SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN’S LEGACY

SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN’S LEGACY Problems or Opportunities T ODAY, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) is highly acclaimed in all circles, be they religious or secular, as a pioneer reformer of the Muslim nation. But, in his own times, he was branded as heretic, an enemy of the Muslim community and an enemy of Islam. What is the reason for the difference in past and present attitudes? It is simply that those who nowadays extol his virtues, do so in retrospect, having had the opportunity to see the results of his guidance, whereas his own contemporaries were so lacking in foresight that they could not imagine any good arising from his teachings. This has been the fate of every reformer. There is no revolutionary who has not suffered from the shortsightedness of his contemporaries and who has not, as a result, had to face stiff opposition. Even the prophets were not spared this fate. It is only when the reformer’s efforts ultimately bear fruit that people begin to sing his praises. Sir Syed lived in the days of British rule in India―a period looked upon to by all senior religious leaders as an age of slavery. All the leaders of that time hated the British. In their view, British rule afforded no possibility of Muslim progress. However, Sir Syed’s thinking was totally different. He discovered favourable aspects of those same British rulers who were regularly depicted as the enemies of Islam. In the ‘slave nation,’ as Muslim intellectual would have it, he pointed out that certain freedoms did exist. What did his pointing out of freedom in slavery really mean? It meant that even under the political subjugation of the British, Indians still had educational and economic freedom. Notwithstanding the political problem, the country still offered them the opportunity to carve out an honourable, affluent life by working in non-political fields. The opponents of Sir Syed, on the other hand, concentrated on the problem of British usurpation to the exclusion of all else. In their eyes, no progress could be made unless British rule came to an end. But with his deeper insight, Sir Syed saw that if there were problems, there also If there are problems, there also exist opportunities side by side with them. Ignore the problems, feed the opportunities, and by availing of opportunities, build your life.