The Condition of Muslims after 1857

The 1857 revolt brought on Muslims the wrath of British power, as British authorities in India put the
blame for the rising squarely on the Muslims. The emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was detained, put on a
false trail and deported to Rangoon (Yangon), where he died in 1869. Delhi was sacked, while many of
its Muslim residents were summarily killed, and the signs of Muslim civilization and culture destroyed.
Besides Delhi, Muslims in other important cities were subjected to this treatment. British authorities
ruthlessly crushed the rebellion and countless innocent men, women and children were either gunned
down or burned to death.20 As Garrat and Thompson recorded:
The British troops were sewing the Mohammadans in pigskins, smearing them with porkfat, and burning
their bodies and forcing Hindus to defile them. 21
At that time it seemed that Muslims had put everything at stake and lost; and many of them decided to
leave the country. The British monitored Muslims’ activities carefully and victimized them. W.W. Hunter
rightly noted that Muslims still exhibited “at intervals their old intense feeling of nationality and
capability of warlike enterprise; but in all other respects they are a race ruined under British rule.” 22
British victory over Muslims and their treatment was rightly pointed out by Graham:
At that dreadful time many innocent men, I grieve to say, suffered for the sins of the guilty. 23

Muslims were branded as traitors and kept out of the government service because the British treated
them all as would-be rebels. Hunter had also pointed out Muslims’ status in the civil service in the year
1871: out of a total of 2,111 posts, 1,338 were occupied by the Europeans, 681 by non-Muslim
inhabitants, and only 92 by Muslims. 24
Due to these discriminatory policies of the British, it was understandable for the Muslims to nurse a
deep sense of injury, and to lose their self-respect. They sought their solace in spiritual withdrawal, and
in this state of lack of direction they waited for the advent of a pathfinder to take them out of their
stagnation. Fortunately, the community had some sensible persons to help it heal its wounds.
Saiyid Ahmad’s Educational Ideas
Like some others at that time, Saiyid Ahmad stressed to his people that the remedy was to acquire
knowledge in all branches of learning. To make this drive successful he organized a massive campaign
for education, which later came to be known as the Aligarh Movement—the movement for Muslim
regeneration in India in the shape of various gatherings, organizations, societies and educational
institutions like Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (MAO College) or Madrasat-ul-Ulum. All activities
of Saiyid Ahmad were based on his comprehensive educational programme to bring Muslims back into
the main current of social, economic and political life of the country.
Saiyid Ahmad was a realist who wanted the Indian Muslims to regain some of their lost space through
shedding their backwardness and apathy. He clearly advocated that if any nation or race wanted to
regain its position, it had to acquire education and enter different fields of knowledge, or, as he put it,
“cure the root and the tree will flourish.” In one of his lectures, he explicitly pointed out the
deteriorating condition of the Muslim community in the following words:
When people become old and weak and their immune system is ruined, they are attacked by different
diseases. The same is true of communities; when they decline, they do not decline in just one thing but
rather in everything: morality, integrity, education, civilization, affluence, humility and self-composure.
As a consequence, those who want to remedy things do not know where to begin. … But when we
ponder the matter, there is no remedy but education in sight (my trans.). 25
Saiyid Ahmad’s ideas on the education of Indian Muslims aimed at improving their condition rather than
giving them paper qualifications. His vision was to build Muslims as a strong community so that they
could live with honour and dignity in the country. His main aim in establishing the MAO College was
therefore to instil the sense of pride, self-respect and honour among the Muslims. In Saiyid’s opinion,
Muslims should excel in all disciplines of knowledge and serve people in and outside the country. 26
That was his conviction about the way to raise the Muslims, which, as a consequence, included the
foundation of a modern and vigorous system of education. According to him, it was to be a confluence
of East and West with special emphasis on the development and dissemination of scientific education. In
spite of this stress on modern education, however, he never neglected the need for religious instruction.
In one of his lectures he emphasized the importance of Arabic for Muslims. To him the largest human
integration was carried out by Islam, which united existing communities, races, creeds, and nationalities
into a single ummah.27
Saiyid Ahmad called for the promotion of modern education with the establishment of one school in
every district which would offer a number of vocational choices. If, for example, someone wanted to be
a Maulvi, a Muhaddith or a Faqih, the school would cater for his need, but it would also train its
students in mathematics and other sciences. This plan, he believed, would eventually enable Muslims to
achieve progress in both material and spiritual respects.28
His concept of Madrasat-ul-Ulum was the focal point of Saiyid Ahmad’s campaign for the dissemination
of knowledge and learning among Muslims. Before the foundation of the college, he outlined his ideas
at a meeting of like-minded Muslim intellectuals for the Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning,
which clearly demonstrate his interest in setting up an institution which would foster a wide spectrum of
talent to embrace both traditional and modern learning. This was intended not merely to preserve
traditional learning but to make it serve modern needs. With these objectives Saiyid Ahmad wanted to
establish an institution comprising three colleges:
i) An English-medium college,
ii) An Urdu-medium college in which students should learn English, Arabic or Persian as a second
language, and
iii) A college using exclusively Arabic and Persian mediums which students from the other two colleges
should join to develop their expertise both in modern and traditional disciplines.
This clearly shows that Saiyid Ahmad believed that without the integration of traditional and modern
learning, no plan of education could succeed in achieving the Muslims’ goal of socio-cultural
advancement.29
Madrasat-ul-Ulum was founded in 1875, became MAO College in 1877, and was raised to Aligarh
Muslim University in 1920. Although it did not conform to Saiyid Ahmad’s original blueprint, the college
still reflected his vision and mission. From the very beginning it combined modern subjects with Arabic
and Persian, mantiq, fiqh, theology, Islamic history and civilization, and other Oriental subjects.
Moreover, Saiyid Ahmad had a clear idea of religious instruction, which according to him included the
study of tafsir, usul-i-tafsir, hadith, usul-i-hadith, fiqh, usul-i-fiqh, ‘ilm aqai’d and ‘ilm kalam, as he
himself explained before the religious education committee. Sir Saiyid wanted to introduce religious
textbooks in the syllabus at all levels of study. Along with Arabic he proposed the teaching of religion
through Persian and Urdu as well. In the final year of their studies, MAO College students were to be
given the facilities for specialization.30
We can judge Saiyid Ahmad’s interest in theology from the fact that he appointed a special committee
of well-known scholars to prepare the syllabus and course outlines and to inculcate the knowledge and
practice of religion, for which he created the position of a Nazim-i-diniyat (Director of Religious Studies).
He sought the opinion of Maulana Qasim Nanotavi, the founder of Deoband, and other ulama in filling
the position. In the end, he appointed Maulana Abdullah Ansari, the grandson of Maulana Mamluk Ali
from the Deoband school.31
To comprehend Saiyid Ahmad’s ideas regarding theology and Oriental disciplines it is necessary to know
that he was a supporter of modern education as well as traditional subjects, but he wanted the latter to
be taught in a new spirit and in line with the needs of modern times. He made it clear regarding ‘Ilm
Kalam (Rhetoric), but he stressed that we should rediscover a new ‘Ilm Kalam suited to contemporary
needs, and suitable textbooks should be prepared and incorporated in the syllabus. In Saiyid Ahmad’s
view the knowledge of modern philosophy creates doubts in the minds of students but the traditional
‘Ilm Kalam, which was introduced by scholars during the Abbasid period (750-1258) against the adverse
effects of Greek philosophy, is neither able to counter these doubts nor strengthen faith against the
inroads of modern science and philosophy.32 He clearly urged the Muslim scholars and elite:
I am very humbly asking you which of our prescribed religious books in common use today, reject or
confirm Western philosophy and modern sciences through serious religious arguments? 33

