The contemporary of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and a great scholar of Islam, Syed Ameer Ali (1849-1928) shared his views about the Congress, but he was not opposed to Muslims organizing themselves politically. In fact, he organized the first significant and purely communal political body, the Central National Muhammadan Association, Although, its membership was limited, it had above fifty branches in different parts of the Sub-continent and it accomplished some solid work for the educational and political uplift of the Muslims. But its activities waned towards the end of the 19th century.
