Jamal Khwaja
Encyclopedia
The philosophical work of Jamal Khwaja (or, Ahmad Jamal Yusuf Khwaja, India
n philosopher, born August 12, 1926/1928 Jamal Khwaja was born in August 1926. However most official documents show his date of birth as 1928. This error somehow crept into the record and has become a source of confusion amongst family and friends ever since.), has two facets: an analysis of the nature and causes of philosophical disagreement, and second, analysis of the religious dimension of life, with special reference to Islam
. Jamal Khwaja’s basic approach to philosophy
and religion is irenic rather than polemical. His life mission has been to stimulate serious rethinking and informed dialogue between tradition and modernity in Islam
. He believes in judicious modernization rooted in the Quran and firmly opposes shallow, unprincipled imitation of the West.
, India
in his maternal grandmother’s house. His father Abdul Majeed Khwaja
(1885–1962)http://www.jmi.ac.in/AbdulMajeed.htm was a prominent lawyer, educationist and deeply committed to the Indian Freedom Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi
. His grandfather Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf
(d. 1902) was a prominent landowner and lawyer hailing from Aligarh. The city was earlier named, Kol or Koil.
Aligarh is situated in the central doab
(tract of land lying between two confluent rivers) region of Uttar Pradesh
and has played a prominent role in the history of the region. In medieval times, the famous traveler Ibn Batuta almost lost his life in Koil. Lord Lake captured the famous Aligarh Fort
from the Scindia, after fighting the decisive Battle of Ally Ghur
in 1804.
In 1919 Abdul Majeed Khwaja http://www.jmi.ac.in/AbdulMajeed.htm gave up his flourishing legal practice at the Patna
High Court in response to Mahatma Gandhi
call for non-cooperation
with the colonial British Government. He was a prominent activist in both the Khilafat
and the broader Indian struggle for independence. A.M. Khwaja was one of the founding fathers http://www.jmi.ac.in/AbdulMajeed.htm of the Jamia Millia Islamia
along with Maulana Muhammad Ali
, Gandhiji, Hakim Ajmal Khan
and others.
His grandfather, Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf
was one of the earliest supporters of the Aligarh Movement
under the leadership of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the famous Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College. He donated large sums to the College Fund Committee and also toured the country along with Zahoor Hussain, and Zainul Abdeen. Also accompanying the group were the much younger duo of Syed Mahmud, son of Sir Syed and Hamied Ullah Khan, son of Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan to raise funds for the proposed MAO College. He was also very active in the affairs of the Scientific Society founded earlier in 1864 by Sir Syed.
His mother’s name was Begum Khursheed Khwaja. She was the eldest daughter of Muhammad Hamied Ullah (later Nawab Sarbuland Jung) (17 March 1864–1930) the eldest surviving son of Maulvi Sami Ullah.
Hamied Ullah was the first to be enrolled as a student of the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College and was the second member of the larger family of Sir Syed and Maulvi Sami Ullah to proceed to Christ's College, Cambridge
, University of Cambridge
in England
for higher studies. The first was none other than Sir Syed’s own son, Syed Mahmud, who became the first ever-Indian judge of the Allahabad High Court. Hamied Ullah eventually became Chief Justice of the Nizam’s
High Court at Hyderabad with the title Nawab Sarbuland Jung.
Sir Syed and the much (17 years) younger Maulvi Sami Ullah were relatives and close comrades. The courage, which Maulvi Sami Ullah displayed in rescuing Syed Ahmed’s
family from Delhi in the aftermath of the great Indian Rebellion of 1857
, left a deep impression on the later. But differences arose between the two due to some personal reasons as well as some policy matters relating to the affairs of the MAO College
). The friends became estranged in the late 1880s. Maulvi Sami Ullah withdrew himself from Aligarh affairs and made Allahabad
the focus of his educational mission through founding of the Muslim Boarding House as part of the famous University of Allahabad.
