گفتمان اصلاح دینی در شبه‌قاره هند قرن نوزدهم (سر سیّد احمد خان)

Abstract
Whereas the current of Islamic reformism seeks to offer a new interpretation of religious principles following the requirements of time and place to free it from the sting of degeneration and deviation; Therefore, this discourse has always had a prominent place among religious modernists and religious revivalists in all parts of the Islamic world, especially in recent centuries. However, the distinction between the approaches and the solutions of the reformers, no doubt, while being affected by their superior intellectual-practical processes, also goes back to the differences in the productive socio-political structure and the place of growth and development of their personality.
The Indian subcontinent, as a land of religious pluralism, has always witnessed the emergence of new sectarian divisions in different religions throughout history. With the arrival of Islam in this region, on the one hand, this process became more widespread, and on the other hand, the acquisition of power and the maintenance of government became problematic for Muslim rulers, despite such various and sometimes conflicting rituals. Therefore, each of the rulers, in dealing with this issue, chose a method that undoubtedly arose from specific factors and had special results.
Among the Gurkhani sultans, some, such as Akbarshah and Aurangzeb, believed in religious reform and chanted the slogan of Islamic revival. In the position of the Islamic ruler, they sought to save their society from intellectual stagnation and behavioral petrification by issuing new orders and passing new laws. However, even though all these rulers claimed to reform the religious thought and sometimes, they considered themselves the reformer or the remake of their century in this regard and sought to achieve a common goal; Contradictory and even contradictory thoughts and actions have always occupied the minds of researchers in the field of religious reform and have caused many questions and challenges in this field. Why these rulers, while having numerous commonalities in their education and social status, in cultural-religious categories, during more than half a century of their separate rule over the Muslims of the subcontinent; In presenting reform plans and programs (Akbar Shah with the method of religious tolerance and Aurangzeb with the method of religious prejudice and tyranny) were exactly opposite to each other; It is an important question that requires a scientific and reasoning answer.
Therefore, the present study, based on a descriptive-analytical method, tries to introduce the ideological and religious ideas of the Mongols in general, and then specifically and through a case study and comparative study, to identify the infrastructures and contexts of cultural-ideological growth of the two. The ruler of Gurkhani should pay; Finally, while examining the existing challenges, study because and how differences in Islamic reform ideas and practices exist in the Indian subcontinent.
 
Research purpose
Convergence or divergence of followers of different religions has always been one of the most challenging and controversial issues in the history of human thought. In many important and historical wars and peace, the traces of the survival of religion as one of the fundamental factors can be easily discovered and examined. Therefore, the land of India has long been considered as a clear and complete model in this field due to the existence of different religions and religions. Due to such special circumstances, it has often been called the "Land of a Thousand Religions", the "Museum of Religions and Beliefs" or the "Land of Wonders".
India, despite its thousands of years of religious and cultural background and its multifaceted affinity with Iran (racial, linguistic, cultural, religious, etc.) in terms of scientific research and studies (especially historical-religious), is still a high point. The mystery is unknown and overlooked; Therefore, it still needs in-depth research and exploration by researchers in various social fields, especially in the intellectual-ideological fields. Therefore, the first and most important goal of the forthcoming plan in this regard; While addressing a new and practical topic in the history of Islamic thought in the direction of current studies of the revival of religious thought in the region of India; Eliminating part of the poverty of resources and lack of research topics of researchers in this geographical area is also.

Introduction

By the end of the Middle Ages, in the sixteenth century, the West had gone through several periods of Lethargy and stagnation; But from then on, the Islamic Middle Ages and Muslim sinking into darkness began. Thus, the conflicts between scientific propositions and religious teachings that began before the Renaissance, culminated in the 18th and 19th centuries and it occupied a significant part of the discourse of Western theologians as a fundamental theme in a way that, many European thinkers resorted to scientific interpretation of religious propositions in order to reconcile the conflict between science and religion (Reshad, 1384:7). Thus, the beginning of the approach to the West in Islamic countries was not simply due to Westernization; rather, it was the result of Muslims' awareness of their deep weakness against the West.
In fact, two basic categories (progress of the West and regression of the East) were considered as the primary factors in the reaction of the religious thinkers in the Islamic world (Movassaghi, 1374: 93) and these two issues, in close connection with each other, caused great suffering for Muslim communities. There have been two distinct social strata which always lived side by side during this period in India; the first group, with a small number, but with an advanced culture and progressive ideas and social institutions, and the second group, consisting of a large number of people, who were large in number and did not have much place in terms of cultural credibility. The first group established the intellectual and aristocratic foundations, and the second one contributed to the formation of Indian popular culture, which represented a combination of superstitious and eclectic ideas, as well as the extreme religious sectarianism. (Ayubi, 1994: 56; Ahmad, 1366: 65)
The third factor was the influence of Western culture, which provided a place for itself by force or peace, and joined the leading current. Therefore, culture and belief in the subcontinent took on a new form by mixing these three categories, which, of course, could not be separated from the intellectual heritage of the Indian race. (Tarachand, 1374: 28)
In fact, the why and how (the reasons and the ways) of the mentioned issues paved the way for Indian thinkers to deal with various Western institutions and ideas, including the concept of freedom. Some of them spoke in praise of the West in all its aspects, while others militantly pursued true freedom in the framework of liberation from colonialism. So, the thing which formed the first cornerstone of reforming the thinking of Indian religious thinkers was the question of freedom (Haeri, 1374: 117-119); however, determining the exact date of the beginning or end of intellectual movements (for or against the West) in the Islamic world, especially in India, is not very clear.
It can be said that the stage of inclination to the West began in the last decades of the eighteenth century and the first years of the nineteenth century and it continued until the early twentieth century and began seriously with Sir Ahmad Khan and lasted almost until the advent of Allameh Iqbal (Nasiri, 2001: 69).

