The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (87 page)

, and the reappearance of
Mu
ammad
. The A
mad
ya believe, with other Muslims, that ‘Isa/Jesus did not die on the cross, but they do not believe that he was received into heaven. Rather, they hold that he visited India to preach, and died there, aged about 120. His tomb is at Srinagar. While sharing many Muslim beliefs, they are nevertheless regarded by Muslims as heretical and to be treated as such. The Lahore group (A
mad
ya Anjuman-i-Ish
’at-i-Islam) has spread widely and established the Woking mosque as its UK centre.

 
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(1817–98).
Often known simply as Sir Sayyid, founder of Islamic Indian modernism and an educational reformer. Sir Sayyid's greatness lies in restoring Muslim confidence and bringing them into the modern age through a practical programme of social and educational reform. He recognized the weakness of Indian Muslims and the futility of armed insurrection against strong British rule (e.g. the failure of the Indian Mutiny, 1857). The only course of action for him was to recognize British rule and raise the standard of the Muslims by working from within. His establishment of a Muslim college at Aligarh (1875) modelled on the lines of Cambridge and Oxford, provoked violent reaction from
al-Afgh
n
, the Sh
a, and the orthodox ‘ulam
. His two major works
Essays on the life of Mohammed
(1870) and a Quranic commentary (1880–95) were attempts to demythologize the
Qur’
n
, and to offer psychological and naturalistic interpretations of Islam. He also, unusually, wrote a
Bible
commentary,
Taby
n al-kal
m
.