The most important reformer among the Muslims in the 19^th century was Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. In this context, state briefly:

(a) His views on religion

(b) His contribution to modern education

(a) Views of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan on religion — He declared that the Quran alone was the authoritative work of Islam and all other Islamic writings were secondary. All his life he struggled against blind obedience to tradition, dependence on customs, ignorance and irrationalism. He was against fanaticism and narrow-mindedness, and encouraged tolerance and broad-mindedness.

(b) Contribution of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to modern education — He was impressed by modern scientific thought. He believed that the religious and social life of the Muslims could be improved only by imbibing modern western scientific knowledge and culture. He founded schools in many towns and had many western books translated into Urdu. He founded at Aligarh, the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental (M.A.O.) College as a centre for spreading western sciences and culture. Later, the College grew into the Aligarh Muslim University.