A Late Nineteenth Century Muslim Response to the Western Criticism of Islam-An Analysis of Amir ‘Ali’s Life and Works
There were more than one scholar in the nineteenth century Muslim worldworking for the development of the community through their writings andpolitical activities. Justice Sayyid Amir ‘Ali was one of them in the Indiansphere of Islam. This article attempts to determine 'Ali's position within thedevelopment of Muslim community in India. Our aim is to examine ‘Ali’sviews of Islam critically in order to find out the values he aimed at. We arenot 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 contributedto the development of Muslims in India.IThe wave of modernity in the Indian sub-continent, in the sense of westerntechnological development and philosophical ideas, was caused by British imperialismin the nineteenth century! Christian missionary activities also playeda remarkable role in achieving this goal. The Muslims of India, however,considered the Christian missionary attitude of identifying western materialdevelopment with Christianity as a challenge that was reflected through theintellectual activities of Muslim scholars. Their response was an attempt toabsorb, transform, reject or adjust their belief system to the forces of ...