Sir Syed Ahamed Khan. He was multi-faceted scholar, theologian, educationist, constructivist, reformist and the founder of Muslim modernism in the Indian subcontinent. He is considered to be the first Muslim scholar to write an Urdu commentary on Bible, advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity and make a systematic effort toward inter-religious dialogues in the subcontinent. Universities, political associations, social organizations and the literally works produced by him, are the core examples of his philosophy of promoting interfaith understanding and pluralistic coexistence. Furthermore, owing to his interfaith harmony he was labeled as ‘infidel’ (kafir) or the British agent but he never gave up his policy of making reconciliatory approach to other faiths and this stubborn attitude of sir Syed helped the antagonistic Muslim and the British, east and west to improve interfaith dialogues. However, When the religious extremism and right wing politics are on the rule we must re-read Sir Syed whose ideology and philosophy of cultural coexistence could somehow ease the process of national integrity and peace-building. This essay is an attempt to explore the pivotal role of Sir Syed for promoting interfaith dialogues in the subcontinent and its significance to the contemporary society. Introduction When we talk on interreligious understandings in British India, Sir Syed Khan was without doubt, a forerunner in establishing relations with other faiths. He was one of most dynamic leaders of history who not only moulded the fate of nation but changed course of history. If someone turned leaves of history, he must have acknowledged in the journey of India’s transition from ‘medievalism to modernism’, Sir Syed stands out the most prominently as a dynamic force struggled against, conservatism, sectarianism, nationalism and superstitions. In his desire to bridge the gap between the Muslims and with other faiths he took many steps like writing books, magazines on comparative religion, establishing non-sectarian based universities, founding different kinds of socio-economic and political associations and reading extensively religious scriptures as Bible in order to dismantle the ethno-religious conflicts and encourage active inter- religious engagement for world peace. Therefore, he faced many problems even from his own community to accept western education and as well as from Hindu communities for Urdu-Hindi controversy and refusal to join Indian National Congress. But these sharp criticisms didn’t dissuade him and he kept with his mission to promote cross-cultural relations with diverse communities. However, this essay is an attempt made to highlight the strategies and methodologies of sir Syed Khan to foster interfaith dialogues in order to ease the process of national integrity and peace-building. Interfaith Dialogue Through Lectureship Sir Syed Ahamed Khan was a multi-faceted scholar, intellectual, educationist, political activist, journalist, theologian, social reformer and chief organizer of modernist Islamic movement of 19th century in India. He was born in 17 October 1817 in an illustrious Delhi family, which traced its lineage to the Prophet Muhammad, and was well-known, for its learning and erudition. Besides being a social reformer, educationist and a philosopher, he was also an Islamic scholar known for his role in building pluralistic society of ‘modern’ India. His contribution towards promoting interfaith understandings among other faiths saved the communities from complete cultural and intellectual annihilations. American author Barbara D Metcalf described him as” the father of Muslim intellectual renaissance”. He was a staunch believer of Hindu- Muslim unity and practitioner of amicable relations between the two communities as he considered them the “child of the same land”. To him “religion is personal” but “humanity is common”. He wanted both Hindu and Muslim communities to live together, suffer, die and behave as charitable neighbour. One could not find references against Hindus and Hinduism in Syed’s writing instead he tried to find out the opportunities to secure cultural collaboration between the two. In his famous pamphlet “Risalah-i-Asbabe-Bagawate-Hind”, he focused the rights of Indians as a whole not exclusively his community. Coming back to the present time, when there is continuous growth of intolerance and rising incidents of hate crimes among communities especially, Hindu and Muslims and deliberate spread of hate and abhorrence by various sections of society, by applying political ideology. Recurring incidents mob lynching, hate crimes, love jihad terminology, and hate against minorities, anti-migrant sentiments and many more elements inciting violence, convince us the vital importance of Sir Syed’s interfaith ideology to enable peaceful tolerant and global citizenship. Time demands rethinking Sir Syed’s teaching of religious harmony which provides a refreshing site to begin the process of peace-building, amity and tolerance. Once, in Gurdaspur (Punjab) he asked questioning the all the Hindus and Muslims that “Oh Hindu and Muslims! Do you belong to a country other than India? Don’t you inhabit this soil? And are not buried under it or cremated on its Ghats? Hindus and Muslims is nothing but a religious word. All Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikhs inhabit this country are one nation”. In order to establish the fact that Hindus and Muslims of India could not survive in isolations, he