Syed Ameer Ali
Encyclopedia
Syed Ameer Ali C.I.E.
(1849–1928) was an Indian Muslim
jurist hailed from the state of Oudh from where his father shifted and settled down at Orissa
. He was a prominent political leader, and author of a number of influential books on Muslim history
and the modern development of Islam, who is credited for his contributions to the Law of India, particularly Muslim Personal Law
, as well as the development of political philosophy for Muslims, during the British Raj
. He was a signatory to the 1906 Quran Petition and founding-member of the All India Muslim League, and a contemporary of Muhammad Iqbal
.
, Ali Al-Raza
, to Muhammad
. Forefathers of his are known to have held office under Shah Abbas II of Persia
and taken part in Nadir Shah's invasion of India. After the plunder of Delhi
, the family line then settled in the Sub-continent and started serving Muhammad Shah
. Another of his forefathers fought against Marhattas in the third battle of Panipat
. Finally, when his grandfather died, his father Saadat Ali Khan was brought up and educated by Syed's maternal uncle.
He was born on 6 April 1849 at Cuttack
in Orissa
as the fourth of five sons of Syed Saadat Ali. His father moved the family to Calcutta, and then to Chinsura where they settled more permanently among the ashraf elite. His family took advantage of the educational facilities provided by the British government but otherwise shunned by the Muslim community. With the assistance of his British teachers and supported by several competitive scholarship
s, he achieved outstanding examination results, graduating from Calcutta University in 1867, and gaining an MA with Honours in History
in 1868. The LLB followed quickly in 1869. He then began legal practice in Calcutta. By this point he was already one of the few outstanding Muslim achievers of his generation.
and made contacts with the elite of the city. He absorbed the influence of contemporary liberalism
. He had contacts with almost all the administrators concerned with India and with leading English liberals such as John Bright
and the Fewcetts, Henry
(1831–1898) and his wife, Millicent Fawcett
(1847-1929.)
He resumed his legal practice at Calcutta High Court
on his return to India in 1873. The year after, he was elected as a Fellow
of Calcutta University as well as being appointed as a lecturer in Islamic Law
at the Presidency College, Kolkata
. In 1878, he was appointed as the member of the Bengal Legislative Council. He revisited England in 1880 for one year.
In 1883, he was nominated to the membership of the Governor General Council. He became a professor of law
in Calcutta University in 1881. In 1890 he was made a judge
in the Calcutta High Court
. He founded the political organisation, Central National Muhamedan Association, in Calcutta in 1877. This made him the first Muslim leader to put into practice the need for such an organisation due to the belief that efforts directed through an organisation would be more effective than those originating from an individual leader. The Association played an important role in the modernisation of Muslims and in arousing their political consciousness. He was associated with it for over 25 years, and worked for the political advancement of the Muslims.
He established the London Muslim League in 1908. This organisation was an independent body and not a branch of All India Muslim League. In 1909, he became the first Indian to sit as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
. On appointment to the Privy Council he became entitled to be addressed as The Rt Hon.
In 1910, he established the first mosque
in London. In doing so he formally co-established the London Mosque Fund, alongside a group of prominent British Muslims, to finance the building of the mosque in the capital. His field of activities was now broadened and he stood for Muslim welfare all over the world. He played an important role in securing separate electorate
s for the Muslims in South Asia and promoting the cause of the Khilafat Movement
.
He retired in 1904 and decided to settle down in England where he was out of the way of the main current of Muslim political life. Through his career in general he became a jurist
and well-known Islamic scholar. He died on August 4, 1928 in Sussex
.
Ali's record as the only Muslim privy councillor in British history was only broken a century later in June 2009 when Sadiq Khan
was appointed as Minister of State for Transport with membership of the Privy Council.
.
Referring to the concept of progressive social laws Syed Ameer Ali wrote:
in the preface of his book Mohammed and the Rise of Islam wrote:
A comparison was made between Mahadev Gobind Ranade and Syed Ameer Ali, who both held similar positions economically and socially. However historian Yasser Latif Hamdani commented:
In 2005 he was listed in the top 100 Great Muslim Leader of the twentieth century under the category of Ulema
and Jurists.
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
(1849–1928) was an Indian Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
jurist hailed from the state of Oudh from where his father shifted and settled down at Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. He was a prominent political leader, and author of a number of influential books on Muslim history
Muslim history
Muslim history is the history of Muslim people. In the history of Islam the followers of the religion of Islam have impacted political history, economic history, and military history...
and the modern development of Islam, who is credited for his contributions to the Law of India, particularly Muslim Personal Law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, as well as the development of political philosophy for Muslims, during the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. He was a signatory to the 1906 Quran Petition and founding-member of the All India Muslim League, and a contemporary of Muhammad Iqbal
Muhammad Iqbal
Sir Muhammad Iqbal , commonly referred to as Allama Iqbal , was a poet and philosopher born in Sialkot, then in the Punjab Province of British India, now in Pakistan...
