Abdul Majeed Khwaja
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Abdul Majeed Khwaja | |
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Cambridge University | |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, educationist, social reformer |
| Spouse | Begum Khursheed Khwaja[1] |
| Parent | (father) |
| Part of a series on |
| Aligarh Movement |
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Abdul Majeed Khwaja (1885 – 2 December 1962) was an Indian lawyer, educationist, social reformer and freedom fighter from Aligarh. In 1920, he along with others founded Jamia Millia Islamia and later served its vice chancellor and chancellor.[2]
A
He made a lasting contribution to the education of
He died on 2 December 1962 and was buried in the family graveyard adjacent to the shrine of the
Family background
Abdul Majeed was the younger son of Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf, a prominent lawyer and landowner of Aligarh. Abdul Majeed firmly believed that Western-style scientific education was critically important for the social and economic development of Indian Muslims.
Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf was also very active in the affairs of the Scientific Society founded earlier in 1864 by Sir Syed to translate Western works into Urdu.
Education
Abdul Majeed was initially educated at home in the traditional manner by reputed private tutors who taught him the
He also received his education from
However his father Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf, made sure that his son also got the best possible modern Western style education. Abdul Majeed was therefore sent in 1906 for higher studies to
Marriage
Abdul Majeed Khwaja had three sons: Jamal Khwaja, Rasheed Khwaja and Ajmal Khwaja and six daughters.
His wife, Begum Khursheed Khwaja [d. 1981] was the daughter of Mahomed Hameed Ullah Khan who was the son of Maulvi Sami Ullah, and Begum Akhtar Sarbuland Jung.
Maulvi Sami Ullah was appointed Companion of the
She was the first born of her parents. She was amongst the very first Muslim ladies in Aligarh to come out of
She was the first among the Muslims of Allahabad to get her daughters admitted as boarders in the famous
In the early 1930s Begum Khursheed Khwaja founded and managed the Hamidia Girls School in the interior of the city of
During the days of the
In fact Khursheed Khwaja set fire to all her fashionable garments and donated her ornaments to the freedom movement. She did not waver even when dozens of policemen surrounded the house to arrest her husband, who calmly went along with them for a long stay in the district jail.
She died on 7 July 1981 at the age of 87 and was buried in the family graveyard adjacent to the shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Jamal on the outskirts of Aligarh.
Career
Khilafat movement, and served six-months' imprisonment. The next six years (1919–1925) were devoted largely to nurturing the fledgling Jamia Millia Islamia .
He resumed legal practice at Allahabad High Court in 1926. Domestic and health reasons kept him out of active politics until the end of 1943, though he continued to support both the Jamia and the Indian National Congress party. The period from 1943 to 1948 was very stressful for Abdul Majeed Khwaja. The demand for the creation of Pakistan based on the two-nation theory caused him great anguish. He had suffered a heart attack in 1942; nevertheless he returned to the political arena and devoted all of his energies to preserving the unity of India. In 1936 Khwaja was appointed as Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia on the insistence of Zakir Husain. Zakir Sahab was subsequently elected as vice-president and eventually in 1967 as the third President of India. Khwaja continued to serve as Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia until his death on 2 December 1962. Political workAbdul Majeed Khwaja was uncompromising in his commitment to Islamic liberalism and secular nationalism. He was vehemently opposed to the fragmentation of Indian society on the basis of caste, creed and religion and hence the creation of Pakistan. Gandhiji was the only Indian leader he looked up to for inspiration and guidance. He also worked closely with Chittaranjan Das, Maulana Azad, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, T.A.K. Sherwani and Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. Under Mahatma Gandhi's inspiration he gave up his flourishing legal practice at Khilafat movement .
The raising of the demand for Pakistan by Two-Nation Theory and Abdul Majeed Khwaja was unanimously elected as its president. In this capacity he met the 1946 Cabinet Mission to India at Delhi and also extensively toured the country to influence Muslim public opinion in favour of preserving the unity of India.
He and others like him patiently bore the ire of the separatist forces without losing faith in their mission. Though his efforts to keep India united failed, he continued to work to protect the national fabric with stalwarts like Maulana Azad, Maulana Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, N.A. Sherwani, and others. But for him the assassination of Gandhi on 30 January 1948 was a shock he could never overcome and thereafter Khwaja almost faded out of active election politics in independent India. It was Abdul Majeed Khwaja, who recited the Quran at the funeral service of Mahatma Gandhi.[citation needed] Educational workJamia Millia Islamia was founded at Aligarh on 29 October 1920, as an institution of higher Western style education managed entirely by Indians without any British support or control. The Jamia Millia Islamia was the brainchild of Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, and Hakim Ajmal Khan. Muhammad Ali was the first principal of the college, but due to his intense political activism, he decided to abdicate in favour of his close friend and associate, Abdul Majeed Khwaja. The young and dynamic Zakir Husain was the most prominent student leader of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College to join the Jamia at its very inception and formation, and his zeal and commitment to the cause led him to join the staff as an honorary instructor. In this critical period the greatest measure of moral and material support came from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi through his generous disciple, Maulana Aslam Jairajpuri , Shafiqur Rahman Kidwai, Kalat Sahab and Aqil Sahab among others.
In 1925, with Ghandhi's and Dr. Zakir Hussain , who had just returned from Germany after completing his higher studies in Economics.
After the death of Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari in 1936 the mantle of the Chancellorship of the Jamia fell on the shoulders of Abdul Majeed Khwaja. A responsibility he shouldered till his death in 1962. In line with his family tradition Abdul Majeed Khwaja took great interest in the affairs of his alma mater, Aligarh Muslim University. He was a generous donor and served on the Aligarh Muslim University Executive Council for many years. MiscellaneousHe was the author of the book The Early Life of the First Student of the M.A.O. College, published by the Allahabad Law Journal Press, Allahabad, 1916. BooksDeewan-e-Shaida poetry References
Further reading
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