Mohsin Khawaja
2016
We see from the life of Sayyid Ahmed that he disrupted the status quo of society at various levels. He was not a passive preacher or a Sufi living in isolation. He not only challenged the oppressors but also the oppressed. For this he faced opposition from both. When Sayyid Ahmed stepped out to reform socio-religious thought in India, that included matters related to general ignorance of basic tenets of Islam, sufi ideologies and pilgrimage; he met with resistance from those “internal” agents whose interest relied on the then state of affairs. Similarly, when he refused to compromise with the political hostility of colonizers and their allies, he faced challenges. This makes the study of his movement a very special case in history of South Asia. A keen researcher thus needs to understand the context of every comment that is placed in favor or opposition of Sayyid Ahmed. In this study, I have kept focus on the macro aspects of the life of Sayyid Ahmed and his movement and its historical context.
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