.
Family history
Syed Ameer Ali traced his lineage through the eighth ImamImam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
, Ali Al-Raza
Ali al-Rida
‘Alī ibn Mūsā al-Rizā was the seventh descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the eighth of the Twelve Imams, according to Shia sect of Islam...
, to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Forefathers of his are known to have held office under Shah Abbas II of Persia
Abbas II of Persia
Shah Abbas II was Shah of Iran from 1642 to 1666. He was the seventh Shah of the Safavid Dynasty. He was the son of Shah Safi I and a Circassian, Anna Khanum, and originally bore the name Sultan Muhammed Mirza before his coronation on May 15, 1642...
and taken part in Nadir Shah's invasion of India. After the plunder of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, the family line then settled in the Sub-continent and started serving Muhammad Shah
Muhammad Shah
Muhammad Shah also known as Roshan Akhtar, was a Mughal emperor of India between 1719 and 1748. He was son of Khujista Akhtar Jahan Shah, the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I. Ascending the throne at 17 with the help of the Sayyid Brothers, he later got rid of them with the help of Nizam-ul-Mulk Chin...
. Another of his forefathers fought against Marhattas in the third battle of Panipat
Panipat
Panipat بَنِبَت is an ancient and historic city in Panipat district, Haryana state, India. It is 90 km north from Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three battles fought at the city were turning points in Indian history. The city is famous in India by the name of "City of...
. Finally, when his grandfather died, his father Saadat Ali Khan was brought up and educated by Syed's maternal uncle.
He was born on 6 April 1849 at Cuttack
Cuttack
Cuttack is the former capital of the state of Orissa, India. It is the headquarters of Cuttack district and is located about 20 km to the north east of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. The name of the city is an anglicised form of Kataka that literally means The Fort, a reference to the...
in Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
as the fourth of five sons of Syed Saadat Ali. His father moved the family to Calcutta, and then to Chinsura where they settled more permanently among the ashraf elite. His family took advantage of the educational facilities provided by the British government but otherwise shunned by the Muslim community. With the assistance of his British teachers and supported by several competitive scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
s, he achieved outstanding examination results, graduating from Calcutta University in 1867, and gaining an MA with Honours in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
in 1868. The LLB followed quickly in 1869. He then began legal practice in Calcutta. By this point he was already one of the few outstanding Muslim achievers of his generation.
Further history
After moving to London, where he stayed between 1869 and 1873, joined the Inner TempleInner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
and made contacts with the elite of the city. He absorbed the influence of contemporary liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
. He had contacts with almost all the administrators concerned with India and with leading English liberals such as John Bright
John Bright
John Bright , Quaker, was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with Richard Cobden in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. He was one of the greatest orators of his generation, and a strong critic of British foreign policy...
and the Fewcetts, Henry
Henry Fawcett
Henry Fawcett PC was a blind British academic, statesman and economist.-Background and education:Fawcett was born in Salisbury, and educated at King's College School and the University of Cambridge: entering Peterhouse in 1852, he migrated to Trinity Hall the following year, and became a fellow...
(1831–1898) and his wife, Millicent Fawcett
Millicent Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett, GBE was an English suffragist and an early feminist....
(1847-1929.)
He resumed his legal practice at Calcutta High Court
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court...
on his return to India in 1873. The year after, he was elected as a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of Calcutta University as well as being appointed as a lecturer in Islamic Law
Islamic law
Islamic law can refer to:*Sharia: The code of conduct enjoined upon Muslims in the Quran*Fiqh: Muslim jurisprudence...
at the Presidency College, Kolkata
Presidency College, Kolkata
Presidency University, Kolkata, formerly Hindu College and Presidency College, is a unitary, state aided university, located in Kolkata, West Bengal. and one of the premier institutes of learning of liberal arts and sciences in India. In 2002 it was ranked number one by the weekly news magazine...
. In 1878, he was appointed as the member of the Bengal Legislative Council. He revisited England in 1880 for one year.
In 1883, he was nominated to the membership of the Governor General Council. He became a professor of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Calcutta University in 1881. In 1890 he was made a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
in the Calcutta High Court
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court...
