Indian jurist (1849?1928)
Syed Ameer Ali
Order of the Star of India
[5]
(6 April 1849 – 3 August 1928) was an Indian jurist, a prominent political leader, and author of a number of influential books on
Muslim history
and the modern development of Islam.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[6]
He hailed from the
state of Oudh
from where his father moved and settled down in the
Bengal Presidency
and 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 Petition to the Viceroy
and was thus a founding-member of the
All India Muslim League
.
[4]
[7]
He played a key role in securing separate
electorates
for the Muslims in
British India
and promoting the cause of the
Khilafat Movement
.
[8]
[4]
Family background
[
edit
]
He was born on 6 April 1849, toward the end of
Mughal empire
in India, at
Cuttack
in
Odisha
as the fourth of five sons of Syed Saadat Ali (d. 1856) from
Mohan
in
Unnao
of
Oudh State
.
[4]
[6]
The
Shiite
family
traced its descent
to
Muhammad
through his daughter
Fatima
from
Imam Ali al-Rida
, his great-grandfather having moved to India from
Khorasan
during
Nadir Shah's Indian campaign
in 1739.
[3]
His father settled in Cuttack after Ameer Ali's grandfather (who worked in the service of
Asaf-ud-Daulah
- the
Nawab of Awadh
) died in 1820, there he married the daughter of Shamsuddin Khan, one of the nobles of
Sambalpur
.
[3]
He would later move the family to
Calcutta
, and then to
Chinsura
where they settled more permanently. His family took advantage of the educational facilities provided by the
British government
but otherwise shunned by the Muslim community. He received his initial education at
Hooghly Mohsin College
and with the assistance of his British teachers and supported by several competitive scholarships, he achieved outstanding examination results, graduating from
Calcutta University
in 1867, and gaining an MA degree with Honours in history in 1868. The
LLB
degree followed quickly in 1869. He then began legal practice in Calcutta. By this time, he was already one of the few outstanding Muslim achievers of his generation.
[9]
[3]
Political career
[
edit
]
After moving to London, where he stayed between 1869 and 1873,
[8]
he joined the
Inner Temple
(professional associations for
barristers
and judges) and made contacts with some people of London.
[4]
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 Fawcetts,
Henry
(1831?1898) and his wife,
Millicent Fawcett
(1847?1929.)
[10]
Syed Ameer Ali 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.
He became a professor of law in Calcutta University in 1881. In 1883, he was nominated to the membership of the Governor General Council. In 1890, he was made a judge in the Calcutta High Court.
[11]
Earlier he had founded the political organization, Central National Muhammedan Association, in Calcutta in 1877. This association later spread nationwide with 34 branches from
Madras
to
Karachi
.
[8]
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 modernization of Muslims and in arousing their political consciousness.
[12]
He was associated with it for over 25 years and worked for the political advancement of the Muslims. Syed Amir Ali became the second Indian to hold the post of law member of the government of India, assuming the position after Satyendra P. Sinha resigned in November 1910.
[13]
Syed Ameer Ali's grave in
Brookwood Cemetery
Syed Ameer Ali established the London Muslim League in 1908.
[8]
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 which he would serve till his death in 1928.
[8]
On appointment to the
Privy Council
he became entitled to be addressed as
The Right Honourable
.
In 1908, he was an advisory member to the Muhammadan Art and Life in Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Morocco and India exhibition held at the Whitechapel Gallery. The Autumn Exhibition was held from 23 October to 6 December. The opening day to the public was on 27th Ramadan.
In 1910, he formally co-established the London Mosque Fund, alongside a group of prominent
British Muslims
, to finance the building of the first mosque in the capital:
East London Mosque
, today one of the largest mosques in Europe. 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
electorates
for the Muslims in India and promoting the cause of the
Khilafat Movement
.
[8]
[4]
He retired from Calcutta High Court in 1904 and decided to settle down, with his English wife (Isabelle Ida Konstam) in England where he was somewhat isolated from the main current of Muslim political life.
[8]
Throughout his career, he was known as a
jurist
and a well-known
Islamic scholar
. He died on 4 August 1928 in
Sussex
(
Rudgwick
) and was buried in
Brookwood Cemetery
.
[8]
[7]
Personal beliefs
[
edit
]
Syed Ameer Ali believed that the Muslims as a downtrodden nation could get more benefit from 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 Movement
.