, and resumed his legal practice at the Allahabad High Court. So his earliest schooling took place in Saint Mary’s Convent, Allahabad. He learnt the Quran as also the Persian language
in the traditional manner, at home, from the accomplished scholar Maulvi Haidry. Later he joined the prestigious Government Intermediate College, Allahabad.
In 1942 his father, Abdul Majeed Khwaja had a serious heart attack. In 1943 the family moved back to the ancestral home at Aligarh, where Jamal Khwaja joined the Aligarh Muslim University
, the erstwhile MAO College
for which his forefathers had worked so diligently.
After completing his M.A. in Philosophy
from the Aligarh Muslim University
, Jamal Khwaja obtained an honors degree from his father’s old alma mater Christ's College, Cambridge
, University of Cambridge
, in England
. Later he spent a year studying the German language
and European existentialism
at the University of Munster
, in Germany
.
At Cambridge University he was deeply influenced by the work of C.D. Broad, Wittgenstein and John Wisdom
and his college tutor, Ian Ramsey
who later became Professor of Christian Religion at Oxford University and subsequently Bishop of Durham. It was Ramsey’s influence, which taught Jamal Khwaja to appreciate the inner beauty and power of pure spirituality. At Cambridge he also came to appreciate the value of linguistic analysis as a tool of philosophical inquiry and to combine the quest for clarity with the insights and depth of the existentialist approach to religion and spirituality.
. He performed Hajj
in 2005.
(AMU).
Before he could immerse himself in serious academic work, his family tradition of public work pulled him into a brief spell of active politics under the charismatic Jawahar Lal Nehru: his fathers contemporary at Cambridge University and the first Prime Minister of India
. Nehru was keen to rejuvenate his team of colleagues by inducting fresh blood into the Indian National Congress
. Jamal Khwaja was one of the young persons he chose. He thus became one of the youngest entrants into the Indian Parliament as an elected member of the Lok Sabha
from 1957 to 1962.
While in the corridors of power he learned to distinguish between ideals and illusions, and finally chose to pursue the path of knowledge rather than the path of acquiring authority or power. Returning to his alma mater in 1962, he resumed teaching and research in the Philosophy of Religion. Since then Khwaja has lived a quiet life at Aligarh.
He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts and was a member of important committees of the University Grants Commission
and the Indian Council for Philosophical Research before retiring as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy in 1988. He frequently and actively participated in national seminars at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
, Shimla
.
He is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and essays.
His work is dominated by the passionate quest to answer two questions: “What does it mean to be an authentic Muslim?” and secondly, how should a believer understand and interpret the ‘Word of God’ in our times?”
His first work, Five Approaches to Philosophy, is an analysis of the nature and causes of philosophical disagreement, while his second, principal work, Quest for Islam, analysis the religious dimension of life.
Jamal Khwaja’s basic approach to philosophy and religion is irenic rather than polemical, and he attempts to transcend the traditional polarities of Rationalism and Empiricism, Idealism and Materialism, Theism and Atheism. This irenic approach flows from a critical methodology of philosophy.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n philosopher, born August 12, 1926/1928 Jamal Khwaja was born in August 1926. However most official documents show his date of birth as 1928. This error somehow crept into the record and has become a source of confusion amongst family and friends ever since.), has two facets: an analysis of the nature and causes of philosophical disagreement, and second, analysis of the religious dimension of life, with special reference to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Jamal Khwaja’s basic approach to philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and religion is irenic rather than polemical. His life mission has been to stimulate serious rethinking and informed dialogue between tradition and modernity in Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. He believes in judicious modernization rooted in the Quran and firmly opposes shallow, unprincipled imitation of the West.
Family Background
He was born on August 12, 1926 in DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in his maternal grandmother’s house. His father Abdul Majeed Khwaja
Abdul Majeed Khwaja
Abdul Majeed Khwaja Indian lawyer, educationist, social reformer and freedom fighter, was born at Aligarh, a small but historically significant town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh....
(1885–1962)http://www.jmi.ac.in/AbdulMajeed.htm was a prominent lawyer, educationist and deeply committed to the Indian Freedom Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
. His grandfather Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf
Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf
Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf was one of the top lawyers and landowners of Aligarh, a small but historically significant town in the ‘doab’ region of the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. He was among the first Indian Muslims to understand the nature and gravity of the issues posed by contemporary...
