Eminent Mussalmans: Biographical & Critical Sketches of: Statesman, Poets, Reformers, Jurists and Politicians

The book Eminent Mussalmans contains twenty-three biographical sketches of eminent Mussalmans in India of the 19th and 20th centuries in the fields of politics, jurisprudence, literature, religion, education and social reform. The lives and deeds of these eminent men not only influenced the Mussalmans in India to reshape their national identity which they had lost on account of political changes ushered in by the British but also helped them to imbibe new ideas to meet the new challenge from the West. Reading these biographical sketches now, after fifty-four years of independence, we are in a position to say that though the influence of these eminent men has been more deeply felt by the Mussalmans in India than by the Parsees or Christians or Hindus, in the building up of the composite nationality of India all of them played significant role, and it is wrong therefore, to consider them only as Muslim leaders. Thus the greatest of the Indian Mussalmans – Sir Syed Ahmed Khan with whose biography the book commences said in 1894: “We (i.e., Hindus and Muhammedans) should try to become one heart and soul and act in unison; if united, we can support each other. If not, the effect of one against the other would tend to the destruction and downfall of both.” Nor should we forget the noble sentiment that Mohamed Ali Jinnah uttered in the course of discussion on the Indian Finance Bill 1925 in the Imperial Legislative Assembly: “I sir, stand here with a clear conscience and I say that I am a nationalist first, a nationalist second and a nationalist last. I once more appeal to this House, whether you are a Mussalman or a Hindu. For God’s sake do not import the discussion of communal matters in this House and degrade this Assembly….” Although Jinnah forgot his ideal in his later life and India stood divided in 1947, the ideal that he sounded and for which he worked for sometime remains still an ideal, and can still inspire us to do great deeds and solve a great many problems. The book begins with the life of Sir Syed Ahmed and ends with the lives of the Ali Brothers, giving to the readers not only the sketches of the lives of eminent Mussalmans – twenty-three in all – but also extensive extracts from their speeches and writings. For understanding the history of India’s national struggle Eminent Mussalmans is a book that we can hardly miss to read.