Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), known more as a movement than an academic institution is one of the most important chapters of Indian history as far as the sociology of Hindu-Muslim relation is concerned. This most respected and important educational centre for Indian Muslims was initially founded as Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College (MAOC) at Aligarh in 1875 by Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898) and subsequently raised to the status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1920. This university, being the representative body of the upwardly mobile middle class Indian Muslims created a significant impact on Muslim politics in India.
If we look into the historical background of this movement, Sir Sayed Ahmed launched it with unique political and educational ideology and objective to restore the lost pride of his community after the fall of Mogul Empire. Scion of a Mogul family he was "acutely sensitive to the ending of Mogul dominance" and was therefore deeply aggrieved with the plight of Muslims.
From the post of record keeper in East India Company, which Sayed had joined in 1837, he rose to the position of Chief Assessment Official in Bijnor at the time of the outbreak of Sepoy mutiny in 1857 (Metcalf). His status in imperial power gradually transformed him to a loyal soldier of British throne. Realising ground political reality with conviction that British rule was to continue for long, he developed his political ideology against the freedom of India from colonial rule and preferred to convince his community to align with the imperial power than to confront with them. Accordingly, he made a tactical move to manage rapport between Muslims and British power by preparing his community as allies to British than their 'subjugation' under Hindu dominated power structures in the country.
It is a known fact of Indian history that Sepoy mutiny of 1857 had made a significant impact on the contemporary social history of this sub-continent. For Muslim elite it caused great mental turmoil as "they were reduced to the position of hewers of woods and drawers of water by the British" (The Aligarh Movement by Dr. Shan Muhammad, 1978, page IX). They took the fall of Mogul Empire as a defeat of the Muslim community.
As a part of his strategy Sayed made a sincere attempt to establish a rapport between Muslims and the Government. He issued a series of pamphlets entitled "The loyal Mohammadons of India" in 1860 and tried to dispel the unfavourable impression about Muslims among the British rulers. He also started publishing a journal entitled "Aligarh Institute Gazette" in 1866 and organised a branch of British Indian Association to prove his point. With his write-up on a comparative study of Quran and Bible he tried to convince the Christian rulers that both the Christians and Muslims were friends as both had a common Semitic religious bond.
Sayed visited England in 1869 and studied the British system of education and administration. With his sole ambition to transform the Muslim society by harmonizing Islam with western scientific spirit and improving the material prosperity of his community, he renounced the Islamic orthodoxy of Waliullah. His rational interpretation of Islam was however, rejected by his contemporary Muslim clergies as it was contrary to the fundamentalist views on controversial issues like Jihad, polygamy and animal slaughtering. Ultimately, he succumbed to the pressure of fundamentalists and “agreed not to express his views on Islam through his writings” (Rational Approach to Islam by Asghar Ali Engineer – 2001 –page 191).
Contrary to the fundamentalist ideology of Dar-ul-Uloom (abode of Islamic learning) founded in 1866 at Deoband, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was of the view that backwardness of Muslims could be eradicated only through western education. Accordingly he set up MAO College on his return from England with the help of British to impart western education along with Islamic knowledge. With his new educational vision he wanted to prepare the Muslim mind to change the failed medieval system of education, which had not met the material and intellectual needs of the community.
The Education Commission of 1882, while lauding the efforts of Sayed Ahmed remarked:
"The founders of the institution have realised that the only education which could bring their race into harmony with civilisation around them and restore it to a position of influence was an education frankly acknowledging advance of science, catholic in its sympathies with all that was admirable in the literature, history and philosophy of other countries, broad in its outlines and exact in its studies". (History of Aligarh Muslim University, by Khaliq Nizami, page XII).
In spite of his design to resolve the plight of Muslims through western model of education, Sayed had to face the challenges of radical Islamists for whom India under British rule was Dar-ul-Harb (Land of war) and Muslims were duty bound to launch jihad (Holy war) against it. In fact the influence of Wahhabi movement and the Islamic thought were so deep in the minds of Muslims that Syed Ahmad Khan failed to generate encouraging urge for modern and scientific education among the members of the community. However, with his missionary zeal he managed the support of a larger section of Muslim elite, who link their personal interest with the larger interest of Indian Muslims.