(d. 1902) was a prominent landowner and lawyer hailing from Aligarh. The city was earlier named, Kol or Koil.
Aligarh is situated in the central doab
Doab
A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...
(tract of land lying between two confluent rivers) region of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and has played a prominent role in the history of the region. In medieval times, the famous traveler Ibn Batuta almost lost his life in Koil. Lord Lake captured the famous Aligarh Fort
Aligarh fort
Aligarh Fort one of the strongest forts in India, is located in the city of Aligarh , Uttar Pradesh. It is also called "Aligarh Qila"...
from the Scindia, after fighting the decisive Battle of Ally Ghur
Battle of Ally Ghur
The Battle of Aligarh pronounced by British Colonialists as Battle of Ally Ghur was fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company during the Second Anglo-Maratha War at Aligarh, India....
in 1804.
In 1919 Abdul Majeed Khwaja http://www.jmi.ac.in/AbdulMajeed.htm gave up his flourishing legal practice at the Patna
Patna
Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
High Court in response to Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
call for non-cooperation
Non-cooperation movement
The non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule which lasted for years. This movement, which lasted from September 1920 to February 1922 and was led by Mohandas Gandhi, and supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist...
with the colonial British Government. He was a prominent activist in both the Khilafat
Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
and the broader Indian struggle for independence. A.M. Khwaja was one of the founding fathers http://www.jmi.ac.in/AbdulMajeed.htm of the Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia
Jamia Millia Islamia is an Indian Central University located in Delhi. It was established at Aligarh in United Provinces, India in 1920. It became a Central University by an act of the Indian Parliament in 1988...
along with Maulana Muhammad Ali
Maulana Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali was a Pakistani writer, scholar, and leading figure of the Ahmadiyya Movement.-Biography:Ali was born in Punjab, British India, in 1874. He obtained an English and Law in 1899...
, Gandhiji, Hakim Ajmal Khan
Hakim Ajmal Khan
Ajmal Khan was an Indian physician specialising in the field of South Asian traditional Unani medicine as well as a Muslim nationalist politician and freedom fighter. Through his founding of the Tibbia College in Delhi, he is credited with the revival of Unani medicine in early 20th century...
and others.
His grandfather, Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf
Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf
Khwaja Muhammad Yusuf was one of the top lawyers and landowners of Aligarh, a small but historically significant town in the ‘doab’ region of the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. He was among the first Indian Muslims to understand the nature and gravity of the issues posed by contemporary...
was one of the earliest supporters of the Aligarh Movement
Aligarh Movement
Aligarh Movement was the movement led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, to educate the Muslims of the South Asia after the defeat of the rebels in the Indian rebellion of 1857. It had enormous success and had a profound impact on the future of the subcontinent...
under the leadership of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of the famous Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College. He donated large sums to the College Fund Committee and also toured the country along with Zahoor Hussain, and Zainul Abdeen. Also accompanying the group were the much younger duo of Syed Mahmud, son of Sir Syed and Hamied Ullah Khan, son of Maulvi Sami Ullah Khan to raise funds for the proposed MAO College. He was also very active in the affairs of the Scientific Society founded earlier in 1864 by Sir Syed.
His mother’s name was Begum Khursheed Khwaja. She was the eldest daughter of Muhammad Hamied Ullah (later Nawab Sarbuland Jung) (17 March 1864–1930) the eldest surviving son of Maulvi Sami Ullah.
Hamied Ullah was the first to be enrolled as a student of the Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College and was the second member of the larger family of Sir Syed and Maulvi Sami Ullah to proceed to Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for higher studies. The first was none other than Sir Syed’s own son, Syed Mahmud, who became the first ever-Indian judge of the Allahabad High Court. Hamied Ullah eventually became Chief Justice of the Nizam’s
Nizam
Nizam-ul-Mulk of Hyderabad popularly known as Nizams of Hyderabad was a former monarchy of the Hyderabad State, now in the states of Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , and Maharashtra in India...
