This paper seeks to examine how Nazir Ahmad's early novels developed a pedagogic emphasis on the moral edification of Muslims, which was a complex engagement with some aspects of the colonial critique of early nineteenth century Indian indigenous education. This paper is an investigation of how Nazir's project of moral reformation was influenced by nineteenth century British notions of obscenity. The argument of the paper is that the new conception of morality caused a larger aesthetic shift in the Muslim intellectuals of late-nineteenth century India.