Syed Ahmed Khan and His Educational Ideas

Abstract

Syed Ahmed Khan is understood as the harbinger of modern education amongst Muslims of South Asia. There is a general scholarly consensus that it was through his educational efforts that English medium education came to Muslims who were otherwise aligned with traditional religious education. The commentary argues that this consensus needs revision and that Muslims were already accessing modern education through the English medium even before Syed Ahmed started his college at Aligarh. Moreover, the commentary also problematizes the notion of Muslim community within Syed Ahmed’s thought. Through his writings and speeches, it is pointed out that for Syed Ahmed, the notion of Muslim community was confined to upper caste Muslims called the Ashrafs. Also, Syed Ahmed’s views were extremely regressive when it came to women’s education. Despite Aligarh being a modern university which is accessible to all castes and gender, Syed Ahmed’s legacy has not been critically analysed. The commentary is a small start in this direction