Apart from theology, Saiyid Ahmad was very much interested in the methodology of teaching Arabic and
Persian languages and literatures. According to him, the aim of the study of these languages is not only
to know the languages but also to foster among the students a critical interest in the origin and
development of the languages and their literary history. With these aims in mind, in appointing teachers
Saiyid Ahmad preferred those who were well versed in both traditional and modern learning. He greatly
stressed the point that even traditional subjects should be taught in the modern way.34
It is a common misconception regarding Saiyid Ahmad’s educational ideas that he was against the
Oriental studies and did not believe in the usefulness of madaris (religious schools). If we critically study
the thoughts and ideas of Sir Saiyid Ahmad and his association with Ulama and centres of religious
education, it becomes fairly clear that neither he was against religious education nor was he opposed to
centres of Islamic education. His only objection was to their old teaching methodology and some of their
irrelevant subjects that could not cater to contemporary needs. He made it clear that they should
restructure courses and the style of their teaching in line with contemporary needs. He expressed his
ideas and comments on the deteriorating condition of madaris through his lectures, letters and writings
and wanted reform in the old education system. He appealed to Muslim leaders, particularly the ulama,
and well-wishers of the community. Moreover, he elucidated the main reasons of deterioration of
Muslim education in a treatise, Deterioration of Religious Education. He discussed in detail the factors
that led to the decline of Muslim education. On the other hand, with the help of the Mohammedan
Educational Conference he supported the idea of advancement of Oriental knowledge and development
of madaris which he believed to be the major activities of this conference. He paid special attention to
the conference activities and called for reform of the madaris. The details of these activities can be seen
in the proceedings of this society.35 Saiyid Ahmad developed cordial relations with Ulama and the
founder of the famous Deoband and Nadwatul Ulama seminaries and pleaded for mutual cooperation.
He wrote letters to the important persons in the madrasa administration. He and his successors were
also in close touch with the religious schools. Their collaboration can be gauged from the following
examples:
1. Sir Saiyid’s correspondence with and appeal to Deoband authorities in the selection of the first few
Nazim-i-diniyat.36
2. On Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanotavi’s death Sir Saiyid’s obituary notice in Aligarh Institute
Gazette on Maulana’s religious and intellectual services.37
3. Maulana Muhammad Ali Mongeri’s invitation to Saiyid Ahmad to attend the meeting of Madrasa
Faizul Uloom Kanpur, and the latter’s message to ulama.38
4. The invitation to Nawab Mohsinul Mulk to chair the convocation ceremony of Madrasa Mazahirul
Ulum Saharanpur.39
5. Aligarh graduates’ admission in Deoband madrasa with scholarship for specialization in theology.40
6. Sir Saiyid’s support of the proposal for the establishment of Majlis Nadwatul Ulama at the
Mohammedan Educational Conference at its Aligarh session in 1894.41
7. Sir Saiyid’s correspondence with the first two Nazims (Directors) of Nadwa.42
8. Allama Shibli as Nadwa’s secretary sent two students to Aligarh to study modern and natural
philosophy under the supervision of Maulana Hamiduddin Frahi.43
9. One MAO College professor was invited for the preparation of courses and examination for Takmil
Adab (advanced literary studies) at Nadwa.44
10. Nawab Wiqarul Mulk’s selection for membership of Nadwa’s working committee.45
11. Majlis-i-Nadwatul Ulama’s support for the foundation of Aligarh Muslim University and their offer of
both moral and monetary support.46
12. Sir Saiyid Ahmad’s cooperation with and support of the educational and religious institutions in
dissemination of religious education.47