dubbed these two communities as two eyes of beautiful bride in a lectureship that” we Hindu and Muslims eat same crops, drink water from the same river and take breath from same air. Hindus and Muslims are two eyes of this beautiful bride that is Hindustan. Weakness of anyone will spoil the beauty of bride”. Talking about his philosophy of intra or inter-religious thoughts in contemporary times when there is continuously growing disparity among the communities, I believe that his vision of religious co-existence will prove to be necessity to follow. Obviously, his vision of empowering and mitigating the suffering of his fellow citizens by creating an educational enterprise in society, uprooting blind adherence to ancestral beliefs and standing against the ethno-religious conflicts, he has done a commendable job for the fellow citizens irrespective of caste, religions, culture and practices. He left no stone unturned to promote interfaith understandings and advocate Hindu-Muslim unity without relinquishing and abandoning from their spiritual and cultural aspirations. Throughout his life, Sir Syed Khan kept himself engaged in resolving communal clashes and bridging interfaith understanding among them. To understand how he nurtured this collective consciousness of the country, one has to look at his contributions as a member of several apex bodies such as, The Viceregal Legislative Council (1878-1883, for two terms), the North Western Province Legislative Council (1887-1891, two terms), the Imperial Commission on Education (1882) and the Royal Public Service Commission(1887). His frequent interventions at the meeting unfailingly underscore his abiding concerns for empowering subjugated India, regardless of their caste, creed, religious, ethnic or linguistic affiliations. Being raised in the diverse city of Delhi sir Syed was exposed to the festival of both Hindu-Muslim, and even he read the Hindu scriptures as a close friend of Swami Vivekananda and Debendranath Tagore. Admittedly, he had occasionally participated in Christian liturgy (prayer) and devotional gatherings. He illustrated a quote that “National integration was possible not only in social but also to extent religious functions”. Whenever he addressed community on religious harmony, he used to take the verses of Quran, Bible and other Hindu scriptures. He was an avid historian and the first person to publish an archaeologist study on Delhi in an Indian language; as a result, he was conferred the membership of the Royal Asiatic Society. He also collected the sculptures and rare artifact of Hindu religion. Pluralism Through Modern Education Syed Ahamed khan was committed to India’s Hindu-Muslim socio-cultural advancement and building progressive and pluralistic modern, India. Moreover, he considered the modern education as perhaps the most important platform for the development of Hindu-Muslim relations. In order to facilitate the interfaith between two communities he founded Western Oxford-Cambridge styled-school, colleges, academic bodies and Scientific Societies and Cultural institutions in India, all of which were significantly running on non-sectarian basis. Muhammad Anglo-Oriental College” played a crucial role in promoting inter-religious understanding and communal collaborations. So, the first principle of this college was a Christian named Theodore Beck, college began to cultivate the relationship between the diverse communities. Expressing his happiness seeing his college as a home of diverse culture Sir Syed stated “I am glad to say that in this institution both are same, Hindus and Muslims get same education, there is no distinctions and restrictions for both in terms of privilege, I consider them as my two eyes, I don’t like even to say this because people generally differentiate as right and other as left. I consider both Hindu and Muslim as one and same eye”. Now this college is running in the name of Aligarh Muslim University (upgraded in 1920), which became a centre of knowledge, political movement and a symbol of India’s multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual community. The noble living example of his philosophy was Dr. Ishwari Prasad Upadhya; the first graduated and first MA graduated was Amba Prasad. Sanskrit was given an honourable place in the college as a subject to be studied. Furthermore, employees of this college were from various communities, especially from Hindus, Muslims and British citizens, without any discrimination. However, J.C Chakraboti was appointed as chief of mathematics while Sir Baijnath as a second master in the college. Therefore, when he breathed his last in 1898 there was 258 Muslims, 64 Hindus students, along with seven Hindus in staff. University keeps space for divergent views, pluralism and so on. In 1938, there was a program in students’ union hall. They carried the name and photograph of all who visited the campus. The list includes stalwarts such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Br Ambedkar, Moulana Azad and Sarojini Naidu, the university still strives to accommodate divergent views. Definitely, it has set up an exclusive centre for fostering interfaith dialogues. Additionally, he established school at Moradabad in 1859, school of Ghazipur in 1863 and Scientific Society in 1864 to act as a bridge builder between old system and new and a way out for overall unity of all religious followers. Literature As an Important Tool He was also a journalist who used his pen for social