The Islamic education came to India with the advent of Islam and the arrival of Muslims in South India, where they built mosques for offering prayers. These mosques were used as their educational institutions also. But the pattern of Madrasa education system was introduced in India by the Ghaznavid Sultans. Its structure, syllabi and courses of studies, were originally laid down in Baghdad during the 11th century C.E. The Nizamiya College founded in 1065-67 C.E. by Nizam al-Mulk, the minister of the Saljuq Sultans Alp Arslan (1063-72) and Malikshah (1072-9), was a theological seminary founded in Baghdad, particularly for the study of the Shafi’ei Shariat law and the orthodox Ash’ari system.
It was Nizam al- Mulk (d.1092) with whom al- Ghazzali (d. 1111) was closely associated and who founded the Nizamiya Colleges not only in Baghdad but in Nisapur, Isfahan and many other centres of Islamic learning. He chalked out the syllabi, and courses of studies. The Saljuq Sultans vied with the other Muslim Sultans in patronising such madrasas which spread all over Khurasan, Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Muslim world. The large majority of these institutions were devoted to specialised theological studies, e.g. Exegesis of the Qur’ān (tafsir), Hadith (Traditions) and each of the four schools of Islamic Law: Shafi’I, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali.
Sultan Mahmood also founded a madrasa at Ghazna and richly endowed it, and when later Ghaznvids transferred their capital from Ghazna to Lahore, the city became the centre of learning during the Ghaznavid period. The pattern of education which found its culmination in Ghazni was adopted in Delhi from where it spread all over the country. However, even at this early stage when these institutions were inaugurated in India, the nature and aims of the education imparted by them to the Muslim students, were rigid and narrow. It was mainly theological study with a little sprinkling of intellectual sciences. These madrasas were strongholds of orthodoxy and were subsidized by the state. They aimed at stabilising a body of beliefs and a discipline prescribed by these beliefs, around which the entire social structure revolved.
Among the later Turkish Sultans and Mughal Emperors there were many who loved knowledge and education and patronised learning and learned men. But few of these monarchs could be termed enlightened for only a few of them tried to introduce reforms in the current education systems. From the time of Iltutmish to the reign of Sikandar Lodhi (1517) the curriculum of madrasa followed a set pattern. Greater emphasis was laid on theology education (manqulat). The latter, however, established madrasas all over the kingdom and invited qualified teachers and learned men from Arabia, Persia and Central Asia. He founded madrasas at Mathura and Narwar which were “open to all without any discrimination of caste and creed.” Among the Ulama he invited were two brothers from Multan, Shaikh Abdullah and Shaikh Aziz Allah, both specialist in intellectual sciences (ma’qulat). Shaikh Abdullah’s influence led to the popularisation of these sciences and he produced 40 disciples, all specialists in ma’qulat.
Again, it was during his time that the Kayasthas took to learning the Persian language and literature. The Mughal Emperors were especially devoted to learning, a tradition which they had inherited from their forefathers. Humayun was a great bibliophile and scholar, and in the madrasa which he founded in Delhi special provision was made for teaching such intellectual sciences as mathematics, astronomy and geography, the subjects in which he was personally interested.
Akbar, though himself uneducated, took keen interest in education and at his suggestion, subjects like geometry, astronomy, accountancy, public administration and agriculture were introduced in the courses of study. “This scheme gave a secular bias to the entire educational system of the country”. The A’in- Akbari laid down: “Every boy ought to read books on morals, arithmetic, the notation peculiar to arithmetic agriculture, mensuration, geometry, astronomy, physiognomy, household matter, the rules of government, medicine, logic, the Tabiyi, Riazi and Ilahi sciences and history; all of which may be acquired gradually. In studying Sanskrit, students ought to learn the Bayakaran Niyai, Bedanta and Patanji. No one should be allowed to neglect those things which the present time requires.”
Akbar’s liberal policies in education and introduction of intellectual sciences resulted in education becoming popular both among the Muslims and the Hindus. Some of the Hindu scholars excelled in rational sciences and were appointed as teachers in the madrasas. The liberal educational policies pursued by Akbar were carried forward by his worthy successors, Jahangir and Shahjahan but they were reversed by Aurangzeb, and once again orthodoxy was the order of the day. Although Aurangzeb founded numerous madrasas all over the country, his approach in intellectual and cultural spheres was orthodox.
IMPACT OF REVOLT OF 1857
After the death of Aurangzeb, the last powerful Mughal ruler, the Mughal Empire began to decline because of inabilities of Mughal princes who indulged in civil wars for power and made the empire weaker, and paved the way for the British to seize power not only politically but culturally also. The British had come for trade. For this purpose, they had established the East India Company in 1600. Gradually the influence of the company began to increase which was felt by the Muslim Nawabs, rulers and Ulama from time to time and they waged a war against the company.