The above discussion suggests that Sir Saiyid Ahmad and his colleagues had always cordial relations with
ulama and traditional religious schools. The charge that Saiyid Ahmad and his colleagues had uncordial
relations with the orthodox Muslims should be rejected. If we study Saiyid Ahmad’s letters and lectures
we can see that he tried his best to cooperate with different groups of people for the sake of the
development of education among the Muslims.48 With the religious establishment he was particularly
careful, as we can see from a Deoband scholar’s recollections of his visit to Sir Saiyid on about [Tuesday
27 Rajab 1294/ 7 August 1877]. In the beginning the ulama of Deoband were not very happy with Saiyid
Ahmad because of his beliefs. He was called by his critics as “neicheri” (believer in nature, not God).
Mulla Dost Muhammad, a graduating Afghan student in Deoband reported his personal experience
regarding Sir Saiyid:
The teachers in Darul Ulum Deoband always saw Saiyid Ahmad as an atheist, a British agent and anti-
Deoband. Due to this I hated Saiyid Ahmad during the eight years of my stay there. At the end of my
studies one day I took Saiyid Ahmad’s Tafsir Qur’an to Maulana Qasim Nanotavi and asked him which of
its chapters were objectionable, and he pointed out the relevant passages. I was furious and decided to
crack Saiyid Ahmad’s head with a rod. I rushed to Aligarh with this intention. When I reached MAO
College and asked about Saiyid Ahmad, someone showed me his office. I entered the office and saw a
distinguished looking old man. After greeting him I enquired about Saiyid Ahmad and he asked me why. I
replied that I was coming from Deoband and wanted to discuss some questionable passages of his
Tafsir. Saiyid Ahmad called an attendant and instructed him to bring a cold drink for the visitor. After
drinking it I cooled down and changed my opinion regarding Saiyid Ahmad. Meanwhile a student
entered the room and Saiyid Ahmad told him that an alim from Deoband was for the first time visiting
the college. The student introduced himself very politely. Then Saiyid Ahmad asked me to counsel him
because he was receiving English education in the college and ignorant of Islamic learning. I replied that
I was just a new graduate of Deoband not an orator. Saiyid Ahmad said that it was the night of Mi’raj [27
Rajab 1294] and I should shed light on this event. I recounted a well-known hadith. Listening to this the
student became furious and shouted that he was thinking that only Jews and Christians took irrational
stories seriously, and Islam has everything logical in it. I [Mullah Dost Muhammad] became irritated but
could not speak. Saiyid Ahmad told me to open his Tafsir and read how he [Saiyid Ahmad] had explained
it. It was written in the book that Mi’raj was spiritual, not physical. Then the young student accepted this
view. At this Saiyid Ahmad turned to me and said he had actually written his Tafsir for people like that
student, not for the ulama, but at heart he fully accepted the teachings of the ulama.
‘I established this college in order to change the perception of the government towards Muslims so that
they may get good administrative positions. From the very beginning I made it clear that the student of
this college will carry the Qur’an on his head and book of hadith in his right hand and other knowledge
in his left. In my Tafsir, I followed Ibn Sina’s (Avicenna’s) book which is on the syllabus of Deoband.
Surprisingly, they call me a mulhid (atheist)’. Hearing this I embraced Saiyid Ahmad and confidently told
him that he must stick to his views and I will convey his message to the ulama of Deoband. Then and
there I broke the rod which I had brought to crack Saiyid Ahmad’s head. When I reached the railway
station a man from Saiyid Ahmad gave me my ticket to return to Deoband and five gold coins to cover
my travel expenses from there to Afghanistan. I reached Deoband and reported the overwhelming
experience to the ulama and their prejudice against Saiyid Ahmad was considerably reduced by it. On
my return to Peshawar and settling in Char Saddah and I used to recommend students from Peshawar,
Kohat and Bannu for English education in Aligarh. Saiyid Ahmad was always especially kind to them. 49

Saiyid Ahmad’s main ideas on education may be summarized as follows:

1. Madaris should be the centres of religious instruction. English language and some selected modern
disciplines should be incorporated into their syllabus.
2. Universities or modern educational institutions should pay special attention to modern education and
learning without neglecting Oriental and Islamic studies.
3. Students from the religious schools should be given a chance to proceed to higher education in the
universities or institutions of higher learning and the university students should similarly be given the
option of specialization in religious studies.
After Saiyid Ahmad’s demise, the cooperation between Aligarh and the religious seminaries did not
maintain its original tempo. In this regard it is pleasing to note that since the 1980s there has been a
new effort made to coordinate courses, with the religious institutions having their degrees recognized
for admission to higher courses in some Universities.50
In Saiyid Ahmad’s educational philosophy an important item was character building and guidance. In his
opinion the education of an individual or a group could only be achieved if bringing up was given enough
importance at the same time. He believed the goals of education and character building worked
together. He attached full importance to community life and considered it as crucial as the soul for the
body. This idea he elaborated in one of his addresses:
This was the condition of education, but we cannot achieve our goal from education only. Can education
alone produce a civilized person? A load of books on the back of a donkey will not teach him anything.
Does education alone form a nation? Can education only raise a nation in the eyes of the world? Never,
unless people become good human beings and the nation becomes a nation that can be regarded as
civilized. Thus, we Muslims must gain moral education. It is as important for a nation as spirit is for a
body. For a nation to become a true nation without moral education is almost impossible.51

According to Saiyid Ahmad, study of modern disciplines is certainly important for development but
moral education is essential; even book learning needs to be applied to everyday use to become
valuable. Sir Saiyid Ahmad’s vision was very clear for education and training. Once in a lecture he said:
My dear students, education without moral training and service of the community is irrelevant. Studying
English and getting bachelor’s and master’s degrees are not sufficient without moral training and
dedication to the community. You cannot make your people a respected community in the world. Islam
has created an Islamic brotherhood above race and country for those who profess Islam wherever they
may live, whether in China, Arabia or India. They are all brothers and Muslims are one nation called
Islam…..Hence we should work hard so that our community achieves a respectable place in the world.52

Saiyid Ahmad had a broad vision for the students’ life, particularly their instruction and practical
training. He meant that we keep an eye on their mental, physical, religious and moral well-being and
give them practical training and guidance. We need to give a right direction to their intellectual potential
so that they develop a sense of the good way of life. Saiyid believed that the aim of education could not
be fulfilled by giving the student a narrow training in just one or two branches of learning. In
government and private colleges and schools, he regretted, only instruction in one particular field was
imparted for economic benefits.53
It is also noteworthy that Saiyid Ahmad paid much attention to professional teaching and training, but
he equally stressed religious and moral training. He clearly explains:
To raise students’ moral and religious level, there should be present before them one or two figures
who will inspire them by their piety and devotion. For this purpose it is necessary to keep before them
one or two persons who would be their role models.54

Sir Saiyid not only provided for religious instruction in his curriculum but made regular arrangements for
its supervision. This was the idea behind the provision for Nazim-i-diniyat with foremost responsibility to
monitor students’ religious and moral activities in the college so that they could fulfil their obligations.
Saiyid Ahmad not only elucidated the importance of practical training but also explained the mode of
learning. According to him the effective way of providing good training to students was by establishing a
hostel, in which they stay together and share the facilities of sports and physical exercise under the
supervision of the experienced teachers who will keep an eye on their moral and religious activities.55
He assumed that a boarding house is like a machine which manufactures parts of the nation. He clarified
that students are the main parts of the machine. If these parts perform well then the machine will
function well. Once he pointed out to the students:
A boarding house is like a factory for manufacturing people to make a nation. If it works properly then it
is useful, otherwise it has no use. You are its parts, and we must keep you in working condition.56

Further, Sir Saiyid said that hostel life is like a book, which we must read properly and use with utmost
care to serve the main aim of student life. If negligence and carelessness are shown the loss will be
evident in both education and practical life. He explains:
Do not look for this book in your college library or on your table. It is always with you. What is the book?
Actually, college is a meeting place for you and your friends. Hence, you understand why you want to
study this book, and what it means.
Dear students, the name of this book is college life or new life. This is the book which, when you study it
with care and keep it free from stains, brings you rich rewards, and makes your future what a man
should live for, otherwise his life and death are alike, or even his death is better than life.57

