Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: Biography

Who is Abdul Kalam Azad?

Abdul kalam Azad, also known as Maulana Abdul kalam Azad or Maulana Azad was an Indian scholar, Islamic theologian, Senior leader of the Indian National Congress during the Indian Independence movement, and an independent activist. He was born on 11 November 1888 in Mecca and his full name is Abdul kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad. He is commonly known as Maulana Azad where the word Maulana is an honour which means ‘Our Master’ and he adapted Azad as his pen name.

Maulana Abdul Azad was highly respected throughout his Life as he was a man of high integrity. Azad in his teenage year’s composed many poetries in Urdu and also had written much work on religion and philosophy. While he was working as a journalist, he published many articles which criticized British rule which eventually led him to get involved in the Indian independence movement. Maulana Azad also became the leader of the Khilafat movement during which he met the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Maulana Azad was moved by Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas of a non-violence approach to fighting against British rule. He became an enthusiastic supporter of Mahatma Gandhi and also worked to organize the non-co-operation movement in protest of the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. At the age of 35, Maulana Azad became the youngest person to serve as the president of the National Congress.

Without taking the help of the British government. Maulana Azad in October 1920 was elected as a member of the foundation committee to establish the Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.In 1931, Maulana Azad was the main organizer of the Dharasana Satyagraha.He also was the most important national leader of the independence movement and also helped in establishing the ideas of secularism and socialism in India. He also helped in launching the Quit India rebellion movement and because of that, he was also imprisoned by other Congress members. Maulana Azad also worked on the unity of the Hindu-Muslim community through his Al-Hilal newspaper. He believed that we as Indians if united will help to make India independent from British rule. Let us learn more about who Abdul Kalam Azad is.

Born: November 11, 1888

Place of Birth: Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Parents: Muhammad Khairuddin (Father) and Alia Muhammad Khairuddin (Mother)

Spouse: Zulaikha Begum

Children: None

Education: Homeschooled; Self-taught

Association: Indian National Congress

Movement: Indian Nationalist Movement

Political Ideology: Liberalism; right-winged; Egalitarian

Religious views: Islam

Publications: Ghubar-e-Khatir (1942-1946); India Wins Freedom (1978);

Passed Away: February 22, 1958

Memorial: Abul Kalam Azad tomb, New Delhi, India

The early life of Abul Kalam Azad

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin on November 11, 1888 in Mecca, Islam's main center of pilgrimage. His mother was the daughter of a rich Arabian Sheikh and his father, Maulana Khairuddin, was a Bengali Muslim of Afghan origin. His forefathers came to India during the reign of Mughal Emperor Babar, from Heart, Afghanistan. Azads were the descendent of eminent Ulama or scholars of Islam. In 1890, he returned to Calcutta (now Kolkata) along with the family.

Maulana Azad had his initial formal education in Arabic, Persian and Urdu with theological orientation and then philosophy, geometry, mathematics and algebra. He also learnt English language, world history, and politics on his own. Maulana Azad had a natural inclination towards writing and this resulted in the start of the monthly magazine "Nairang-e-Alam" in 1899. He was eleven years old when his mother passed away. Two years later, at the age of thirteen, Azad was married to young Zuleikha Begum.

Maulana Azad as the Congress Leader 

Maulana Azad was an inspiring personality in the field of politics. He served in the Congress working committee and also in the offices of the general secretary and the president. In the year 1928 Maulana Azad developed a close friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru and began to support the idea of socialism as he believed that it would help in fighting inequality, poverty, and other national challenges. Maulana Azad was also involved in naming the Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam. Azad accepted the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and believed that nonviolence is the only way that India could be independent of British raj and in 1930  when Mahatma Gandhi embarked on the Dandi Salt March that inaugurated the Salt Satyagraha, Maulana Azad was the one who organized and led the national raid in a nonviolent way on the Dharasana salt works to protest against the increasing salt tax and restriction of its sales and production. Because of the Dandi March, the British government had imprisoned many people who participated in it and among all of them, Azad was also imprisoned in jail between the years 1930 to 1934. In the year 1931 Maulana Azad and many other independent activists were released from jail because of the Gandhi-Irwin pact in which Mahatma Gandhi pledged to give up the Salt Satyagraha movement in return for all his comrades to be released from the jail. 

