[8] He considered competence in English and Western sciences necessary skills for maintaining Muslims' political influence and Khan's vision for the college was based on his visit to Oxford University and Cambridge University, and he wanted to establish an education system similar to the British model.

[9] A committee was formed by the name of foundation of Muslim College and asked people to fund generously.

Governor of the North Western Provinces contributed ₹1,000, and by March 1874 funds for the college stood at ₹1,53,920 and 8 annas.

[7] Maharaja Mahindra Singh Saab Bahadur of Patiala contributed ₹58,000 while Raja Shambhu Narayan of Benaras donated ₹60,000.

[7] The seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, HEH Mir Osman Ali Khan made a remarkable donation of ₹5,00,000 to this institution in the year 1918.

The Government of India informed the association that a sum of rupees thirty lakhs should be collected to establish the university.

Students and faculty members supported Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the university came to be a center of the Pakistan Movement.

On 19 October 1906, he successfully started a school for girls with five students and one teacher at a rented property in Aligarh.

[23] The foundation stone for the girls' hostel was laid by him and his wife, Waheed Jahan Begum ("Ala Bi") after struggles on 7 November 1911.

[23] One of his daughters was Mumtaz Jahan Haider, during whose tenure as principal, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad had visited the university and offered a grant of ₹9,00,000.

Aligarh Muslim University is considered to be an institution of national importance, under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India.

[29][28] In November 2024, seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, by a 4:3 majority, overruled a previous 1967 judgment in the case of S. Azeez Basha vs. Union of India.

The 1967 ruling had stated that an institution established by a statute, such as the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), could not claim minority status.

The Supreme Court verdict overturned this precedent, paving the way for AMU to potentially assert its rights as a minority institution.

[37] Other notable buildings in the campus includes the Maulana Azad Library, Moinuddin Ahmad Art Gallery, Kennedy Auditorium, Musa Dakri Museum, the Cultural Education Centre, Siddons Debating Union Hall and Sir Syed House.

The present seven-storied building was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime Minister of independent India, in 1960 and the library was named after Abul Kalam Azad, popularly known as Maulana Azad, the first education minister of the independent India.

[67][68] The social science cyber library was inaugurated by Pranab Mukherjee, then President of India, on 27 December 2013.

The project "SS AMU SAT" named after the university's founder Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,[71] was submitted to Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) for its approval in January 2023.

[74] In early 2013, Zameer Uddin Shah, the then Vice Chancellor of the university, insisted that male students have to wear sherwani if they wanted to meet him.

[75] Eid Milad un Nabi Celebrations are conducted regularly by the University under the Seerat Committee which organizs various literary competitions and speeches on the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad.

[80] It was established in the year 1884 and was named after Henry George Impey Siddons, the first principal of the MAO college.

[81] It has hosted politicians, writers, Nobel laureates, players, and journalists, including the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Abul Kalam Azad, Jawahar Lal Nehru.

[88] The society is named after Shakespeare critic Sir Walter Raleigh, who had served as the English professor at the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College from 1885 to 1887.

[89][90] AMU Journal is an independent student and alumni-run educational community and media organization,[91][92] it was started in the year 2016 by a group of AMU Students to raise campus issues and to provide News and information about Happening Events inside the university but later it became an educational community.

[93] In another important step, the AMU Journal launched Monthly Newsletter on the occasion of 206th birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan that coincided with 17 October 2023.