The most resounding evidences of these wars are the War of Plassy (1757), the War of Buxer, and all those wars which were fought by Haider Ali and his son Sultan Tipu against the army of the company. Unfortunately, in all these wars the Indians received defeats due to their internal disputes, their tendency of cheating and untrained army. Finally, the British established their government after the failure of the Revolt in 1857 which took place in reaction to anti-Indian cultural policies, especially its policy of encouragement of missionary schools which were very active in spreading western culture and converting people to Christianity.
After the failure of the Revolt, the British committed massacres against the Indians especially the Muslims, because they held the Muslim community responsible for this revolt and counted them perpetrators of this, and closed for them the doors of official vacancies. The Muslim Criminal Law was replaced by the British Criminal Law in 1862. In the result, the posts of Qadi and Qadi-al-Qudat were abolished. Already before this, the Persian language was replaced by the English and vernacular languages of India in 1837.
SYED AHMAD KHAN
In such a situation, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan came forward to rescue the community from this state of ruin, and to defend them from all allegations which were levelled by the British against them. In this regard, he wrote a book, The Causes Of Indian Revolt of 1857 in Urdu, in which he mentioned that the revolt of 1857 was not a part of conspiracy as they believed, but it was a reaction against anti-Indian cultural policies, which had inflicted economic loss on Indian traders and farmers and hurt their religious sentiments as well.
Moreover, he presented a number of suggestions to improve economic, social, political and educational conditions, and advised them to end gap through bridging social bondage and improving good behaviour with Indians. He also tried through this book to remove the misconception of the British about the Muslims that they cannot be loyal to any government while they believe in Qur’ān. Then he sent five hundred copies of this book to the British Parliament urging it to take immediate steps to stop punishing and exiling innocent Muslims under the pretext of the revolt.
However, it was not an easy task in such a condition, when the British were killing Indians by hanging them even at slightest suspicion. The most resounding evidence of this, that they have committed massacre against one third of Indian population is found in the statement made by the Indian historian, Birjesh Mishra. To write a book holding the British responsible for this revolt was similar to call upon the death for himself but this was the national sentiment and Islamic zeal of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan that made him to embark upon this dangerous task. In short, he sincerely tried to rescue the Muslim community from oppression of the British and sought to win the sympathy of the ruling power by declaring that they were essentially loyal to the British government.
On the other hand he called upon the Muslim community to equip themselves with the modern education and to derive benefit from European culture, which began to creep into the Indian society since 1930s, through patronising government and missionary schools which received warm reception from the Hindu community. However the Muslim community led by conservative Ulama (who have believed since the Medieval period that the science and philosophy are hostile to the tenets of Islam) kept themselves from these schools, because they had found these branches of knowledge contrary to their Islamic principles, as well as these schools were established with the aim to spread Christianity.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan is the first Indian Muslim who called upon the Indian Muslims to equip themselves with the modern scientific and religious education as well. He intensified all his efforts to combine modern and religious sciences, as he delivered his remarkable statement that deserves to be written in golden letters: “The Philosophy will be in our right hand, natural Science will be in left hand and Kalima Tayyiba will be crowned on our head.” He further explained: “The world of Nature is Allah’s work and revelation is His word, both proceed from the same source, there cannot be an ultimate conflict between Science and Religion.”
To achieve this noble goal, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan practically took numerous important and difficult steps, as he personally established in 1861 an English school at Muradabad and another in Gazipur in 1864. In 1862 he constituted a scientific society in order to translate scientific books from English into Urdu, so that Muslims who had refused association with the English education might gain benefit by absorbing some of scientific thoughts and culture of the West. In 1866 he established bilingual Urdu-English “Aligarh institute gazette newspaper”.
He paid a visit to London in 1869 to acquaint himself with the European education system. He spent there much of his time in studying great Universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as the education system and facilities provided by the government to these educational intuitions. When he came back to India in 1870, he established first a monthly magazine, Tahzibul Akhlaque to generate awareness among the Muslim community about education and finally he established Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College on May 24, 1875 which became a central university in 1922 and is now known as Aligarh Muslim University. Today the work of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in Aligarh ranks as one of the outstanding pioneering achievements in the realm of modern education, not alone in India but throughout the whole world.