[14]
Referring to polygamy, Syed Ameer Ali wrote:
Each age has its own standard. What is suited for one time is not suited for the other.
[15]
Opinions and legacy
[
edit
]
David Samuel Margoliouth
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 Islam
] is probably the best achievement in the way of an apology for Mohammed that is ever likely to be composed in a European language.
[16]
Syed Ameer Ali, like some other authors of his time, tried to show that Islam was a rational religion.
[8]
Honors and recognition
[
edit
]
The Sayed Ameer Ali Hall in the
University of Rajshahi
in Bangladesh is named for him.
Pakistan Postal Service
issued a commemorative postage stamp in 1990 to honor him in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series.
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
Books
[
edit
]
- A Critical Examination of the Life and Teachings of Mohammed
(1873)
[8]
? His first book, written when he was 24, while in England. The orientalist
Major R. D. Osborn
(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."
[10]
- The Personal Law of Muhammedans
(1880)
[7]
- The Spirit of Islam
(editions in 1891, 1922, 1953)
[8]
- A book covering the life of Muhammad, and the political, cultural, literary, scientific, mystic, philosophical, and social history of Islam.
- Ethics of Islam
(1893)
[7]
- A Short History of Saracens
(1899)
[8]
- Islam
(1906)
- The Legal Position of Women in Islam
(1912)
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Sayyid Amir Ali
at the
Encyclopædia Britannica
. "Sayyid Amir Ali, (born April 6, 1849, Cuttack, India?died Aug. 3, 1928, Sussex, Eng.), jurist, writer, and Muslim leader who favoured British rule in India rather than possible Hindu domination of an independent India."
- ^
a
b
c
Syed Ameer Ali
at
Banglapedia
. "Ali, Syed Ameer (1849-1928) lawyer, spokesman on Indian Muslim concerns, and writer on Islamic history and society, was born on 6 April 1849 at Cuttack in Orissa."
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Abdullah Ahsan.
"Emir Ali, Sayyid"
.
Islam Ansiklopedisi
.
He was born on April 8, 1849 in Cuttack, Orissa, India.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Profile of Syed Ameer Ali"
.
Storyofpakistan.com website
. Archived from
the original
on 21 August 2022
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
Ali, Syed Ameer.
The Legal Position of Women in Islam
. University of London Press. Title page.
- ^
a
b
"ALI, SYED AMEER"
.
Treccani
.
Indian Muslim jurist and politician (
Mohan
1849-
Rudgwick, Sussex
, 1928)
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Syed Ameer Ali profile"
.
Cybercity.net website
. Archived from
the original
on 7 August 2011
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
"Profile of Syed Ameer Ali"
.
The Center for Islamic Sciences (Canada) website
. Archived from
the original
on 17 January 2020
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
Powell, Avril A. (2012).
"Ali, Syed Ameer"
. In
Islam, Sirajul
; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.).
Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh
(Second ed.).
Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
.
- ^
a
b
"Profile: Syed Ameer Ali [1849?1928]"
.
The Milli Gazette
. 15 August 2000. Archived from
the original
on 26 December 2021
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
Muhammad, Shan (1991).
The Right Honourable Syed Ameer Ali: Personality and Achievements
. Delhi, India: Updal Publishing House. p. 66.
ISBN
978-81-85024-94-3
.
- ^
Khaleque, Md Abdul (2012).
"Central National Muhamedan Association"
. In
Islam, Sirajul
; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.).
Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh
(Second ed.).
Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
.
- ^
Wolpert, Stanley (1984).
Jinnah of Pakistan
. Oxford University Press. p. 30.
ISBN
978-0-19-503412-7
.
- ^
"Bangladesh: Political Parties"
.
South Asian Media Net
. 29 March 2007. Archived from
the original
on 16 June 2011
. Retrieved
29 January
2024
.
- ^
Ali, Syed Ameer (1946) [First published 1922].
The Spirit of Islam: A History of the Evolution and Ideals of Islam: With a Life of the Prophet
. Christophers. p. 240.
OCLC
6464194
.
- ^
Margoliouth, D.S
(2003) [First published 1905].
Mohammed and the Rise of Islam
. Gorgias Press. p. vii.
ISBN
978-1-931956-74-1
.
External links
[
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]
Works by or about
Syed Ameer Ali
at
Wikisource
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