Maulana Azad was appointed to organize the Congress election campaign in 1935 when the elections were called under the Government of India Act. Azad also worked on raising funds, selecting trustworthy candidates and also organized volunteers to spread the word of elections, and held many rallies across India which aimed at helping the common people of India understand the importance of the election. In 1936, Maulana Azad backed the idea of Jawaharlal Nehru to be the Congress president and also supported the resolution supporting socialism. Azad again supported the reelection of Nehru in the 1937 election and had organized many campaigns for the same cause. Maulana Azad was in conversation with Jinnah and the Muslim league between the years 1935 and 1937 over the Congress-league coalition and broader political co-operation.

Abul Kalam Azad, the Journalist:

Abul Kalam began writing at an early age and started publishing poetry and articles by age of eleven. He wrote under the pen name ‘Azad’, which later became his identity.

In 1912, Azad started publishing a weekly called ‘Al-Hilal’ which he used to question British policies. The publication gained such immense popularity among the public that the British had to finally ban it in 1914 under the Press Act.

Azad soon started another weekly, ‘Al-Balagh’ which ran until he was booked under Defence of India Regulations in 1916. The governments of Bombay, Punjab, Delhi, and the United Provinces had banned his entry and he was deported to Bihar until 1920. Despite censoring, he found ways to rebel against British activities through the power of his pen.

He was a proponent of Hindu-Muslim unity and kept views that were radical and liberal for the Muslims of that time. He propagated his views through his writings and advocated for Indian nationalism and revolutionary ideas based on Hindu-Muslim unity.

Abul Kalam Azad during the Independence movement

1905:  Azad opposed the Bengal partition of 1905 and became increasingly active in revolutionary activities and was associated with revolutionaries like Aurobindo Ghosh and Shyam Sundar Chakravarty.

1908: Azad’s trip to Egypt, Syria, turkey, and France brought him in contact with many revolutionaries related to the Young Turk movement and the Iranian revolution. This developed and shaped his political views towards nationalism.

1909: He objected to separate electorates for Muslims under the Morley-Minto reforms and wrote extensively against is it in his weekly Al-Hilal.

1916: He was banned and deported to Bihar for his revolutionary writing until 1920. He was released after World War I.

1920: After his release, Azad, already inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-cooperation to fight the British, started leading the Khilafat Movement, launched by Indian Muslims to demand that the British preserve the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam after World War I.

He supported the Non-cooperation Movement (1920-22) and entered the Indian National Congress during this time. He was elected the president of the All India Khilafat Committee.

1923: At 35, he became the youngest person to become the president of the Indian National Congress.

Azad grew close to Gandhi through their deep passion for religion and simple living. He began to spin his clothes using khadi on the charkha and began frequently living and participating in the ashrams organized by Gandhi.  Though deeply committed to non-violence himself, Azad also grew close to fellow nationalists like Jawaharlal Nehru, Chittaranjan Das, and Subhas Chandra Bose.

1924: Azad served as president of the 1924 Unity Conference in Delhi, using his position to work to reunite the Swarajists and the Khilafat leaders under the common banner of the Congress.

Azad served on the Congress Working Committee and in the offices of the general secretary and president many times.

1928: Azad endorsed the Nehru Report, which was criticized by the Ali brothers and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Azad endorsed the ending of separate electorates and called for an independent India to be committed to secularism.

At the Congress session in Guwahati, Azad endorsed Gandhi’s call for dominion status for India within a year.

1930: He participated in Salt Satyagraha and was arrested and jailed for a year and a half. He was released after the Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1931.