High Court at Hyderabad with the title Nawab Sarbuland Jung.
Sir Syed and the much (17 years) younger Maulvi Sami Ullah were relatives and close comrades. The courage, which Maulvi Sami Ullah displayed in rescuing Syed Ahmed’s
Syed Ahmed
Syed Ahmed is a British-Bangladeshi entrepreneur, businessman and television personality. He is the founder and CEO of the hand and body drier company SA Vortex. He is best known for his 2006 appearance in the second UK series of the BBC reality television show The Apprentice, in which contestants...
family from Delhi in the aftermath of the great Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
, left a deep impression on the later. But differences arose between the two due to some personal reasons as well as some policy matters relating to the affairs of the MAO College
MAO College
MAO College was founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the leader of Muslim renaissance in Indian subcontinent, in 1875 at Aligarh. This later became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920....
). The friends became estranged in the late 1880s. Maulvi Sami Ullah withdrew himself from Aligarh affairs and made Allahabad
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
the focus of his educational mission through founding of the Muslim Boarding House as part of the famous University of Allahabad.
Education
Soon after the birth of Jamal Khwaja, his father moved to AllahabadAllahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
, and resumed his legal practice at the Allahabad High Court. So his earliest schooling took place in Saint Mary’s Convent, Allahabad. He learnt the Quran as also the Persian language
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
in the traditional manner, at home, from the accomplished scholar Maulvi Haidry. Later he joined the prestigious Government Intermediate College, Allahabad.
In 1942 his father, Abdul Majeed Khwaja had a serious heart attack. In 1943 the family moved back to the ancestral home at Aligarh, where Jamal Khwaja joined the Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
, the erstwhile MAO College
MAO College
MAO College was founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the leader of Muslim renaissance in Indian subcontinent, in 1875 at Aligarh. This later became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920....
for which his forefathers had worked so diligently.
After completing his M.A. in Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
from the Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
, Jamal Khwaja obtained an honors degree from his father’s old alma mater Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Later he spent a year studying the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and European existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
at the University of Munster
University of Münster
The University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
At Cambridge University he was deeply influenced by the work of C.D. Broad, Wittgenstein and John Wisdom
John Wisdom
Arthur John Terence Dibben Wisdom was a leading British philosopher considered to be an ordinary language philosopher, a philosopher of mind and a metaphysician. He was influenced by G.E...
and his college tutor, Ian Ramsey
Ian Ramsey
Ian Thomas Ramsey was Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at the University of Oxford, and Bishop of Durham from 1966 until his death in 1972. He wrote extensively on the problem of religious language, Christian ethics, the relationship between science and religion, and Christian apologetics...
who later became Professor of Christian Religion at Oxford University and subsequently Bishop of Durham. It was Ramsey’s influence, which taught Jamal Khwaja to appreciate the inner beauty and power of pure spirituality. At Cambridge he also came to appreciate the value of linguistic analysis as a tool of philosophical inquiry and to combine the quest for clarity with the insights and depth of the existentialist approach to religion and spirituality.
General
In 1949 he married his cousin Hamida, the daughter of Major General Muhammad Akbar Khan and Qudsia Begum. They have three sons, Jawahar Kabir, Rajen Habib, Nasser Navin and one daughter, Geeta Anjum. He has visited the USA and several countries in Western EuropeWestern Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. He performed Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
in 2005.
Career
In 1953 Jamal Khwaja was appointed lecturer in Philosophy at his alma mater, Aligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
(AMU).
Before he could immerse himself in serious academic work, his family tradition of public work pulled him into a brief spell of active politics under the charismatic Jawahar Lal Nehru: his fathers contemporary at Cambridge University and the first Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
. Nehru was keen to rejuvenate his team of colleagues by inducting fresh blood into the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
. Jamal Khwaja was one of the young persons he chose. He thus became one of the youngest entrants into the Indian Parliament as an elected member of the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
from 1957 to 1962.