Sir Saiyid held the view that any community has to provide for the educational needs of its own children;
otherwise these needs would not be fully satisfied. At the same time, he emphasized that Muslim
schools must include in their programmes the teaching of Western science and technology.58
Sir Saiyid was not happy that Muslims should send their children to the Christian missionary schools and
colleges. He not only disapproved of the idea but also believed it to be a shame for Muslims to hand
their children over to others to educate. He wanted that Muslims should instead have their own schools
and colleges without the interference of any university or government. In a lecture at Jalandhar in 1894,
he stressed:
Dear friends, we will achieve comprehensive education only when we have our education in our own
hands and gain freedom from the control of the universities. We will then fully control our educational
institutions and disseminate knowledge within a short time. We will hold philosophy in our right hand
and natural sciences in our left, and a crown of La-ilah Illallah Muhammadur Rasul Allah on our head.59

Sir Saiyid wanted to build national and public life, and in this context clarified the place of education:
Always the purpose of education is to instil knowledge and raise the intellectual capabilities so that man
develops his insight, understanding, and the power of reasoning regarding the creation. He can raise his
moral stature, and nurture capabilities for taking care of his life. Governments do not attach much
importance to the training of the moral character of students; they are merely interested in training
them to make a living.60

Apart from this, whenever Sir Saiyid propagated the idea of establishing a college for Muslims, he made
it clear that since the government-linked tertiary institutions could not achieve the comprehensive
purpose of education, it was necessary to establish a new college where a different type of education
and training was given to students.61
It is surprising to note that Sir Saiyid was very much against the missionary schools, and government’s
interference in the educational institutions. However, for his own college he appointed many Europeans
to teaching and administrative positions, particularly the college principal and hostel wardens. The main
reason was that he wanted to educate, train, and instil discipline among the students as he had
observed in Oxford and Cambridge.62 For this reason he recruited Indian and European staff together.
They could cooperate and exchange their expertise. He brought together scholars like Allama Shibli
(1857-1914), T. W. Arnold (1864-1930), Maulana Hamiduddin Frahi (1863-1930), and Josef Horovitz
(1874-1931). It is unfair to claim that Sir Saiyid wanted to please Western masters or was much
influenced by the West. We must make it clear here that Sir Saiyid’s prime mission was to disseminate
knowledge and keep his college free from political interference. We do not find a single instance where
he compromised with the government or allowed any interference in college administration. Actually,
Sir Saiyid’s main aim was to bring up the Indian Muslim community by giving them easier access to
modern education and instilling in them a love of knowledge. He grasped all that was good whether it
belonged to the east or to the west.63
In the light of the above discussion, it is quite clear that Sir Saiyid was a propagator of dynamic, broad
and towering ideas of education. His great aim was to change Indian Muslims so that they would
develop in their socio-cultural life. In the eyes of Sir Saiyid, it was not the aim of life to achieve modern
education only or only to continue traditional knowledge. For him the outcome of education was a
balance between the old and the new. Keeping in view the deteriorating condition of Muslims, he
stressed both the need to acquire modern knowledge and to make use of traditional learning at the
same time. 64
In Sir Saiyid’s major educational programme the main beneficiaries were Muslims because of their
political and economic weakness. In this situation, he played a role of liberator for the entire Muslim
community in the subcontinent. He focused on the education of Muslims in India because in the late
19th century the Indian Muslims as a community were lagging far behind their non-Muslim compatriots
in education and employment. Sir Saiyid used a simile to make this point: the brother who is suffering ill
health needs special attention and deserves much care from his siblings; the medicine prescribed to him
is tailored to his weakness, his sickness and his temperament. This treatment will not only restore him to
health but do good to the whole family through his contribution to it. There is no doubt that Sir Saiyid’s
thoughts, actions and reforms were always for the service of community and nation. 65
Saiyid Ahmad’s Shift to Modern Education
His first achievement in the field of education was the founding in 1859 of a Persian madrasa in
Moradabad, which was different from contemporary Persian schools by maintaining a much higher
academic standard by offering courses in English and modern history. Sir Saiyid was personally
fascinated by the discipline of history as a means of knowing the causes of the rise and fall of nations
and communities. In his opinion people should learn lessons from history in order to resolve their
current problems and plan for their future. 66
Saiyid Ahmad expressed his disapproval of the government vernacular schools because of their obsolete
curricula, and was reluctant to use the mother tongue for higher learning due to the paucity of
textbooks in it. By 1862, on his transfer to Ghazipur, he managed to convince people of the value of
modern education, but, understandably, they were reluctant to send their children to schools run by the
Christian missions. In 1864, Saiyid Ahmad set up Victoria School in Ghazipur, which, in addition to the
government approved subjects, offered Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sanskrit and English, with an option to
choose one or more of these languages. 67
In 1866, Saiyid Ahmad formed in Aligarh a British-India Association comprising a number of local
landowners with the intention of bridging the gap between the Government and the people who would
then communicate their grievances and problems to the authorities. This Association decided to submit
to the government an appeal requesting a fair share in the management of education in the district. The
landowners were ready to pay extra tax over and above their obligatory land cess to meet additional
expenditure on education. Their proposals were well received by the government which offered them a
role in supervising the distribution of educational funds. The local educational committees were first set
up in the districts of Aligarh and Etawah, and later on in all Northern districts. It was Saiyid Ahmad’s idea
for Indians to work in close association with the British. But in the Association’s meetings the
performance of the Indian members was unsatisfactory because they were inhibited by the British
officials. They had no guts to express their views before them.68
The same year, 1866, Saiyid Ahmad sent a plan to the government for a university under the aegis of the
British-India Association. Through this institution he wanted to disseminate Western learning among the
masses on a large scale in the medium of Urdu, as, in English, it would reach only a very small proportion
of the population. According to him modern education should be propagated among the masses
through their mother tongue so that common people would benefit from it. Initially, the Government
gave a positive response to this proposal, but it could not materialize due to a number of factors. The
crucial problem was the location of the proposed university— in Delhi or in some other city in the North.
Another problem was the translation of the textbooks into Urdu. Yet another major hurdle was the
choice of the language of instruction—Urdu or Hindi. Due to this controversy the plan for the university
was shelved, although Urdu had been the official language under the East India Company since 1835. 69
In 1867, Saiyid Ahmad was transferred as a Judge to Banaras, where he noticed the beginnings of the
anti-Urdu campaign by the supporters of Hindi. In fact, Urdu was sufficiently developed to serve as the
medium of instruction, and widely spoken by the people, both Hindus and Muslims, in the urban areas
of the North. Saiyid Ahmad wrote enthusiastic articles in support of Urdu in his Aligarh Institute Gazette.
At last Government recognized Urdu as an official language in the northern provinces on the basis that it
was more widely known and spoken than Hindi. 70
Initially Saiyid Ahmad paid more attention to the wellbeing of the country and Hindu-Muslim unity
through his writings and public lectures. He drew financial and administrative support for his schools
and scientific society from both Hindu and Muslim communities, but violent opposition to Urdu put him
on the defensive. He sensed the cultural differences existing between the two major communities of
India. The pro-Hindi campaign was an outcome of a larger revivalist movement. The supporters of Hindi
were not ready to accept Urdu because it had its origin during Muslim rule and was associated with the
Mughal culture. Apart from his concern over this sharp language controversy, Saiyid Ahmad was
apprehensive when he learned that at the instigation of Babu Shiv Prasad, the Hindu members of the
Scientific Society demanded that Urdu cease to be the official language of the Society, and that the
Society’s journal and books be published in Hindi. This language dispute left a great mark on Saiyid
Ahmad’s mind. Though his faith in co-existence remained unshaken, he became conscious of the
separate identity of the Muslims and their extreme backwardness in the country. 71
Saiyid Ahmad visited England with his two sons in 1869. During his stay of seventeen months he closely
observed the socio-cultural life of that country, which left a great mark on his own mind. He personally
visited universities, schools, libraries, and museums, and was very much impressed by the cultured and
civilized British society. While visiting several institutions, Saiyid Ahmad discovered that classroom
lessons and curricula were not enough in moulding students’ lives, and that character-building required
more than book learning: hostel life, intellectual involvement of teacher and student, literary activities,
debating clubs, societies, games and social service, all these made an ideal environment for education
and training. 72
Yet another feature of privately administered British institutions which attracted Saiyid Ahmad’s notice
was their complete freedom from government interference. He was astonished to see the progress of
these institutions without government support. However, he was fully convinced by the effectiveness of
the institutions he visited and kept it in mind when he drew an outline of his future plan for the
education of the Muslims of India. On the pattern of Cambridge and Oxford he wanted to establish a
private Muslim educational institution to cater for the educational needs of Indian Muslims. His tireless
zeal and determination impelled him to plan an institution akin to the British model that he saw and
admired. To transform his dream into reality Saiyid Ahmad and his son Saiyid Mahmud chalked out
details of his proposed scheme. British engineers drew the building plan with an estimated budget of
one million rupees, and the Saiyid was most anxious to return to India to implement it. On 10
September 1869, he wrote to Mohsinul Mulk (Mehdi Ali) from England:
It would be to our great advantage, if a separate educational institution could be established for the
Muslims. Hardly a night passes without our discussion of the plan for such a college. 73

