Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: Architect of modern Muslim consciousness

On 17 October 1817, in Delhi, was born a man whose ideas would alter the course of Indian Muslim history. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan — scholar, reformer, jurist, and visionary — was not merely an individual but a movement in himself. In an age of imperial dominance, social conservatism, and religious rigidity, he became the voice of reason and progress. His mission was not only to rescue a community from decline but also to reconcile faith with rationality and knowledge with modernity.

At a time when India was reeling from the aftermath of the Revolt of 1857, and when deep mistrust had divided the British rulers and Indian Muslims, Sir Syed emerged as a bridge-builder. His reformist thought marked the birth of a new era — the Aligarh Movement — that transformed the intellectual and social landscape of India’s Muslims.

Sir Syed began his career in the British judicial service, where he witnessed the growing gulf between the rulers and the ruled. His early writings — such as Asar-us-Sanadid, a pioneering work on Delhi’s monuments, and Loyal Mohammedans of India — revealed both his historical curiosity and his pragmatic faith in dialogue with the British administration.

But his greatest contribution lay in education. In 1864, he founded the Scientific Society in Ghazipur, which aimed to translate scientific and modern works into Urdu, making knowledge accessible to the common people. This initiative reflected his conviction that ignorance was the root cause of Muslim stagnation and that enlightenment alone could restore dignity and progress.

His crowning achievement came in 1875, with the establishment of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, modeled on the educational institutions of Oxford and Cambridge but rooted in Indian soil. The college later became the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1920 — a symbol of intellectual awakening and national integration.

Sir Syed was not only an educationist but also a thinker deeply committed to reconciling faith with reason. His Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq (Refinement of Morals), launched in 1870, became a platform for rational discussion on religion, ethics, and society. Through it, he urged Muslims to reinterpret Islamic teachings in the light of modern science and logic, arguing that true Islam was never at odds with reason or progress.

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His Commentary on the Holy Quran sought to strip religion of superstition and literalism. For Sir Syed, the Quranic message was one of universal ethics and divine rationality. He believed that “the Word of God cannot be opposed to the Work of God”, meaning that religious truth and scientific truth must coexist. In his writings, Islam emerged not as a dogma frozen in time, but as a living, dynamic faith compatible with intellectual growth.

Sir Syed’s reformist zeal extended beyond classrooms into the social fabric of Indian Muslim life. He openly criticised the outdated customs that hindered social progress — polygamy, purdah, and the neglect of women’s education. He argued that the moral and intellectual advancement of a community was incomplete without the participation of its women.

He envisioned an enlightened society where rational inquiry would replace blind imitation and where education would serve as the foundation of moral strength. His magazine, Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq, constantly appealed to the community to shed medieval thinking and embrace a spirit of modernity grounded in ethical values.

Sir Syed’s relationship with the British and his views on politics remain among the most debated aspects of his legacy. Having witnessed the devastation of 1857, he concluded that confrontation with the colonial state would only lead to further disaster for the Muslims. He thus advised loyalty to the British, emphasizing education and self-strengthening over political agitation.

When the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, Sir Syed viewed it with suspicion, fearing that premature political mobilisation would marginalize the already backward Muslim community. Critics accused him of being pro-British, but Sir Syed’s stance was essentially pragmatic. He sought to prepare the Muslims educationally and socially before they could meaningfully participate in politics. “First education, then politics,” he declared — a principle that underscored his lifelong belief in the transformative power of knowledge.

Despite being portrayed at times as a communalist by his detractors, Sir Syed firmly believed in the essential unity of Hindus and Muslims. He described them as the “two eyes of a beautiful bride” — each incomplete without the other. His famous declaration that “Hindus and Muslims are the two eyes of the beautiful bride, India” symbolised his dream of a composite nation bound by shared culture and mutual respect.

He envisioned an India where religious pluralism would coexist with scientific and moral advancement. For him, morality was the common ground among all faiths. His ideal was not separation, but cooperation — founded on tolerance, reason, and justice.

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The Aligarh Movement that Sir Syed initiated was far more than an educational reform; it was a cultural renaissance. It sought to reshape the Muslim mind — to awaken a sense of self-respect, critical inquiry, and engagement with the modern world. The graduates of Aligarh went on to become leaders, scholars, and reformers who played crucial roles in India’s freedom struggle and in shaping modern South Asian thought.

From Altaf Hussain Hali and Shibli Nomani to Zakir Hussain and Maulana Azad, Sir Syed’s intellectual lineage produced a generation that straddled East and West, faith and reason, tradition and modernity. The university he founded became not only a seat of learning but also a laboratory for secularism and civic consciousness in India.

In an age marked by polarisation, misinformation, and rising intolerance, Sir Syed’s message is more urgent than ever. His insistence on education as liberation, his advocacy for interfaith harmony, and his rational interpretation of religion offer a roadmap for the present.

For a community still struggling against illiteracy, poverty, and prejudice, Sir Syed’s words remain prophetic: “Do not show the face of Islam to the world in such a way that it may hate you. Show it as one full of love and brotherhood.”

His life reminds us that reform begins not in confrontation, but in introspection; not through conflict, but through understanding.

Like Raja Rammohun Roy among Hindus, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan among Muslims was a torchbearer of reform and renaissance. Both men challenged orthodoxy, championed reason, and placed education at the centre of moral regeneration. Their vision of India was not one of division but of shared progress and enlightenment.

More than a century after his death in 1898, Sir Syed continues to inspire generations to build bridges between past and present, between faith and inquiry. His life was a testament to the idea that knowledge is the truest form of worship, and reform the highest expression of faith.

Remembering Sir Syed is not an act of nostalgia but a call to action — to revive his vision of an educated, tolerant, and progressive India.

“Ignorance is the mother of poverty, and knowledge the father of prosperity,” Sir Syed once wrote. His message still echoes across the corridors of Aligarh—and beyond.

Hasnain Naqvi is a former member of the history faculty at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. You will find more of his writing here