reforms. Tahzebul Akhlaq (social reformation), a magazine founded by him, tried to awaken people’s consciousness on social and religious issues in very expressive way. The meaningless discussions on small religious matters and the sectarian and communal violence in the communities made him disturbed a lot, and the reason he tried every possible effort to normalize the situations. He wrote extensively on various ways to live in a plural society. He was first man who attempted an Urdu commentary on Bible named, Tabin al Kalam Fitafsiri Altawrat Wa ‘i-Injil’ ala Millat al Islam (elucidation of the world in commentary of the Torah and Gospel according to the religion of Islam), which was published in three parts between 1860 and 1865. In 19th century William Muir an orientalist scholar and prominent colonial administrator published his famous work “The life of Mahomet and history of Islam”, in which the dozens of misinterpretation and misconceptions on pre-Islamic history of Arabia and life of Prophet Muhammad was highlighted. Therefore, the book led to vociferous protest and sir Syed Khan was deeply hurt by Muir’s false representations. But Sir Syed Khan said that a book can be countered by another book and burning of it is not a solution. Blasphemy is to be dealt with according to the provisions of the country’s law. Therefore, he showed the world how to disagree with an opponent in a civilized manner. Instead he responded Muir with his own book” life of Muhammad” in which he took issue with each of the argument of Muir, debunking the misconceptions surrounding the Prophet (PBUH) and Islam. He wrote this book with full respect to Muir, neither he blamed nor expressed anger because he was a democrat and peace-maker. For his educational reforms and promoting cross-cultural understandings he was knighted by Queen Victoria as the “companion of star of India”. His other literary works including, Risalah-i-Ahkam-i-Taam –i-Ahle-Kitab and Khutbate Ahmadiya, played crucial role in minimizing the differences and promoting interfaith understandings, harmony, equality, love and affection. These works proved as very impressive and way to dilute the misunderstandings among different segments of society. The basic philosophy in Sir Syed’ writing was that he was not known ever to articulate any anti-religious sentiments or any criticism but, instead he stressed on the importance of togetherness through his literature, writings and even emphasized them to remain steadfast against the colonial power. Socio-Political Organization As A Source Of Pluralistic Coexistence During 1860s he used to advocate for the political, social and education uplift of both Hindus and Muslims as well. Syed frequently talked the political ambitions for both Hindu-Muslim and made no discriminations among them. He demanded representation in government for both communities. Syed Khan set up “British India Association” at Aligarh in 1866. He invited dignitaries of both communities of North West provinces to attend the inaugural session of association. In his opening address, he highlighted that “British are keen on tying chain of discrimination among us and hardly want the welfare of nation. We have to independent in our thinking and mindful of our rights.” In one article he mocked the system of parliament and for the useless proposals of leaders as “a toy being given to child.” However, even in those days he was much concerned about the activities of extremist Hindu bodies including Arya Samaj, Bharat Warsha International Association and various anti-cow killing societies. India as a nation of diverse cultures it has witnessed many conflicts on communal line from pre- to post-independence. The assassination of Indira Gandhi was being by her own bodyguard for religious reason, the Mumbai riots of 1993, Godhra genocide of 2001 and recently passed a controversial Anti-Muslim Bill, CAA were primarily because of underlying religious in tensions and resultant of religious course and more specifically these became a huge trial for minority communities to live under the current wave of aggressive nationalism and Hindutva ideologies which are distorting the secular identity of the nation. To what extend he was concerned about cow killing can be understood by his statement that “if giving up of cow slaughter will establish amity and friendship among Hindus and Muslims, then please do not slaughter cow which is thousand times better” . The Urdu-Hindi controversy put him in trouble and trusted his pluralistic credentials. Though he was champion for the promotion of English language but his love for Urdu language was obvious. Therefore, he demanded for the establishment of a vernacular university to teach Urdu and a bureau of translation to undertake the task of translation of university text books. Unfortunately, the abrupt promotion of Urdu came as result of anti-Urdu movement, opposing the adoption of Urdu as medium of teaching. But it can’t be said that after Urdu-Hindi controversy he lost his energy in promoting interfaith dialogues among the various religious communities. In an article he wrote that “if one nation were to advance in the scale of civilizations and other to lie down, India would be no better than one-eyed beauty .” On the contrary, this linguistic controversy had nothing to do with communal aspects of religion, but rather cultural identities and the human tendency to safeguard his cultural being prompted this controversy. When he went to England in 1869, he left the charge of “Aligarh Scientific Society” and ”Aligarh Institute Gazette” in the hand of Raja Jaikishan Dass Bahadur, a Hindu. Sir Syed was ready to co-operate with organizations which were purely dominated by Hindu bourgeoisie. His association with Surendranath Banerje’s Indian association of Bengal is the core example. The main objective of this association was to create an environment where educated people can talk on political development of country. Moreover, these two leaders submitted two demands to the British to increases the age limit for the Indian civil service applicants to 23 from 21, and ICS examination is too held in Delhi or Kolkata for easiness of Indians. So, his administrative actions were regardless of any cast and religion. Additionally, to counter Indian National Congress he founded Indian United Patriotic Association, aiming to create a common face of anti-Congress sentiment among Hindu and Muslim. More than fifty-one Muslim Societies from all over India joined the party while many Hindu Raja, Maharajas became member of this new body and it is historically recorded that more than, five hundred Hindus attended program of 1888 which helped the organization grow. As he had views of pluralism, he opposed Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a noted political figure fought for Swaraj, for advocating a policy of Hindu nationalism reviving Ganesh and Shivaji festival which is historically recorded as Anti-Mughal movement. He opposed him openly and criticized his ideology of Hindu nationalism. Shafey Kidwai, a Sahitya Akademi Winner, wrote his latest book on “Sir Syed Ahamed Khan; reason, religion, and nation”. In his book he reveals that, for Sir Syed Khan, nation was an abstract concept rather than a political bogey. He made distinction between patriotism and nationalism, and for him patriotism was to be strengthened and nationalism is poorly political ideology which shouldn’t be the ruling force. His idea was based on “inclusiveness and pluralism”. However, Sir Syed Khan was the first Muslim scholar to promote modern education and start a process of interfaith understandings in sub-continent in order to foster social cohesion and national integrity. Conclusion To conclude, one must believe that Sir Syed Khan was a leader of enlightenment and progress who stands out most prominently as philosopher, reformer, thinker and pioneer of interfaith understandings in the sub-continent. He was a believer, supporter and ambassador of religious unity among leading communities of India event after Urdu-Hindi controversy and declaring him as ‘kafir’ by fellow countrymen, he kept with his mission. Now universities and different socio-political organizations, he established is running on non-sectarian basis. Aligarh Muslim University is the highest living example where students of all caste dine at same table, playing in the same ground and so on. However, when the India is considered as fourth worst country in the world due to the rising of intolerance and communal disharmony, religious leaders especially who live and work within a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious society, must re-read Sir Syed Ahamed Khan and his philosophy of interreligious understandings to enable cultural and social pluralism. Notes And References ·  Farooq Ahmad Dar, Associate Professor, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad: Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Hindu-Muslim Question in India, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, December, 2018. ·  Amjad Abbas Khan, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his Pluralistic Vision ·  NAWAID ANJUM: Interview: Shafey Kidwai, author of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Reason, Religion and Nation (Hindustan Times, 30 OCT, 2020) ·  MJ WARSI: Pioneering Hindu-Muslim unity, (The Pioneer, 17 OCT 2017) ·  Muhammad Asim Siddiqui, (English teacher AMU): Man who knew tomorrow (The Hindu, 16 OCT 2015) ·  MJ WARSI: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan: A sym¬bol of Hindu-Mus¬lim unity (11 Oct 2017) ·  Muhammad Sajjad: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898): A man with a mission (Frontline, March 12, 2021) ·  Yaqoob Murtaza, student of law at Aligarh Muslim University: Sir Syed: A symbol of communal harmony, 17 OCT) ·  ZIYA US SALAM: Syed Ahmad Khan: The 'shaper of India’s collective consciousness’, (FRONTLINE, SEP 24-2021) ·  Muhammad Asim Siddiqui: Man of reason and compassion, 16 OCT 2017, The Hindu) ·  Farman Ali and Humaira Ahamed: A Study of the Inter-Religious Dialogue through Syed Ahmad’s Reconciliatory Approaches in Tabyiīn-ul-Kalām, Al-Milal: Journal of Religion and Thought (AMJRT) 25 June, 2021 ·  Amjad Abbas Khan, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his Pluralistic Vision ·  Md Yusuf Ali and Osman Bakar: SYED AHMAD KHAN’S TWIN OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATIONALREFORMS IN BRITISH INDIA (ISATAC, Journal of Islamic thoughts and civilizations, 2021) ·  Farooq Ahmad Dar, Associate Professor, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Hindu-Muslim Question in India, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, December, 2018. ·  Rachel John: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, for whom educational reform was a way of life (17 October, 2019) URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/sir-syed-khan-protagonist-interfaith-dialogue/d/131719 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism