MUSLIM REFORM MOVEMENTS

MUSLIM REFORM MOVEMENTS

The Muslims were not far behind in their socia-religious reform movements. A beginning had been made by the l Muhammedan Literary Society, formed in 1863, to debate social, religious and political issues and encourage western education among Muslims.

SYED AHMED KHAN AND THE AUGARH MOVE­MENT A man who upheld the power of rational thinking, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan encouraged Mulsims to accept the virtues of western education and urged them to apply the principle of enquiry to religion. He believed the Quran to be the true scripture. His fight against superstition and obscurantism continued throughout his life. For a rational and scientific order in society, he founded a scientific society in 1864, an Urdu journal, Tahzib-al-akhlaq in 1870, and the Aligarh School on May 24, 1875. The school was made into the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1877. The college grew into the Aligarh Muslim University and this was where Syed Ahmed's movement was centred.

Though initially a supporter of a Hindu-Muslim alli­ance, he gradually came round to the view that the goodwill of the British was necessary for the Muslims who would otherwise be subjugated by the Hindus. Thus, the Aligarh Movement is seen as having sown the seeds of Muslim separatism.

THE AHMADIYA MOVEMENT The movement was formed by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1839-1908), in 1889. Mirza Ghulam initially defended Islam from the attacks of the Christian missionaries and the reformers. But he went on to proclaim himself as a Messiah and an incarnation of Krishna. Western liberalism and the Hindu religious reform movements had much impact on him. His movement embraced the belief in a universal religion, opposed sacred wars and encouraged fraternal relations among all.

THE DEOBAND MOVEMENT In 1866, the Deoband School of Islamic Theology was set up at Deoband by Rashid Ahmad Gangohi and Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi to promote studies in c1.assical Islam and moral and reli­gious regeneration of Muslims. The school did not support western education and culture. Its religious teachings that encompassed a liberal interpretation of Islam earned it a high reputation. The school's followers included notable personalities such as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mahmud­ul-Hasan and Shibli Numani, who founded the Nadwatal Ulama and Darul Ulum in Lucknow, in 1894-96.
T A' AYUUNI MOVEMENT The religious teachings of Shah Wali-Allah formed the basis of the Ta'ayuuni move­ment which was led by Karamat Ali Jaunpuri. The Ta'ayuunis opposed innovations and syncretistic practices. They got into conflict with the followers of the Faraidi or Faraizi movement owing to differences in perception.