Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Beliefs:
He believed that the lowly position of the Muslims was because of the fact that
they were treated as second class citizens.
He also believed that Muslims had to take responsibility for themselves
That Muslim community had to accept that British were their rulers who
intended to stay for many years
That Muslims should take advantage of western education for their development
Aligarh Movement:
In order for Muslim revival he started a movement called the Aligarh movement
or “Muslim renaissance”
He aimed to improve the relations between Muslims and British
He aimed to improve the social and political position of Muslims
He aimed to increase political awareness among Muslims
Work:
Improving Relations:
Encouraging Education:
Political Awareness:
At first he believed that Muslims and Hindus could be united to become one
nation
But he soon realized that Hindus were not so keen to work with the Muslims
When Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 it was seen as a way to
convey ideas of Indians to the British but soon Sir Syed realized that Muslims
were not welcome in the party and that only Hindus fared in it
Congress called for a democratic system but Sir Syed rejected it saying that
Muslim were a minority compared to Hindus
Congress also called for competitive examinations in order to get employed in the
government but Sir Syed rejected it saying that Muslims had almost no formal
education
In 1867 the Hindi-Urdu controversy started when the Hindus wanted Urdu to be
replaced as official language
He was led to believe that Congress was only working for interest of Hindus and
that Hindus wanted to feel superior to other minorities
So he stated his Two Nation Theory declaring the Muslims and Hindus were to
separate nations which could not cooperate together for any cause