SIR SYED AHMAD KHAN’S LEGACY
Problems or Opportunities
TODAY, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) is highly acclaimed in all circles, be they religious or secular, as a pioneer reformer of the Muslim nation. But, in his own times, he was branded as heretic, an enemy of the Muslim community and an enemy of Islam. What is the reason for the difference in past and present attitudes? It is simply that those who nowadays extol his virtues, do so in retrospect, having had the opportunity to see the results of his guidance, whereas his own contemporaries were so lacking in foresight that they could not imagine any good arising from his teachings. This has been the fate of every reformer. There is no revolutionary who has not suffered from the shortsightedness of his contemporaries and who has not, as a result, had to face stiff opposition. Even the prophets were not spared this fate. It is only when the reformer’s efforts ultimately bear fruit that people begin to sing his praises.
Sir Syed lived in the days of British rule in India―a period looked upon to by all senior religious leaders as an age of slavery. All the leaders of that time hated the British. In their view, British rule afforded no possibility of Muslim progress.
If there are problems, there also exist opportunities side by side with them. Ignore the problems, feed the opportunities, and by availing of opportunities, build your life.
However, Sir Syed’s thinking was totally different. He discovered favourable aspects of those same British rulers who were regularly depicted as the enemies of Islam. In the ‘slave nation,’ as Muslim intellectual would have it, he pointed out that certain freedoms did exist.
What did his pointing out of freedom in slavery really mean? It meant that even under the political subjugation of the British, Indians still had educational and economic freedom. Notwithstanding the political problem, the country still offered them the opportunity to carve out an honourable, affluent life by working in non-political fields.
The opponents of Sir Syed, on the other hand, concentrated on the problem of British usurpation to the exclusion of all else. In their eyes, no progress could be made unless British rule came to an end. But with his deeper insight, Sir Syed saw that if there were problems, there also existed opportunities, side by side with them. In very simple terms, he gave the people a viable formula:
Ignore the problems, feed the opportunities, and, by availing of opportunities, build your life.
In Sir Syed’s time, even those who had eyes failed to see the wisdom of this dictum. But now, after the experience of a hundred years, even sightless people can see that Sir Syed’s way was the wisest and most appropriate.
In Sir Syed’s own time, his approach had appeared to be one of cowardice and inaction. But its subsequent results showed its wisdom, and what its potential had been for positive action. In fact, it was the only possible strategy to adopt. Had his advice been heeded in the initial stages, the Muslim condition would certainly have been very different from what it is today.
According to the system devised by nature itself, problems in this world are always followed by opportunities.
But the inability to learn from the past is an ever-present human weakness. Hence the prevalence today of the same shortsightedness as existed in Sir Syed’s time. People, of course, have now begun eulogizing the Sir Syed of the past, but if anyone speaks of applying Sir Syed’s solutions in the present, they again turn hostile to him as his own contemporaries did.
The most pressing reality of this world is its competitiveness. In such a set-up, it is inevitable that one group or the other will be left behind. This state of affairs has existed since the days of Abel and Cain (the sons of Adam), and it will continue to exist till Doomsday. This system, created by God Himself, will never change.
What needs to be done in this world of competition is not to keep protesting against the prevailing circumstances, but to make a careful study of them. Instead of reacting against the way things are, some method of adjusting to realities must be sought. Sir Syed’s formula is the key to such an adjustment.
This world, being one of competition, is bound to be problem-ridden. It has been so throughout the ages and it is still so today. But it must be borne in mind that problems stem from nature’s own system and not from the oppression and prejudice of others. What is even more important to grasp is that according to this system devised by nature itself, problems in this world are always followed by opportunities.
Given this state of affairs, both reason and wisdom make only one demand:
Ignore the problems; avail of the opportunities.
The inability to learn from the past is an ever-present human weakness.
This is the only way to succeed in this world. Whenever an individual or a group has achieved success in this life, it has been done by adhering to this principle. Those who attempt to fight problems are more likely to fail than succeed, while those who avail of opportunities have every chance of doing well for themselves. There is no other path to selfimprovement in this world, either in India or in any other country. And what holds true for the present, holds equally true for the future.