1936: At the congress session in Lucknow, Azad backed the election of Nehru as Congress president and supported the resolution endorsing socialism.

1938: Azad served as an intermediary between the supporters of and the Congress faction led by Congress president Subhas Bose, who criticized Gandhi for not launching another rebellion against the British.

1940: He again became the president of Congress and remained in the post till 1946.

1942: He along with the rest of the leadership was arrested and put in jail for four years for participating in the Quit India movement.

1944: Azad was against Gandhi Ji holding talks with Jinnah in Mumbai before independence.

Azad was strongly against the Partition of India. He was deeply affected by the violence witnessed during the Partition. Azad travelled through the violence-affected regions of Bengal, Assam, and Punjab and contributed to establishing the refugee camps and ensuring the supply of food and other basic resources.

Abul Kalam Azad, the Educationalist

‘Maulana’, as Azad was fondly referred to, headed constituent assembly debates which went on to shape many of the policies, especially those related to education. He believed that India as a nation should aspire for high educational standards and never compromise on that count.

He was an intellectual at par and his dedication to the field of education is unparalleled as he envisages a liberal and humanitarian education system. His idea was a fusion of eastern and western concepts to bring about wholesome and integrated personality to the education system.

In 1920, Azad along with fellow Khilafat leaders M. A. Ansari and Ajmal Khan founded the Jamila Milia Islamia in Aligarh as higher education institute managed entirely by Indians without any British support.

Life of Abul Kalam after independence

Azad remained a close confidante, supporter, and advisor to prime minister Nehru, and played an important role in framing national policies. Azad masterminded the creation of national programs of school and college construction and spreading the enrolment of children and young adults into schools, to promote universal primary education.

He was elected to the Lok sabha in 1952 and 1957.

Azad supported Nehru’s socialist economic and industrial policies, as well as the advancing social rights and economic opportunities for women and underprivileged Indians.

In 1956, he served as president of the UNESCO General Conference held in Delhi.

Maulana Azad was strongly against leaving education to the states. He argued that education was a matter of grave importance and the central government should be given this authority to ensure a uniform national standard of education across the country.

Though he was supported by Jawaharlal Nehru and other key members of the constituent assembly, a few felt this was a bad idea given the diversity of our country. They were of the view that a decentralized approach would enable states to make laws about education in their respective states. Ultimately, the issue was resolved by retaining education in the state list but also including entries related to higher education under the union list.

Education always remained an important issue for Azad. On 16 January 1948, Azad had said in a meeting, “We must not for a moment forget, it is a birthright of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen.”

He also established ‘the board for adult education to facilitate education among the uneducated adults.

He founded the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in 1950 to encourage cultural exchange with other nations.

He also played an important role in establishing the Sahitya Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy, and Lalit Kala Academy for the development of literature, music, dance, and painting respectively.

Azad, the first education minister of independent India

As the first education minister of the country from 1947 to 1958, Abul Kalam Azad advocated for free and compulsory primary education for all children up to the age of 14 as he believed it was the right of all citizens.

Later, he went on to establish the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi in 1935 from Aligarh and contributed to the setting up of the IITs, IISc, and School of Planning and Architecture.

He was also one of the brains behind the University Grants Commission, India’s higher education regulator, and played a key role in the establishment of other educational institutions.

Literary works by Azad

He wrote many books like India wins Freedom, Gubhar-e-Khatir, Tazkirah, Tarjumanul Quran, etc.

Death

On February 22, 1958 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, one of the foremost leaders of the Indian freedom struggle passed away. For his invaluable contribution to the nation, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honor, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1992.

Legacy

Maulana was a firm believer in the co-existence of religions. His dream was that of a unified independent India where Hindu and Muslims co-habited peacefully. Although this vision of Azad was shattered post partition of India, he remained a believer. He was the founder of the Jamia Milia Islamia Institution in Delhi along with fellow khilafat leaders which has blossomed into a renowned University today. His birthday, November 11, is celebrated as National Education Day in India.