Rama Krishna Mission 1897 Aligarh Movement

SOCIO RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS Rama Krishna Mission – 1897 Syed Ahmed Khan and Aligarh Movement

SOCIO RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS

Rama Krishna Paramahamsa was a priest in a temple of Kali at Dakshineswar near Kolkata.
He had deep faith in the basic truth of all religions. He preached the unity of all religions
He explained the principles contained in the Vedas and Upanishads through simple stories, called parables.
He stressed that every individual is a part of God. Therefore, according to him “service to man means service to God.”
The credit of propagating his ideas goes to his great disciple, Swami Vivekananda.
Swami Vivekananda’s childhood name was Narendra Nath.
He was educated in English schools and graduated himself. He studied the works of the western philosophers.
He was attracted and moved closer with Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
After the death of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda carried the messages of his master all over India.
According to Vivekananda, “The best way to Serve God is to serve the poor and the downtrodden.” It became his motto.
He participated in the World Religious Congregation held at Chicago in the United States of America in 1893.
Vivekananda raised the prestige of Indian culture and religion in the eyes of the world.
Ramakrishna Mission was established in 1897 by Swami Vivekananda at Belur near Kolkata.
It has branches all over India and the other parts of the world.
The Missions’ motto is “Service to humanity”.
It serves for the education, upliftment of women, removal of poverty among the poor and downtrodden.

For a long time, the Muslims remained outside the influence of western education and the British rule
Reform movements among the Muslim community began in the later half of the 19th century.
They aimed at the spread of modern education and removal of social abuses like the Purdha System and polygamy.
In the beginning Mohammeden Literary Society of Kolkata was founded in 1863 by Nawab Abdul Latif.
It played an important role in the spread of education among the Muslims and started a number of schools in Bengal.

The most important movement for the spread of modern education and social reforms among the Muslims was started by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
He had been in the service of British Government as a judicial officer.
He remained loyal to them during the revolt of 1857 and insisted on the co-operation of the Muslims with the British Government.
Syed Ahmed Khan insisted the unity between the Hindus and Muslims.
In 1864 Sir Syed Ahmed Khan started a school at Ghazipur. It was later called as the Scientific Society.
His greatest achievement was the establishment of the Mohammeden Anglo Oriental College (MAO) at Aligarh in 1875.
It later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University.
The reform movement started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was called the Aligarh Movement.
He was in favor of the abolition of Purdah and education of women.
He propagated his views through his magazine called Tahzil-ud-Akhlaq (Reform of Morals).