2. Aversion to English education because of the misapprehension that it may undermine the founda tions or faith and also resentment because the teach ing of Muslim tradition and theology was not included in the curriculum.
3. Neglect of Arabic and Muslim philosophy in English schools : also non-observance of Muham madan festivals coupled with alleged indifference of Hindu and Christian teachers towards Muhammadan boys.
4. The contempt shown by Muhammadans towards learning and clerical pursuits, and their preference for military careers or lives of ease and indulgence.
It must have been a proud day for Sir Syed Ahmad when Sir William Muir delivered a powerful address on the occasion of the establishment of the college, on I2th November, 1875, in the course of which he said : " The knowledge of history and of foreign lands will correct views otherwise narrowed by the sole contemplation of what is immediately around, and enable the youth to expatiate on the experience of other ages and of other nations than their own, their minds will be improved by the great discoveries, mechanical and scientific of later times, and their views will be elevated and expanded by contem plation of the works of the creator in the starry heavens and the wonders of nature here on earth." Still more eloquent and inspiring was the address of Lord Lytton, then Viceroy of India, who laid the foundation stone of the College on 8th January, D877, and in the course of his address said : " You will, I am sure, be the last to admit that anything in the creed of Islam is inconsistent with intellectual culture. The greatest and most enduring conquests of the Muhammadan races have all been achieved in the fields of literature, science and art. Not only have they given to a great portion of this continent an architecture which is still the wonder and admiration of the world, but in an age when the Christian societies of Europe had barely emerged out of intellectual darkness and social barbarism, they covered the whole Iberian peninsula with schools of medicine, of mathematics and philo sophy, far in advance of all contemporary science ; and to this day the populations of Spain and Portugal for their very sustenance are mainly dependent on the past labours of Moorish engineers. . . . The modern culture of the West is now in a pOsition to repay the great debt owed by it to the early wisdom of the In 1903, there were 703 pupils in the College of whom 531 are boarders, in the year 1918 the number of students enrolled exceeds 1,200.
The Pioneer of Allahabad expressed the view in its leading article of 8th January, 1876, that " The ceremony which takes place to-day at Aligarh marks the great progress already made by one of the most thoroughly sound and progressive movements ever set on foot for the advancement of Indian education. The name of Syed Ahmad Khan,
the principal promoter of the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College, will be held in grateful remembrance in the future by large masses of his countrymen, who may as yet hardly appreciate the importance of the influence he has brought to bear upon their intel lectual and political development. The rising college bids far to be a real force in this country, and its expansion is guaranteed by the fact that it is entirely spontaneous in its growth—the fruit, that is to say, of purely native sagacity and determination, in no way an exotic institution, planted by Govern ment and watered by official favour." Syed Ahmed published a series of essays on the life of Muhammad in 1870. He was very fond of combating, by means of persuasive arguments, the assumption of western scholars that Islam was a religion that strove to propagate itself with the help of the sword. " The remark that the sword is the inevitable penalty for the denial of Islam," he would say, " is one of the gravest charges falsely imputed to this faith by professors of other religions, and arises from the utter ignorance of those that make the accusation. Islam inculcates and demands a hearty and sincere belief in all that it teaches ; and that genuine faith which proceeds from a person's heart not by force or violence. Judicious readers will not fail to observe that the above-quoted remark is entirely contrary to the fundamental principles of the Moslem faith, wherein it is inculcated in the clearest language possible : Let there be no forcing in religion, the right way has been clearly made dis tinguishable from the wrong one.' " The Syed was very much under the influence of Wahabis whom he strove to defend from bigoted partisan attacks, and who believed in the immediate access of the soul to God, and repudiated miracles, priestcraft and saint-worship.
The Aligarh College has had the good fortune of securing the services of such eminent Anglo-Indians as Dr. T. W. Arnold, the learned author of " The Preaching of Islam " and at present secretary to Indian students, at the India Office in Whitehall ; Mr. Theodore Beck, and Sir Theodore Morison late of the Council of India, and author of the " Economic Transition in India " and other Books.
His college has been sending out a continuous stream of cultured Muhammadan gentlemen, and has been a centre of attraction for Moslems from the various parts of the world, including Mombasa and Zanzibar. And surely the Hindu-Muhammadan entente of to-day, which is the evidence of wholesome political growth in India, could not be possible save for the enlightenment of the Moslem youth, for, beyond doubt, education is the sheet anchor of political aspirations.