THE ALIGARH MOVEMENT
It is worth mentioning here that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was supported by a number of well-known and well-versed scholars in his educational mission of modernising Muslim education in India. The most prominent figures among them are:
Abdul Latif, who started the “Mohammadan Literary Society” in 1863 with the aim of introducing Western learning and education;
Maulvi Charag Ali, a frequent contributor to his monthly magazine Tahzeebul Akhlaque and whose liberal interpretation of Islam was in complete harmony with the Aligarh programme;
Famous jurist Syed Amir Ali, who defended Islam in his famous book, Spirit of Islam, and voiced for the right of Muslim women. He advocated for their education and sought a ban on polygamy, as he pointed out that the Qur’ān warned that you shall never b eable to do justice among wives, and that if you fear you cannot do justice (among wives) then (marry) only one, this is tantamount to a virtual ban on polygamy. In this regard he is like Qasim Ameen of Egypt.
Altaf Husain Hali, who is a famous Urdu poet, wrote Musaddas-e-Hali. This poem influenced the Muslim community to understand the Sir Syed Ahmad’s efforts and the group of his followers in their attempts to modernise Muslim education.
Shibli Nu’mani, who served the Muslim community as a lecturer in the Arabic and Persian Department of Sir Syed College, held this position for about 16 years until the death of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. After the death of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, he left the college and joined the Nadwat- al-Ulama (organization of Ulama) set up at Kanpur in 1890 in order to bring about reforms in the Indian Madrasas through harmonising Islamic and Western sciences.
When in 1893 Nadwatal- al-Ulama came into being in Lucknow, Shibli Nu’mani was on its executive body, and worked hard to reconcile between Islamic and Western education. But strong opposition from the conservative Ulama within the Nadwatal- al-Ulama, forced him to leave the Madrasa.
After that he established Dar al-Mussannifeen in Azamgarh with the aim of developing skill of the Muslim writers especially Ulama. This organisation has the privilege to write and publish valuable books on Islam and Islamic history.
All these learned people, associated with the Aligarh movement have the credit of modernising the Muslim education in India and to interpret Islam in the light of modern age. With their efforts Osmania University of Hyderabad and Jamia Millia Islamia of Delhi came into being. Osmania University had the privilege of adopting Urdu as its medium for higher education. To achieve this end, it translated into the Urdu language the whole range of books prescribed at the University. All these educational institutions have been active in fostering education to all Indians especially Muslims since their formation till today. In this way, the Aligarh Movement played a very important role in modernising Muslim education in India.
MODERN EDUCATION SYSTEM WITH MEDIEVAL CONTENTS
It is interesting to know that apart from Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, there was a group of Ulama who came forward to protect Muslims from Christian missionaries and to defend Islam from their false allegations about Islam. For this purpose they established a network of madrasas all over the country. The most prominent among these madrasas is Darul Uloom at Deoband, which was established in 1866 by Maulana Qasim Nanautavi. Shaikh Qasim Nanautavi played a very leading role in the Revolt of 1857. According to authentic historical sources Shaikh Qasim Nanautavi and other Ulama raised the flag of revolt against the British under their spiritual leader Haji Imdadullah at Shamli. At first they won the war but when the news of defeat of Indian army in Delhi came, they lost their courage and received defeat. Then Haji Imdadullah migrated to Madina and stayed there for the rest of his life, and Shaikh Qasim went underground till the Queen Victoria declared general amnesty for all rebels, accepting the plea of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan presented in his book The Causes of Indian Revolt of 1857.
Then Shaikh Qasim established Darul Uloom at Deoband in association with other Ulama, and adopted for this madrasa European Education system of holding classes and exams. The period of education was divided in three categories of primary, secondary and higher education. Though it did not include modern subjects in its syllabus, adopting European Education system was also a revolutionary step taken by Ulama at that time.
But most of madrasas existing now in the Indian peninsula, including Darul Uloom at Deoband, which is considered Jamia Al Azhar of India, are following the syllabus of Darse Nizami prepared by Mulla Nizamuddin Sahalvi in the middle of the 18th century with emphasis on the theological sciences, grammar and rhetoric, philosophy, logic, and mathematics. This syllabus also was implemented in these madrasas with the omission of books on mathematics, sciences, and astronomy.
Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama of Lucknow, which was set up in 1893, worked several decades to achieve the noble goal of equipping the Ulama with modern and religious education, at the same time. However, this institution slowly shifted to the same system and courses as Darul- al-Uloom of Deoband.
In spite of the efforts of certain Muslim reformers to introduce new courses, and syllabi, the madrasas have changed but little. The Muslim revivalists of today are averse to the introduction of any reforms in these institutions and are opposed to any move to modernise them. Despite the fact that the entire Arab world has discarded the medieval methods of education and has taken to modern system and even the most ancient Arab seat of learning in Egypt, the al- Azhar University, has now revolutionised itself, and its syllabus was subjected to amendments, in India thousands of poor Muslim children who cannot afford to go to primary or secondary schools are admitted to these madrasas in the name of religious education, where they are being deprived of modern education.