Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has announced the recipients of the 2025 Sir Syed Excellence Awards, which will be presented during the Sir Syed Day Commemorative Ceremony on October 17, marking the birth anniversary of AMU founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
Prof. Shafey Kidwai, Director, Sir Syed Academy, and convener of the jury informed that the International Sir Syed Excellence Award will be conferred upon Professor Faisal Devji, Beit Professor of Global and Imperial History, Balliol College, University of Oxford. Widely regarded as a leading scholar of South Asian studies, Islam, globalisation, and ethics, Prof. Devji holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Intellectual History from the University of Chicago and a B.A. (Double Honours) in History and Anthropology from the University of British Columbia.
Born in Tanzania, Prof. Devji has taught at institutions, including Yale, Cornell, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. His acclaimed works include Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam, Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea, and The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptation of Violence. His influential essay Apologetic Modernity explores the 19th-century Muslim engagement with modernity, particularly through the lens of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the Aligarh Movement.
The National Sir Syed Excellence Award will be presented to Dr. Abdul Qadeer, Chairman of the Shaheen Group of Institutions, for his transformative contributions to education among marginalised communities. Founded in 1989, the group now educates over 20,000 students with a faculty of 500+ across 13 Indian states. It operates schools, PU and degree colleges, and offers coaching for NEET, JEE, UPSC, as well as runs Hifz-ul-Quran Plus and Madrasa Plus programmes.
The awards, carrying cash prizes of ₹2,00,000 (international) and ₹1,00,000 (national), recognise exceptional contributions in Sir Syed Studies, South Asian Studies, Urdu Literature, Medieval History, Social Reform, Communal Harmony, Journalism, Interfaith Dialogue, and related fields.
Awardees were selected by a distinguished jury chaired by Prof. Azarmi Dukht Safavi and comprising Prof. Anisur Rehman, Prof. A.R. Kidwai, Prof. Imtiaz Hasnain, and Prof. Shafey Kidwai, with final approval by AMU Vice Chancellor Prof. Naima Khatoon.