While still in England, Saiyid Ahmad was already eager to place his plans before the Indian Muslims to
know their views on modern education. He drafted the appeal letter both in Urdu and English assisted
by his son Saiyid Mahmud. On 29 April 1870, Saiyid Ahmad wrote to Mohsinul Mulk urging him to bring
out a new monthly journal called Tahzibul Akhlaq (Mohammedan Social Reformer) with the special
purpose of disseminating his educational ideas. The journal was launched on 24 December 1870.74 He
returned to India on 2 October 1870 with a great hope to convince Muslims about the value of modern
education. But one day before Saiyid Ahmad arrived in Allahabad by train from Bombay, his critics had
already circulated thousands of copies of a pamphlet urging local Muslims:
If you believe in the true faith you must drive away Saiyid Ahmad from your city. You cannot be true
Muslims if you shake hands and dine with him. 75

Seeing this negative response, Saiyid Ahmad decided to delay setting up his college. Instead, he planned
to launch a campaign to persuade public opinion in favour of the importance of English education for
Indian Muslims. The appeal was widely publicized in the Aligarh Institute Gazette, and its copies sent to
friends, dignitaries, and Government officials like Kalb-e-Ali Khan, the Nawab of Rampur, and Sir William
Muir, the Lieutenant Governor of North-Western Provinces. Within a month they had collected
donations exceeding a thousand rupees for the proposed fund.76
Encouraged by this outcome, Saiyid Ahmad formed on 26 December 1870, a committee of like-minded
Muslim intellectuals for the Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning among the Muslims of India.
To attract public attention, they announced an essay writing competition on the problems of education
among the Muslims, in which thirty-two participated. The first prize was given to Mehdi Ali, but he
withdrew from the contest, and hence it passed to Saiyid Ashraf Ali, a student of Banaras College, while
the second award was made to Maulvi Mushtaq Husain (Waqarul Mulk), and the third to Maulvi Abdul
Wadud.77
As secretary to the Select Committee, Saiyid Ahmad submitted a detailed report of its functions and
activities. The report had three segments: the first comprised the details of the essay competition and
its aims and objectives with brief notes on the winners; the second part included the remarks made by
the committee members on the essays and the significant problems pointed out by the essayists, and
the third part comprised Saiyid Ahmad’s educational scheme, with his comments on the twenty-five
award winning essays.78
The essayists raised significant points and offered reasons for the aversion of Muslims to Western
education. The Pioneer (of Allahabad) reviewed the report and pointed out the reasons for the failure of
the government institutions:
1. Lack of religious education in Government schools.
2. English education created skepticism about one’s faith.
3. Western education’s adverse effect on morals and manners.
4. Muslims’ unwarranted prejudice against learning English.
5. The exclusion of Muslims from Government policy making on education.
6. The perception of Muslims elite that it was unbecoming to send their children to government schools.
7. Muslims’ traditional preference of military training to liberal education.
After a careful scrutiny of the entries the committee concluded the following:
1. Muslim intellectuals were showing groundless prejudice against Western education, which was
detrimental to their interest.
2. The Government would be unable to help Muslims if they persisted in rejecting English.
3. Muslims should acquire modern education while preserving their religious beliefs and culture.
Saiyid Ahmad sent the gist of the essays and the committee’s findings to the Government of India, and
the provincial administrations of United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh), Madras, Bengal and Bombay. He also
circulated them among the Muslims. The committee decided to “Look forward to, and inaugurate an
educational system for future generations.” 79
At the last meeting of the Select Committee, held in Banaras on 15 April 1872, it was agreed to dissolve
the committee and replace it with a new one called the Majlis-i-Khazinat al-baza’t li-tasis-Madrasat-ul-
Ulum-ul Muslimin (The Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College Fund Committee). Saiyid Ahmad was
elected its Honorary Life Secretary. Under the auspices of this committee a detailed plan was chalked
out to collect donations to the fund.80
The full text of the Select Committee report was widely circulated. It was dispatched to the Government
of India and its local administrative bodies, and published in Tahzibul Akhlaq. The Government of India,
already beginning to realize the inadequacies of its educational policies as regards the Muslims, passed
two resolutions (in 1871 and 1873), which admitted these shortcomings, and suggested some
modifications in favour of the Muslims. The government of the North Western Provinces asked for more
copies of Saiyid Ahmad’s report, and the provincial government promised to provide study grants for the
study of secular subjects. In his letter dated 9 August 1872, the Secretary to the Government of India
wrote:
His Excellency the Governor-General in council is very happy to learn about the scheme for an Anglo-
Oriental College. He earnestly hopes that the plan meets with success which it so well deserves. This
scheme of the Mohammadans of the North-Western Provinces is indeed worthy of all possible support
and encouragement from the Government. The efforts of Saiyid Ahmad Khan Bahadur and all his
associates in this great work are highly commendable.81

