18 SOCIAL SCIENTIST Islamisadon and this spirit hammered to shape the Muslim Society in Bengal. Several theologians came forward in the post-1857 period to support the cause of English education led by Abdool Luteef and Syed Ameer Ali. The most prominent figure in the field was Maulana Karamat Ali (1800 -1873) of Jaunpur, who until his death in 1873 visited for forty years most of the Bengal districts with the object of purifying Islam and consolidating the Muslim/ Society. He equally helped Abdool Luteef to promote the cause of modern education.12 A good number of Anjumans also emerged under the direct initiative of Syed Ameer Ali which became the common platform for the English educated Muslims and the ulamas. These Anjumans were of the opinion that "'he devotion to the Prophet was more glorious than the allegiance to the Pir/ and that a true Muslim should observe the usages and customs practised by the 'first Muslims'. In the above frame, it became easier for the theologians and Muslim elite to arouse awareness among the educated Muslim youth that their Islamic identity could not be sacrificed in the name of modem education and as a result many young men felt it was useless to inculcate western democratic and liberal ideals for the restructuring of Muslim Society.13 The resultant effect of the work of the Bengali theologians and English educated Muslim elite was that it not only stunted the edge of anti-colonialism spirit airiong the Bengali Muslims generated by the Faraizis-Wahhabis, it equally brought the question of peasant ownership in land, spearheaded by the Faraizi-Wahhabi movements, to the point of insignificance. Actually, Nawab Amir Ali's National Mahommedan Association (1856), Abdool Luteef's Mahonnedan Literary Society of Calcutta (1863) and Syed Ameer All's Central National Mahonnedan Association of Calcutta (1877), which represented the interests of upper and middle class Muslims, never made land system of Comwallis an issue to be taken up from the Mahonnedan platform.14 In fact, they considered loyalty to the British administration a pre-requisite for improving the plight of the Muslims. Syed Ameer Ali, however, had taken up the land question from a different point of view. He was not opposed to the land tenure system created by the British in India, yet he supported the ryots in upholding their cause mainly because most of the Bengali ryots belonged to his own 'faith'. His attitude to this issue has been reflected in the speech he delivered while taking part in the debates on Tenancy Bill in 1883. His main target was the highhandedness of the 'Hindu Zamindars', but he remained silent about the oppression of the 'Muslim Zamindars'. Thus Syed Ameer All's attempt was religiously overtoned.15 Besides, other Muslim organisations which came in the forefront by the end of the nineteenth century equally remained silent on the land question. The Dacca Mahonnedan Friends Association (1883), Calcutta'sMahomedan Association (1890), Maldah Mahonnedan Association (1891), Pabna's Anjuman-i-Islamia (1898), etc. took no initiative in discussing the problems relating to the land tenure question.16 Delawarr Hosaen Ahamed Meerza (1840 -1913), the first Bengali Muslim graduate from the University of Calcutta, discussed the economic condition of the Muslims, but attached no importance to the land