Sir Syed often voices demands similar to…

Sir Syed often voices demands similar to those made by the founders of Congress—local self-government, Indian representation on the viceroy's and the governors' councils, and equal duties for Indian members of the Indian Civil Service and the judicial service—but he had remained aloof when Congress was founded and advised his followers not to join it, because he thought the organization would be dominated by Hindus and would inevitably become antigovernment.

It has been argued that Sir Syed's fear of Hindu domination sowed the seeds for the "Two Nations Theory" later espoused by the All-India Muslim League (also referred to as the Muslim League), founded in 1906, and led to its demand for a separate state for the Muslims of India—reinforcing his view that the British were the only guarantors of the rights of the Muslims.

Sir Syed argued that education and not politics is the key to Muslim advancement.

Graduates of Aligarh generally make their careers initially in administration, not politics, and thus are not greatly affected by the introduction of representative institutions at the provincial level by the India Councils Act of 1892.