The College Fund Committee in its meeting held at Banaras on 30 June 1872, agreed to form
subcommittees all over the country for the collection of donations. After a thorough discussion on the
suggestion given by Saiyid Ahmad they chose Aligarh as the most suitable location for the college,
hoping to find positive support from the Muslim community. They decided to form a fund subcommittee
especially for Aligarh under the secretaryship of Maulvi Samiullah Khan, with Raja Saiyid Baqar Ali Khan,
Kunwar Muhammad Lutf Ali Khan of Chhatari, Muhammad Inayatullah and Munshi Muhammad
Mushtaq Husain as members. Among the responsibilities of the subcommittee were collection of
donations from the neighbouring districts, selection of a suitable site for the college and purchase of
buildings for the establishment of the institution.
It was impractical to delay the selection of the location of the college because a large number of Muslim
contributors made their donations on condition that the fund should only be used for purchasing land
and buildings, and not for any other project. Hence, in July 1872, the Committee issued a circular inviting
the opinion of Muslims on the location of the college, but indicated its own preference for Aligarh,
which was welcomed by most Muslims. At its meeting on 10 February 1873, the Fund Committee
decided by forty-seven votes to five in favour of Aligarh. It was also agreed that secondary schools
affiliated to Aligarh would be opened in every district. The schools’ rules and regulations were
formulated and passed at the committee’s meeting on 3 May 1873.82
At the Fund Committee’s meeting of 10 February 1873, Saiyid Mahmud presented a paper in which the
college scheme was divided into phases. Initially, he planned for the establishment of a high school,
which would afterwards, on availability of adequate funds, be raised to a college. Besides, he suggested
that the Committee should not be satisfied with the establishment of a college, but should strive hard to
elevate it to a university. The Committee fully endorsed this proposal, and decided to send its
resolutions to newspapers and magazines for publication. Copies were also submitted to the
Governments of India and United Provinces for endorsement with an appeal for a grant-in-aid.83
Next the Committee began to look into the possibility of opening the university. They stressed that the
Government should not interfere in educational matters, and that they should not start the project
without sufficient funds. Apart from modern disciplines and technical training they emphasized moral
and religious instruction:
The college should provide education which will turn the attention of students towards the community’s
social and religious well-being.84
Saiyid Mahmud stressed the importance of residential arrangements for students and cordial relations
between staff and students. The school’s time frame was five years for pupils aged between 10 and 18
years, with a daily 5 hours of lessons, and an additional hour for theology classes. For the proposed
college, a four-year syllabus was prepared including Intermediate and Bachelor degree courses with an
average three hours of daily lectures. Saiyid Mahmud introduced Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin and
Sanskrit languages as optional subjects. A proposal was made to offer a two-year specialized course for
master’s degrees. The committee fixed the salaries of teaching and administrative staff and the ratio of
scholarship grants for the students.
Saiyid Mahmud based his scheme on the one adopted by Cambridge University, with some
modifications to suit the local conditions. The committee worked hard to develop a conducive
environment of higher education where Muslim students, along with non-Muslims, could receive both
secular and religious education together, and none of them was allowed to interfere in the religious
beliefs of the others. Copies of the scheme were forwarded for comment to the Government of India,
the provincial governments, and the ulama.85
Opposition to the College
Muslims’ support and donations for the college opened the door for its success, but a few dogmatic
Muslims stirred up opposition to the scheme, led by Imdad Ali, the Deputy Collector of Kanpur, and
Maulvi Ali Bakhsh Khan, a subordinate judge of Gorakhpur. According to Hali, their opposition was not
against Saiyid Ahmad’s religious convictions per se, but they were motivated by personal jealousy.
Actually, in the beginning a number of British officials abhorred Saiyid Ahmad’s progressive views, and
since both Imdad Ali and Ali Bakhsh Khan were government employees, it seems they wanted by their
opposition to please their superiors. The Director of Education of U.P. himself was not very happy with
Saiyid Ahmad’s educational scheme, and on 28 December 1872, the Indian Observer published a special
article on the proposal for the school criticizing it severely. Saiyid Ahmad, suspecting that the Director of
Education was behind it, wrote a reply to it in Tahzibul Akhlaq, in which he blamed the Director for
giving education a wrong direction with harmful consequences.86
However, a section of the Muslim community opposed Saiyid Ahmad because of their fear that he would
impose his liberal beliefs upon Muslim youths, and force them to wear Western dress; others were
afraid that he would teach them Shia doctrines. Yet another group was worried that the donations
collected for the college might be invested to earn interest, which is prohibited in Islam. Maulvi
Muhammad Qasim and Maulvi Muhammad Yaqub denounced Saiyid Ahmad for his mixing of Shia and
Sunni students together.87
Saiyid Ahmad’s critics went to the point of seeking help from the ulama and muftis to issue fatawa
(religious rulings) against this project. Maulvi Imdad Ali actually obtained fatawa from the muftis of
Delhi, Rampur, Amroha, Moradabad, Bareilly, Lucknow, Bhopal and several other places, which
unequivocally condemned those who wanted to establish the college as kafir (infidel). Maulvi Ali Bakhsh
Khan even travelled to Makka and Madina to seek fatawa against Saiyid Ahmad and his college through
a peculiar questionnaire that read:
Can you approve the establishment of a college whose founder refutes mi’raj (the bodily night journey
of the Prophet to heaven), who does not accept as true the story of Adam and Eve, and who insists that
Muslims must follow the European lifestyle? 88

In response, four muftis of Makka issued their fatwa denouncing Saiyid Ahmad and his idea of a college.
The fatwa is as follows:
This sort of person is a follower of Satan, and misguides good people. If he insists on such wickedness,
physical force can be used against him.