. He founded the political organisation, Central National Muhamedan Association, in Calcutta in 1877. This made him the first Muslim leader to put into practice the need for such an organisation due to the belief that efforts directed through an organisation would be more effective than those originating from an individual leader. The Association played an important role in the modernisation of Muslims and in arousing their political consciousness. He was associated with it for over 25 years, and worked for the political advancement of the Muslims.
He established the London Muslim League in 1908. This organisation was an independent body and not a branch of All India Muslim League. In 1909, he became the first Indian to sit as a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...
. On appointment to the Privy Council he became entitled to be addressed as The Rt Hon.
In 1910, he established the first mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in London. In doing so he formally co-established the London Mosque Fund, alongside a group of prominent British Muslims, to finance the building of the mosque in the capital. His field of activities was now broadened and he stood for Muslim welfare all over the world. He played an important role in securing separate electorate
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
s for the Muslims in South Asia and promoting the cause of the Khilafat Movement
Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
.
He retired in 1904 and decided to settle down in England where he was out of the way of the main current of Muslim political life. Through his career in general he became a jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and well-known Islamic scholar. He died on August 4, 1928 in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
Ali's record as the only Muslim privy councillor in British history was only broken a century later in June 2009 when Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Aman Khan is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tooting since 2005, succeeding Tom Cox as the Labour MP for the seat...
was appointed as Minister of State for Transport with membership of the Privy Council.
His personal beliefs
Syed believed that the Muslims as a downtrodden nation could get more benefit from the loyalty to the British rather than from any opposition to them. For this reason he called upon his followers to devote their energy and attention to popularising English education among the Muslims. This perception and consequent activism have been known as the Aligarh MovementAligarh Movement
Aligarh Movement was the movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, to educate the Muslims of the South Asia after the defeat of the rebels in the Indian rebellion of 1857. It had enormous success and had a profound impact on the future of the subcontinent...
.
Referring to the concept of progressive social laws Syed Ameer Ali wrote:
-
- "each age has its own standard. What is suited for one time is not suited for the other"
Opinions of the man
David Samuel MargoliouthDavid Samuel Margoliouth
David Samuel Margoliouth was an orientalist. He was briefly active as a priest in the Church of England...
in the preface of his book Mohammed and the Rise of Islam wrote:
-
- "The charming and eloquent treatise of Syed Ameer Ali, The Spirit of IslamThe Spirit of IslamThe Spirit of Islam is a book by Syed Ameer Ali, first published in 1891. It covers the life of Muhammad, and the political, cultural, literary, scientific, mystic, philosophical, and social history of Islam, and is according to many scholars the best book on this subject.In 1873, Syed Ameer Ali...
, is probably the best achievement in the way of an apology for Mohammed that is ever likely to be composed in a European language"
- "The charming and eloquent treatise of Syed Ameer Ali, The Spirit of Islam
A comparison was made between Mahadev Gobind Ranade and Syed Ameer Ali, who both held similar positions economically and socially. However historian Yasser Latif Hamdani commented:
-
- "Syed Ameer Ali’s impact, though profound on the TurksTurkish peopleTurkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
, has been marginal on the Muslims of South Asia."
- "Syed Ameer Ali’s impact, though profound on the Turks
In 2005 he was listed in the top 100 Great Muslim Leader of the twentieth century under the category of Ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
and Jurists.
Books
- A Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of Mohammed (1873) — His first book, written when he was 24, while in England. The orientalist Major R. D. OsbornRobert Durie OsbornLieutenant-Colonel Robert Durie Osborn was a British army officer. Osborn was born at Agra, India, on 6 Aug. 1835. His father, Henry Roche Osborn, entered the British East India Company's service in May 1819, and served most of his time in the 54th Native Infantry, but later was lieutenant-colonel...
(1835–1889) wrote: ‘Regarded simply as a literary achievement, we have never read anything issuing from the educated classes in this country which could be compared with it; and the Muslims of India are to be congratulated on the possession of so able a man in their rank. It is impossible, if his after-life accords with this early promise that he should not leave his influence for good stamped upon the country in deep and enduring characters.’ - The Personal Law of Muhammedans (1880)
- The Spirit of IslamThe Spirit of IslamThe Spirit of Islam is a book by Syed Ameer Ali, first published in 1891. It covers the life of Muhammad, and the political, cultural, literary, scientific, mystic, philosophical, and social history of Islam, and is according to many scholars the best book on this subject.In 1873, Syed Ameer Ali...
(1891) - Ethics of Islam (1893)
- Islam (1906)
- The Legal Position of Women in Islam (1912)
- A Short History of Saracens (1898)