Death of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, a great leader of the Muslims of North India, was born on October 17, 1817, in Delhi. He received education according to the old principles and was 22 years old when his father passed away, after which he took on various minor jobs. After passing the judiciary examination in 1841, he became a judge and gradually rose to become a judge in the lower court. During the War of Independence in 1857, he was in Bijnor, where he saved the lives of several Englishmen.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was one of the great personalities of the Muslims of India who was not just an individual but also a movement. After the failure of the War of Independence, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan became greatly distressed by the destruction of Muslims and their miserable condition. Firstly, he wrote a pamphlet on the causes and factors of this war, then he endeavored to incline Muslims towards the English language and Western sciences so that they could gradually stand on their own feet. For this purpose, he established an English school in Muradabad in 1861. Later, he established a Scientific Society where some books on history and politics were translated from English. In 1869, he went to England and in 1875, he established the Madrasa-i-Alia in Aligarh, which later became famous as the Muslim University.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan wrote numerous books, among which “Asar-us-Sanadid,” “Khutbat-e-Ahmadiya,” “Ahkam-e-Taham baa Ahl-e-Kitab,” “Qaul-e-Mateen dar Ibatal-e-Harakat-e-Zameen,” and “Risalah Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind” are more famous. In addition to this, he corrected the Ain-e-Akbari and the history of Firoz Shahi, published Tazkira-e-Jahangiri, and arranged the history of Sarkashi Bijnor. Besides, he also issued a treatise on civilization and started writing an interpretation of the Holy Quran. He had reached almost halfway through the Quran when he passed away.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s most important contribution as a leader was his educational movement. He made the nation aware of the importance of Western education and prepared Muslims for learning science and English through his writings and speeches. Narrow-minded scholars issued fatwas of apostasy against him and mocked him, but Sir Syed remained steadfast in his beliefs until the end. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was initially an advocate of religious unity, but seeing the narrow-mindedness of Hindus, he declared the two-nation theory, which later led to the foundation of Pakistan. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan passed away on March 27, 1898. He was buried in his Madrasa-i-Alia in Aligarh.