Maulvi Ali Bakhsh Khan went to Madina and obtained the following fatwa:
If this type of school was established, then Muslims should demolish the structure.89

Saiyid Ahmad treated these fatawa as recognition of his good work, hoping that his opponents would
regret their mistake one day and join him in this noble task. Many of his close friends were discouraged,
but Saiyid Ahmad who had faith in his principles, believed that these dark clouds would clear soon. He
had amazing courage and patience that helped him to ignore all this personal criticism, raise the morale
of his colleagues and encourage them to urge people to donate generously to the fund. He toured the
country, delivered lectures, set up shops to sell books and pictures, and organized a lottery in the annual
exhibition held at Aligarh. He even set up a theatre and appeared on the stage along with his friends.90
At the Fund Committee’s meeting of 31 August 1873, Saiyid Mahmud moved that the committee known
as the MAO College Fund Committee, should change its name to “the MAO University Fund Committee,”
in line with the resolution passed on 10 February 1873 that the ultimate aim was to achieve the status of
a university. But to Maulvi Samiullah Khan this proposal appeared impractical in the current situation. In
another Fund Committee meeting, held at Aligarh on 21 December 1873, it was decided that for the
time being, the plan was neither for a college nor for a university, but for a modest beginning with a
small school that was hoped to convince people of its excellent standards and educational programme,
and make them realize that their opposition was biased and ill-informed.91
At the last minute the issue of supervision of religious education was raised at a time when the setting
up of the school was in its final stage. To minimize criticism, it was decided that Saiyid Ahmad and the
Fund Committee should keep their distance from the control of religious instruction. At a meeting on 11
January 1875 a committee of seven members was set up to monitor the affairs of Sunni theology with
power to appoint or remove any members discreetly. They had full authority for the appointment of
teachers, designing syllabi and the selection of teaching methodology. On similar lines the department
of Shia theology started.92
Maulvi Ali Bakhsh of Gorakhpur, a diehard opponent of Saiyid Ahmad, was ready to cooperate with him
on the condition that Saiyid Ahmad and the College Fund Committee would not interfere in religious
education. Saiyid Ahmad in a public speech on 31 July 1874 at Gorakhpur declared:
Fortunately, Haji Ali Bakhsh is in this meeting … on whose advice we decided on a no-interference policy
between the College Fund Committee and the school’s religious committee, for which we would appoint
two independent committees of Sunnis and Shias. I [Saiyid Ahmad] assure Haji Ali Bakhsh that I will
neither accept membership of these committees nor interfere in their internal affairs, and the College
Fund Committee has supported the idea.93

Maulvi Ali Bakhsh was enraged when he learnt that two or three nominated members of the religious
committee were also associated with the Fund Committee. Saiyid Ahmad clarified this by emphasizing
that they were not permanent members but were only nominated ones because of their expertise in
theology. However, Maulvi Ali Bakhsh was not satisfied and he withheld his earlier promise of a
donation of eight hundred rupees. 94

Beginning of the School

On 20 May 1875 it was decided in Banaras that the date of inauguration of the school would be 24 May
1875, coincidenting with the birthday of Queen Victoria. Saiyid Ahmad managed to persuade the Fund
Committee’s Secretary, Maulvi Samiullah Khan, to lay the foundation stone, and Maulvi Muhammad
Karim chaired the inaugural function. Saiyid Ahmad in his inaugural speech introduced the first four
students amongst whom was Hamidullah Khan, the son of Samiullah Khan and two others from
Azamgarh, a district of the United Provinces. Samiullah Khan presented the total budget including the
annual expenditure of the school. Mr. H. G. I. Siddons, a graduate of Oxford University, was appointed as
Headmaster, and he took charge of the school on 28 June 1875. Teaching had commenced on 1 June
with a total of eleven students and six teachers; on 1 July 1875 the number of teachers was raised to
seven. 95
To attract students, the College Fund Committee introduced twenty merit scholarships of five and ten
rupees a month respectively, which were to be given to meritorious students. But, in the beginning
many students joined the school for financial gain and not for study. Maulvi Samiullah Khan brought this
issue to the notice of Saiyid Ahmad through his letter of 22 June 1875:
Four more students offered themselves for admission, but first they enquired about their monthly
allowances. They do not treat it as a school, but as a business centre. 96

Nonetheless, soon the number of students increased to sixty, who initially stayed in one hostel, but, in
November 1875, another boarding house was provided under the supervision of Maulvi Abul Hasan. The
third boarding house set up in a rented house in the city was taken care of by a head-boy. The boarding
charges ranged from three and a half rupees to twelve rupees a month, but Hindu students were given
admission only as day-students. The school was affiliated with Calcutta University for the matriculation
examination, and the first batch of students sat for their examination in 1877. 97
A committee was formed for visitors to inspect the school on the pattern of Oxford and Cambridge
universities. Sir William Muir visited the school on 12 November 1875 as Visitor and exchanged his views
with many committee members. On this occasion, the school administration gave a sumptuous
reception and in their inaugural lecture, the College Fund Committee proposed the opening of the
departments of English and Oriental Studies. The division of English was to function up to high school,
and its medium was English. The Oriental Studies department would function in Urdu medium with
Arabic and Persian as compulsory subjects, and English as a second language. This section would be
upgraded to college level in January 1876. With these arrangements, it was agreed that the name of the
college would be Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College. On this occasion, the names of the significant
donors were announced. On 6 December 1875 Mahendar Singh (1862-1876), the Maharaja of Patiala,
along with his Prime Minister Khalifa Muhammad Hasan, visited the school and was very much
impressed by it. On 8 December 1875, the divisional commissioner of Meerut visited the school,
inspected the classrooms and hostels, and announced on increase in government aid. 98
In October 1876, Sir William Muir visited the school for the second time. On this occasion Saiyid Ahmad
Khan announced a merit scholarship in the name of the lieutenant governor. The latter sincerely
admitted that during his tenure as governor he realized that Muslims of this region were loyal to and
favourably disposed towards the Queen of England. The governor’s comment elicited in Saiyid Ahmad a
sigh of relief and he considered it the first success of his mission towards clearing all doubts and ill
feelings of the British authorities against the Indian Muslims. 99
Saiyid Ahmad’s Permanent Stay in Aligarh
In its early days, the school faced much difficulty; it was felt that Sir Saiyid’s presence might boost the
smooth running of the administration. Keeping this in view, he decided to resign from government
service and settled permanently in Aligarh. The government released him from active service on 1 July
1876. In Banaras, under the chairmanship of Raja Shambhu Narain, a Sir Saiyid Ahmad Khan Memorial
Committee was formed. On 31 July 1876, under the aegis of the committee a farewell party was
organized in which they paid tribute to Sir Saiyid in the following words:
We honestly without hesitation acknowledge that he [Saiyid Ahmad] has shown keen interest for the
establishment and development of MAO College. It is very important for the college to achieve progress
at his hand.100

