A Late Nineteenth Century Muslim Response to the Western Criticism of Islam-An Analysis of Amir ‘Ali’s Life and Works

Abstract

There were more than one scholar in the nineteenth century Muslim world
working for the development of the community through their writings and
political activities. Justice Sayyid Amir ‘Ali was one of them in the Indian
sphere of Islam. This article attempts to determine 'Ali's position within the
development of Muslim community in India. Our aim is to examine ‘Ali’s
views of Islam critically in order to find out the values he aimed at. We are
not concerned with giving our views of Islam on the issues ‘Ali dealt with,
but rather we will try to determine how his interpretation of Islam contributed
to the development of Muslims in India.
I
The wave of modernity in the Indian sub-continent, in the sense of western
technological development and philosophical ideas, was caused by British imperialism
in the nineteenth century! Christian missionary activities also played
a remarkable role in achieving this goal. The Muslims of India, however,
considered the Christian missionary attitude of identifying western material
development with Christianity as a challenge that was reflected through the
intellectual activities of Muslim scholars. Their response was an attempt to
absorb, transform, reject or adjust their belief system to the forces of ...