ANJUMAN Taraqqi-i-Urdu Hind (ATUH), Delhi, has recently reprinted Armughan-i-Aligarh, a book by Prof Khaliq Ahmed Nizami (1925-1997). ATUH’s secretary Dr Ather Farouqui was kind enough to reroute a few books to this writer via a third country, otherwise getting a book or magazine from India these days is simply out of the question, that is, despite the recent thaw in relations between the two countries.
The packet contained quite a few nice works including Armughan-i-Aligarh. The book was first published in 1974 and was reprinted to coincide with the centennial of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which was given the status of a university in 1920 — after a struggle for about 20 years.
The book is a collection of Urdu and Persian poems written to pay tribute to Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College — often referred to as MAO College — and its founder, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898). But what is equally impressive is the foreword by Prof K.A. Nizami. It is divided into six parts and each one of them offers some thought-provoking ideas.
The first part, explaining the historical background of MAO College, stresses the fact that it was cultural and reformist movement and not only an educational institute. Having been an eyewitness to the decline of the Mughal dynasty, Syed Ahmed Khan knew what ailed the subcontinent’s society and had initially pinned his hopes on the Jihad Movement launched by Maulana Syed Ahmed Shaheed (1786-1831), also known as Syed Ahmed Barelvi. As put by Prof Nizami, Sir Syed was writing Asaar-us-Sanaadeed, or The Relics of Noble Heroes, in 1845, some 14 years after the Movement ended in Maulana Barelvi’s martyrdom, and when Sir Syed began writing about Maulana Barelvi he could not contain his emotions and paid glowing tributes to him.
Interestingly, when the book’s second edition appeared in 1854, the chapter narrating Syed Ahmed Barelvi’s account and his Movement was axed, says Nizami. This was not an unintentional move as the political atmosphere in the subcontinent had changed drastically. Here Nizami says that Sir Syed had realised that there was not a single entity in the country — moral, intellectual, military or administrative — that could lead a political movement. Had there been any political institution in the subcontinent vigorous enough to power any such movement, the fruits of the third battle of Panipat (1761) could not have been reaped by the British in the battle of Plassey (1757), says Nizami.
“When Sir Syed lamented that ‘in a few years no Muslim would be able to find a job other than that of a sais (groom), khansaman (cook) and grass-cutter, he was not exaggerating because his eyes had seen the descendants of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi, cutting the grass”. And it was Sir Syed, adds Nizami, who had foreseen the future and decided to break the old anvils to find a way for the survival of his nation with his reformist agenda, equipped with new, Western knowledge based on science and modern philosophy.
Here Nizami draws parallels between Sir Syed and some other reformists in Sir Syed’s contemporary Islamic world, such as Fuad Pasha (Turkey), Hayreddin Pasha (Tunis), Sheikh Hadi Najmabadi (Iran), Mustafa Kamil (Egypt), Emir Abdelkader (Algeria), Muhammad Ibn Ali As-Senussi (Libya), Jamaluddin Afghani (Afghanistan) and Mufti Alam Jan (Russia). He says these reformists chose different paths for the revival of their nations and some saw political power as the way out, some thought revival of religious ideas was the answer and some sought enlightenment through Western and modern ways. Sir Syed, he further says, like Fuad Pasha, Muhammad Ali Pasha and Hayreddin Pasha, was of the view that Muslims should break shackles of old ideologies and follow the modernist path.
The remaining portions of the foreword are just as packed with different notions and rare information. For instance, it tells us that in the beginning Sir Syed, too, composed poetry in Urdu and Persian and his penname was ‘Aahi’. His son Syed Mahmood, too, was a poet and even Ghalib had appreciated his poetic acumen. Nizami also describes how Iqbal had a dream in which Sir Syed told him to do a specific thing regarding his ailment.
What strikes the reader is the fact that almost all the poets whose verses are made part of the book were prominent personalities and they include figures such as Shibli, Hali, Nazeer Ahmed, Iqbal and Zafar Ali Khan.
Prof Khaliq Ahmed Nizami (1925-1997) was a historian and taught at AMU. He wrote both in Urdu and English. Some of his more important works include Tereekh-i-Mashaikh-i-Chisht, Tereekhi Maqalaat, Salaateen-i-Dehli Ke Mazhabi Rujhanat, Sir Syed Aur Aligarh Tehreek, 1857 Ka Tareekhi Roznamcha (edited), Shah Valiullah Dehlvi Ke Siayasi Maktoobaat and Religion and Politics in India in Thirteenth Century.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2021
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.