Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in India celebrates 100 years of its existence as an institution of higher learning this year. There can be a robust discussion on the exact day and date on which to celebrate this occasion, but one can write without reservation that the founding year of AMU was 1920. While some may argue that since the AMU  Bill was presented on August 27th and passed on September 9th and received the Assent of the Governor General on September 14, 1920 that this should be our starting point. Others who happen to be in the majority state that AMU was established on December 1st and officially inaugurated a few days later that month. In any case it has become a beacon of light today, a true Jewel of India.

To start this celebration, one must look back into history and at the founder of the esteemed institution and the vision that made AMU a reality. Who was Sir Syed? And how does one explain his personality and work to South Asians today? To do justice to his legacy one has to visit the period in history during which he was born and remained active. The 1857-58 uprising against the British and final defeat of Mughal rule in India needs to be kept in mind.

A rationalist to the core, Sir Syed steered his community towards western scientific education and cooperation with India’s new British rulers. In the scheme of things, he was not a poetic rebel but a revolutionary of another kind altogether. When he started his movement, the stiffest opposition he faced was from India’s Muslims and not the majority Hindu community. Sir Syed was able to play a positive role so that this  rudderless Muslim segment of the Indian population could access the tools of the modern age and make some progress. What became AMU was his crowning achievement.

Over the past two decades it has not just been the Mushairah’s (Urdu language poetry sessions) held during Sir Syed Day events here in Northern California that have made them memorable. Many scholars and people of high standing have graced these occasions as Keynote Speakers as well. These have been people we have learned a great deal from. A few short glimpses are presented here:

During Sir Syed Day 2017 Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna delivered the keynote address. He said that he did not know much about Sir Syed (or Aligarh) till he started reading about him and was fascinated by his life and his work especially his focus on Islam, science and rationality.  The mixing of the east with the best of the west to see if there could be a new identity, culture and vision.

During a 2014 keynote speech presented by Ambassador Islam A. Siddiqui had this to say: “When I think of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s contributions to India and the world at large, it is about Education, Economic Empowerment and Moderation. Here came a thinker and a visionary, who had worked for the British East India Company, had studied the causes of the Indian revolt, published a commentary on the Bible and was even instrumental in establishing The Scientific Society of Aligarh,” he said.

In 2010, Michael Wolfe delivered the keynote speech. Mr. Wolfe is the President of the Board at Unity Productions Foundation (UPF), a unique communication effort.    Michael thanked the AMUAA for their invitation. “I thought over the fundamental ideals and the goals of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan,” he said. He added that he found a great deal of similarity between those ideals and goals and the work that his own organization UPF is doing, to bring East and West into a productive dialogue. “Aligarh Muslim University and the philosophy of Sir Syed are a continuing inspiration for my work. and I hope that it will be in your work as well,” said Wolfe.

These three short keynote segments shared here give us some idea of how the vision of a person and the university that came into being 100 years ago has contributed positively to many lives. AMU has remained a beacon of light and hope for all of us and will remain so into the future. From Aligarh to San Francisco, from Kabul to Melbourne the diaspora does not pay its respects to this esteemed institution and its founder without justification. Without education there is little chance of advancement no matter where one lives.