Syed Ameer Ali (6 April 1849 – 3 August 1928) was an Indian jurist, a prominent political leader, and the author of a number of influential books on

Muslim history Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraham (or ''Allah'') as it ...

and the modern development of Islam.. He hailed from the state of Oudh, from where his father moved and settled down in the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

, and is credited for his contributions to the

law of India The List of national legal systems, legal system of India consists of Civil law (common law), civil law, common law, customary law, religious law and corporate law within the legal framework inherited from the colonial era and various legis ...

, particularly Muslim personal law, as well as the development of political philosophy for Muslims, during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. He was a signatory to the 1906 Petition to the Viceroy and was thus a founding member of the

All India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim League lat ...

. He played a key role in securing separate electorates for the Muslims in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and promoting the cause of the

Khilafat Movement The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Allied forces. Leaders particip ...

Family background

He was born on 6 April 1849, toward the end of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

in India, at

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

as the fourth of five sons of Syed Saadat Ali (d. 1856) from Mohan in

Unnao Unnao is a city and district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Unnao is located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River, and it is a satellite city of Kanpur. Administratively, Unnao lies within Unnao district, the district of Unnao and is ...

Oudh State The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the B ...

. The

Shiite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

family traced its descent to

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

through his daughter

Fatima Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and the first Shia imam. ...

from Imam Ali al-Rida, his great-grandfather having moved to India from Khorasan during Nadir Shah's Indian campaign in 1739. His father settled in Cuttack after Ameer Ali's grandfather (who worked in the service of

Asaf-ud-Daulah Mirza Asaf-ud-Daula (23 September 1748 – 21 September 1797) was the Nawab wazir of Oudh ratified by Shah Alam II, from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah. His mother and grandmother were the Begums of Oud ...

- the

Nawab of Awadh The Nawab of Awadh or Nawab of Oudh was the title of the rulers of Kingdom of Awadh (anglicised as Oudh) in northern India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to an Iranian dynasty''Encyclopædia Iranica'', R. B. B ...

) died in 1820. There he married the daughter of Shamsuddin Khan, one of the nobles of

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

. He would later move the family to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, and then to Chinsura where they settled more permanently. His family took advantage of the educational facilities provided by the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

but was 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 The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

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.

Political career

After moving to London, where he stayed between 1869 and 1873, he joined the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

(professional associations for

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

s and judges) and made contacts with some people of London. 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 John Bright (16 November 1811 – 27 March 1889) was a British Radical and Liberal statesman, one of the greatest orators of his generation and a promoter of free trade policies. A Quaker, Bright is most famous for battling the Corn La ...

and the Fawcetts,

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(1831–1898) and his wife,

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English political activist and writer. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897–1919 led Brita ...

(1847–1929.) 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 A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of Calcutta University as well as being appointed as a lecturer in

Islamic Law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

at the Presidency College, Kolkata. In 1878, he was appointed as a member of the Bengal Legislative Council. He revisited England in 1880 for one year. He became a professor of law at 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. 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 Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. 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. He was associated with it for over 25 years and worked for the political advancement of the Muslims. Syed Ameer Ali Grave Brookwood

Syed Ameer Ali established the London Muslim League in 1908. This organisation was an independent body and not a branch of the

. In 1909, he became the first Indian to sit as a member of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

, on which he would serve till his death in 1928. On appointment to the Privy Council, he became entitled to be addressed as

The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...

. 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 for 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 The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Western Europe accomm ...

, 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

. 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. Throughout his career, he was known as a

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and a well-known

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

. He died on 4 August 1928 in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

(

Rudgwick Rudgwick is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village is west from Horsham on the north side of the A281 road. The parish's northern boundary forms pa ...

) and was buried in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

Personal beliefs

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. Referring to polygamy, Syed Ameer Ali wrote:

Opinions and legacy

David Samuel Margoliouth, in the preface of his book ''Mohammed and the Rise of Islam'', wrote: Syed Ameer Ali, like some other authors of his time, tried to show that Islam was a rational religion.

Honors and recognition

The Sayed Ameer Ali Hall in the

University of Rajshahi The University of Rajshahi (), also known as Rajshahi University (RU), is a public research university located in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is the second oldest and third largest university in Bangladesh. The university's 59 departments are or ...

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.

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. 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." * ''The Personal Law of Muhammedans'' (1880) * ''The Spirit of Islam'' (editions in 1891, 1922, 1953) - A book covering the life of Muhammad, and the political, cultural, literary, scientific, mystic, philosophical, and social history of Islam. * ''Ethics of Islam'' (1893) * ''A Short History of Saracens'' (1899) * ''Islam'' (1906) * ''The Legal Position of Women in Islam'' (1912)

References

External links

* Ameer Ali, Syad in the '' Dictionary of Indian Biography'' * Ameer, Ali (Hon. Syed) in Men-at-the-Bar by Joseph Foster
Ali, Syed Ameer, 1849-1928
at

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Syed Ameer Ali 1849 births 1928 deaths Bengali Muslims Bengali lawyers 19th-century Bengalis 19th-century Indian judges 20th-century Indian judges Aliah University alumni All-India Muslim League politicians Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Judges of the Calcutta High Court Leaders of the Pakistan Movement Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata Shia scholars of Islam University of Calcutta alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta West Bengal politicians People from Cuttack