While in the corridors of power he learned to distinguish between ideals and illusions, and finally chose to pursue the path of knowledge rather than the path of acquiring authority or power. Returning to his alma mater in 1962, he resumed teaching and research in the Philosophy of Religion. Since then Khwaja has lived a quiet life at Aligarh.
He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts and was a member of important committees of the University Grants Commission
University Grants Commission
University Grants Commission may refer to:* University Grants Commission * University Grants Commission * University Grants Commission * University Grants Commission...
and the Indian Council for Philosophical Research before retiring as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy in 1988. He frequently and actively participated in national seminars at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
Indian Institute of Advanced Study
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study is a prestigious research institute based in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and it started functioning from October 20, 1965....
, Shimla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
.
Summary of General Accomplishments
- Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), 1957-62.
- Delivered the Schopenhauer Centenary Lecture at Max Mueller Bhawan, New Delhi, 1959-60.
- Member, Central Advisory Board of Anthropology, 1959-62.
- Joint Secretary, Hindustani Culture Society, founded by Pandit Sunder Lal, Tej Bahadur Sapru, A.M.Khwaja et al., 1964-69.
- Member, Government of India Delegation to the International Islamic Conference, Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia in 1969. - Member, University Grants CommissionUniversity Grants CommissionUniversity Grants Commission may refer to:* University Grants Commission * University Grants Commission * University Grants Commission * University Grants Commission...
Panel on Philosophy and of Visiting Committee to University of Mumbai (60), 1978-82. - Head of the Department of Philosophy, Aligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
, Aligarh, 1978-84. - Dean, Faculty of Arts and Ex-Officio Member of the Executive Council, Aligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...
, 1980-82. - Member of the Governing Body of the Indian Council for Philosophical Research, New Delhi, 1984.
- Governor’s Nominee on the Senate of Himachal UniversityHimachal UniversityHimachal Pradesh University Located nearly 5 km away from the town, at Summer Hill, a quiet suburb of Shimla in the vicinity of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. Himachal Pradesh University, a premier institution of teaching and research in the country, was established on 22 July 1970...
, ShimlaShimlaShimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. - Member, Editorial Board, Indian Philosophical Quarterly, Pune.
Works
His major works include the well received, Five Approaches to Philosophy, Quest for Islam, and Authenticity and Islamic Liberalism. His latest works, Islam and Modernity and Living the Quran In Our Times are in press and slated for release by December 2010.His autobiography, The Vision of An Unknown Indian is slated for publication in 2011.He is also the author of numerous scholarly articles and essays.
His work is dominated by the passionate quest to answer two questions: “What does it mean to be an authentic Muslim?” and secondly, how should a believer understand and interpret the ‘Word of God’ in our times?”
His first work, Five Approaches to Philosophy, is an analysis of the nature and causes of philosophical disagreement, while his second, principal work, Quest for Islam, analysis the religious dimension of life.
Jamal Khwaja’s basic approach to philosophy and religion is irenic rather than polemical, and he attempts to transcend the traditional polarities of Rationalism and Empiricism, Idealism and Materialism, Theism and Atheism. This irenic approach flows from a critical methodology of philosophy.
Major Conferences and Lectures
- Leader of the Government of India Cultural Delegation to AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, 1960. - He was one of the official Indian delegates at the Pakistan Philosophical Congress held at PeshawarPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
in April 1963. - He was one of the official Indian delegates at the International Islamic Conference Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia in 1967. - He was invited to present a series of three memorial lectures at the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library, PatnaPatnaPaṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...
during the mid 1980’s. - Participated in the seminar: The Concept and Role of Tolerance in Indian Culture, organized by the Center of Advance Study in Philosophy, Madras, 1985.
- Director, Philosophical Dialogue between Ulema and Modern Scholars, sponsored by Indian Council for Philosophical Research, New Delhi, 1988.
