By Mohammed Saleem Khaleefa,
I would like to pay my respectful tributes to a great scholar and a noble soul on his 197th Anniversary with some memorable quotes and facts from the life of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He gave us a beautiful gift, the gift of modern education and his work has helped and inspired millions of Indian Muslim and non-Muslims.
“Success is not about how much money you make, it is about the difference you make in people lives,” this was one of Sir Syed’s teachings and I had read it at an early age. This quote influenced me a lot and inspired me to go into social service.
Mothers are very influential in children lives. The most powerful single factor in shaping the character of Syed Ahmed Khan was the influence of his mother, Aziz-un-Nisa Begum, a lady of exceptional ability, philanthropic sentiments and fervent piety.
When Syed Ahmed Khan was a Munsif at Delhi, he always used to go out in a carriage. His mother advised him: “Wherever you have to go regularly, rather than using the carriage all the time, sometimes you should go on foot. Who knows tomorrow, you may not be in a position to afford a carriage. Cultivate habits which you can continue even in adverse circumstances.” Throughout his life, Syed Ahmed acted upon the advice of his mother.
Syed Ahmed Khan inherited from his mother, her generosity, large heartedness and forbearance. When he was Sadr Amin, he went out of his way to help a person, who was in trouble and saved him. Sometime later, the ungrateful person started a campaign of smear and vilification against him and sent anonymous complaints against him to his officers. Syed Ahmed Khan came to possess the evidence of that person’s complicity in the slander campaign. He thought of wreaking vengeance on him by reporting the matter to the higher officers. But his mother advised him “The best thing for you to do is to forgive him, if at all you want to take revenge, entrust this matter to that powerful master, who punishes people for their faults. To deliver your enemies to the weak officer of this world is an act devoid of wisdom.” This advice had a tremendous effect on Sir Syed. Never again in his life did he think of avenging wrongs done to him. Her advice influenced him so deeply that he had declared: “I do not want that anybody be punished on my account even on the day of Judgment.”
Sir Syed remarked the purpose of education should be to awaken the intellect and help in the building up of an enlightened and integrated moral responsibility. If the people were educated, he believed, every evil would disappear; if not they would themselves disappear. In 1882, he said that instead of increasing the number of schools, it was necessary to improve the standard of instruction. Quality is more important than quantity. The guiding principle of Sir Syed education policy is quite relevant in the 21st century also.
I have taken inspiration from his works and I have registered an educational trust in Gulbarga (Karnataka) in August 2014. One of the main objectives of this trust, apart from running schools, institutions and coaching centres, is to create awareness among the people in various fields by conducting workshops/lectures/seminars/birth anniversaries function by inviting experts in their respective fields. Insha’Allah, I will celebrate the Sir Syed Day in July 2015 when I will visit Gulbarga in my next vacation.
(Author is M.A. Political Science, Karnataka University, Dharward , and is now residing at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.)