Research Methods

The present research has been done by descriptive-analytical method and it relies on a) library studies and b) conducting numerous interviews with experts in the field of discussion.
Since many of the first-hand sources of research in this field have been in English, Hindi, Urdu and Arabic, translations of selected sections have been included in the authors' worksheets and then the researcher has classified the Persian and non-Persian source sheets based on the thematic classification. Then, the researcher has done the translation and compilation of the findings of the mentioned interviews and has analyzed the data and has written all of them.
Doing some parts of the interviews and also finding some non-Persian sources have been done by the researcher due to participating the Orientalism Conference in India and especially by doing research in the library of Aligarh University.

Discussion

Sir Seyyed Ahmad Khan Hindi, son of Mohammad Taqi Khan (Mir Taqi), was born on October 17, 1817, coinciding with the 6th of Zi Hajjah, 1232 AH, in Delhi. Seyyed Ahmad's ancestors migrated to Saudi Arabia from Harat to India during the reign of the Timurid kings (the reign of Akbar Shah I), and according to some historian, during the reign of Shah Jahan. This family had great and valuable services for a long time during the Timurid dynasty to promote the religion of Islam and spread Islamic teachings (Amin, 1997: 107). Seyyed Ahmad Khan's studies were in various fields. It characterized him as a hardworking researcher and critic of his time. By writing and publishing a commentary on the antiquities of Delhi under the title "The Works of Al-Sanadid (Aasarolsanadid)" - which was translated into French by Garsan Dutasi, a French Orientalist, in 1861 - he became an honorary member of the Royal Society of Asia (Halabi, 1374: 145; Rahimov, 1390: 63) and his writings before 1857 easily attracted the attention of Delhi Muslims. (Hardy, 1369: 138)
The approaches and strategies of Seyyed Ahmad Khan's idea of religious reform can be divided into two categories: a) cultural-religious and b) socio-political.
His actions in the ideological-cultural axis are briefly as follows:

Improving the level of knowledge and insight
Correcting the shortcomings of the Urdu language.
Creating dynamism in jurisprudence and opening the door to Ijtihad
Rational interpretation of Quranic verses and hadiths

Also, the socio-political activities and strategies of Seyyed Ahmad Khan are as follows:

Proper training and teaching and instructive sessions
Teaching English to Muslims
Compromising relationship with the British government
Conclusion

Sir Ahmad Khan is considered a turning point in Islamic thought in India in an ideological review. He was the first to react to this new situation, believing that Muslims had to adapt to the new intellectual conditions in the new world. He declared in 1884 that "today, we need a modern theology as before". In fact, he himself founded the thought of modern teaching in Islam and, through his journal Tahzib al-Akhlaq, fought against medieval obscurantism and advocated a rational approach to religion. He rejected imitation as blindly following religious laws and called for a reinterpretation of the Quran on the basis of wisdom in order to adapt to the new tendencies of the time.
In addition, by writing a commentary on the Bible, he took the first serious step toward a comparative study of Islam and Christianity, rejecting the teachings of Christian missionaries in his Ahmadiyya sermons. Over time, he was able to influence and enlighten the minds of the prominent intellectuals such as Shebli Nomani, Abolkalam Azad, Allameh Iqbal, etc.
The experience of the West trip also showed Seyyed Ahmad Khan that in order to get out of the mire of backwardness of the Islamic society, at first, it is necessary to have a compromising relationship with the West, and in the shadow of this peaceful relationship, take advantage of their scientific capabilities and social facilities; then, by gaining political power and correct Islamic knowledge, we can consider a purposeful vision to gain the independence of Muslims and save them from colonialism.
By publishing newspapers and periodicals and establishing translation schools and associations, he paved the way for the development of new sciences and technologies among Muslims of the subcontinent and despite the accusations of Westernism and colonialism leveled at him by dogmatic scholars, the passage of time proved that his infrastructural and fundamental plans overcame the immediate decisions of his opponents; because most of the reformers of the twentieth century, who were serious fighters against colonialism and the defenders of the independence of the Muslims of India, were educated in the Aligarh school.
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