- He was one of the official Indian delegates at the World Philosophical Congress Brighton, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(1988). - He frequently and actively participated in national seminars at the Indian Institute of Advanced StudyIndian Institute of Advanced StudyThe Indian Institute of Advanced Study is a prestigious research institute based in Shimla, India. It was set up by the Ministry of Education, Government of India in 1964 and it started functioning from October 20, 1965....
, ShimlaShimlaShimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
. (57)
External links
- www.JamalKhwaja.com (Author’s official website)
- www.AlhamdPublishers.com (Publishers of 7 works of Khwaja Sahab)
- Official Christ's College websiteChrist's College, CambridgeChrist's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
- Khwaja Abdul HamiedKhwaja Abdul HamiedDr. K. A. Hamied was a vehemently nationalist Indian Scientist who graduated from Allahabad University and held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Humboldt University of Berlin ; he was a disciple of M.K. Gandhi and former founder professor along with Dr. Zakir Husain of the Jamia Milia Islamia in...
- Christ’s College celebrates opening of the Khwaja Yusuf Hamied Centre
- http://www.archive.org/details/mylifebeingtheau031135mbp
- Irfan HabibIrfan HabibIrfan Habib is an Indian Marxist historian, a former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is a Professor Emeritus at Aligarh Muslim University. He has served in the Indian History Congress for many years. Irfan Habib and R.S...
- Waheed AkhtarWaheed AkhtarSyed Waheed Akhtar was an Urdu poet, writer, critic, distinguished orator, and one of the leading Muslim scholars and philosophers of the 20th century.- Life :...
List of reading recommendations
- The Early Life of the First Student of the M.A.O. College, A.M. Khwaja, The Allahabad Law Journal Press, Allahabad, 1916.
- My Life, Being The Autobiography Of Nawab Server-Ul-Mulk Bahadur, English translation by his son Nawab Jiwan Yar Jung Bahadur, Publisher; Arthur H. Stockwell Limited, London.http://www.archive.org/details/mylifebeingtheau031135mbp
- Muslims and India’s Freedom Movement, Shan Muhammad, Istitute of Objective Studies, New Delhi, 2002.
- The Indian Muslims, M.Mujeeb, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1955.
- The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
- Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan & Muslim Modernization in India & Pakistan, Hafeez Malik, Royal Book Company, Karachi, 1988.
- Towards a Common Destiny: A Nationalist Manifesto, Tufail Ahmad Manglori, People’s Publishing House, New Delhi, 1994.
- Hayat-i-Javed, Altaf Husain Hali, Idarah-i-Adabiyat-i-Delhi, Delhi, 1979
- Aligarh’s First Generation, David Lelyveld, Oxford University Press. Delhi, 1996.
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan – A Reinterpretation of Muslim Theology, C.W.Troll, Oxford University Press, Karachi.
- Sir Syed Ahmed Khan – A political Biography, Shan Muhammad, Meenakshi Prakashan, Meerut.
- The Aligarh Movement – Basic Documents, Shan Muhammad, Meenakshi Prakashan, Meerut.
- History of The Aligarh Muslim University, Khaliq Ahmad Nizami, Idarah -i- Adbiyat –i- Delli, Delhi, 1995.
- An Autobiography – A life to Remember, K.A. Hamied, Lalvani Publishing House, Bombay, 1972.
- http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_JNjczcog2IJ:www.zmo.de/dietrich/Reetz%25201988.pdf+Enlightenment+and+Islam:+Sayyid+Ahmad+Khan%E2%80%99s+Plea+to+Indian+Muslims+for+Reason.&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjjDmjtck25UzqyMHbvQG5tm6_QOWdWblolrjVSvU9r0lL54BGHQj2c84h9Kr5As_PX8oqQDnpcq0OFOa60gUI4MSmpP7lqeABu853tqaIATq51nLPPczzcQt5Z93dUL-SoEmx0&sig=AHIEtbSKgyw1TWKMtlvngUlRt29h5XoHmAEnlightenment and Islam: Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Plea to Indian Muslims for Reason.]
- The Aligarh Movement and the Making of the Indian Muslim Mind 1857-2002, Tariq Hasan, Published 2006 by Rupa & Co., New Delhi.