The Aligarh community organized a reception on 25 August 1876 with great joy and excitement.
Meanwhile Sir Saiyid sent a delegation led by Muhammad Karim, Maulavi Samiullah Khan and Maulavi
Chiragh Ali to meet Nawab Mir Mahboob Ali Khan (1869-1911), the Nizam of Hyderabad, during his visit
to Delhi. On 30 January 1877, the delegation met the Nawab and he promised to increase his grant to
the college. 101
Foundation of the College
Before the commencement of the new academic year 1877, it was decided that the status of the school
should be enhanced to a college because the first batch of Arts students were about to join class XI. On
this occasion, Sir Saiyid devoted his energy and put his life at stake for supervising the construction of
classrooms and hostels. He was so dedicated to the affairs of the college that he was his own building
supervisor, mason, engineer and paymaster all in one. He stood around all day in the hot sun and
supervised the work of masons and carpenters, gave instructions to stonecutters and at end of the day
himself made payments to the workers. Thus, the construction work was completed in less than two
years. 102
On 8 January 1877, Lord Lytton, the Viceroy and Governor General of India, laid the foundation stone of
the college. On this occasion in his welcome address to the Viceroy, Sir Saiyid remarked:
…..in the past there have been many institutions founded by the notables and some of them even by the
rulers. They were funded and endowed by private individuals or from the royal coffers. It is for the first
time that a college is founded not due to an individual’s love of learning or royal patronage, but by the
combined aspirations and efforts of the whole community…. It is based on the principles of open-
mindedness and the path of progress which have no match in the annals of the East and West.103

Sir Saiyid explicitly presented the objective of the college to develop a balance between the thinking,
understanding and emotions of the East and the West. The founders of the college stated its aims in the
following words:
To dismiss those erroneous traditions of the past which have stalled our progress; to eradicate those
narrow-mindednesses, which have thus far exercised a harmful influence on our nation; to reunite
Oriental learning with Western literature and science; to activate in the lazy nature of the people of the
East the pragmatic care which belongs to those of the West. 104

Sir Saiyid announced the main library of the college would be named Lytton Library after the Viceroy.
Lord Lytton, himself a literary figure, thanked the authorities of the college for giving his name to the
library, he described as the best society to which anyone can be admitted. Lord Lytton struck three
times the silver mallet and said:
I declare this stone to be well and truly laid. 105
The humble beginning of the college was made with the following subjects:
1. Languages: English, Arabic Persian, and Sanskrit;
2. Moral Sciences: Logic, rhetoric, mental and moral philosophy, and history;
3. Natural philosophy, mathematics and natural sciences;
4. Muhammadan Law, jurisprudence and theology.
In line with Sir Saiyid’s educational ideas the college did not produce graduates to be bookworms or
greedy for positions in the civil service. He wanted to generate a new breed of future Muslim leaders
who would dedicate their energies wholeheartedly to the regeneration of the ummah. Apart from
getting quality education students must achieve academic excellence, truthfulness, consciousness,
patriotism, morality and cultivate the sense of responsibility towards community. Sir Saiyid was very
much keen to train and inculcate the virtues among the students so they would improve the fabric of
society.106
Students were not only required to show excellence in academic performance, but also encouraged to
join different associations, clubs, debating and literary societies, which gave them useful training. It was
part of Sir Saiyid’s faith that students’ hostel activities and strict training make them successful in their
mission and vision to lead the community and nation towards a respectable life. He also wanted to instil
self-respect, tolerance, unity and brotherhood in students coming from different parts of the country.
With the accomplishment of his dynamic educational ideas and the foundation of MAO College Sir Saiyid
realized soon that a single educational institution is not sufficient to cater to the growing needs of
Muslim education in India. Hence, in order to fulfil the demand, he organized the Muhammadan
Educational Conference at Aligarh in 1886. In its annual sessions held in various cities in the country,
scholars met and discussed Indian Muslims’ educational problems. The conference acted as a catalyst in
bringing about a new awareness among them about the importance of education; in this respect the
Conference served as an arm of the Aligarh Movement.

Role of Aligarh in the Formation of All India Muslim League

Sir Saiyid was firm in his belief that Muslims should devote their time and energies to acquiring
knowledge and strive hard for the uplift of the community. But he was very concerned about the
political condition of the Muslims of India, particularly owing to the growing influence of the Indian
National Congress. In his speeches and writings Sir Saiyid clearly pointed out the new political situation
that had compelled him to safeguard the interests of Muslims. After Sir Saiyid’s death his successors in
Aligarh took up the task with the same vigor. Later, the Aligarh Movement continued the mission of
defending the rights of Indian Muslims, and Sir Saiyid’s former associates Nawab Mohsinul Mulk and
Waqarul Mulk put before Muslims the idea of the formation of a Muslim political organization of India.
During the 20th session of the Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dacca in December 1906 the
Muslims conceived the idea of launching a political organization of their own. Eventually, on 30
December, under the stewardship of Nawab Waqarul Mulk, All India Muslim League was founded with
its major goal to protect the rights and interests of the Muslims of India.107 The MAO College played a
significant role in the dissemination of awareness and political ideas among the Muslim masses. Even
after 1920, when it was upgraded to Muslim University Aligarh, the task set before the community by Sir
Saiyid was continued. The students of Aligarh made a great impact during 1946 elections in support of
the creation of Pakistan. In large numbers Muslim University students fanned out over the whole of pre-
Partition India to campaign from door to door for Muslim League candidates. Many of them afterwards
filled key positions left vacant in Pakistan after Partition. They played a crucial role in the running of the
new nation.
Today Aligarh Muslim University is a symbol and a nerve centre for unity in the subcontinent. Students
not only from India but from abroad are joining the university and completing their studies without
suffering any prejudice on account of religion, caste, or colour. Sir Saiyid’s mission is very much alive
today.