Maulana Azad

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

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What prompted me to write about him

When I asked the name of first education minister of India to the students, most of them seemed to have no clue. Even when I told them the name of Maulana Azad. They had no idea about his life and contribution.Many mistook him with A. P. J Abdul Kalam(The missile man of India) . So it prompted me to write a short biography on him.

Azad was born on 11 November 1888 in Mecca, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. His real name was Sayyid Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin AlHussaini, but he eventually became known as Maulana AbulKalam Azad. Azad's father was a scholar who lived in Delhi with his maternal grandfather, as his father had died at a very young age. During the Sepoy Mutiny, he left India and settled in Mecca. His father's name was Maulana Sayyid Muhammad Khair and his mother's was Sheikha Alia bint Mohammad.

His knowledge and talent

Maulana Azad came back to Calcutta with his family in 1890. Azad studied at home by tutor. You can realize his talent from the fact that he had mastered six languages, including Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Bengali, Arabic, and English.even today despite all the resources learning a new language is not an easy task. He was also trained in the four school of Islamic laws of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali fiqh, Shariat, mathematics, philosophy, world history, and science by tutors hired by his family.

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Great work in young age

He was teaching World history to a class of students, most of whom were twice his age, when he was fifteen; and completed the traditional course of study at the age of sixteen, nine years ahead of his contemporaries, and brought out a magazine at the same age.in fact, in 1903, he brought out a monthly journal, Lissan-us-Sidq, which soon gained popularity.At the age of thirteen, he was married to a young Muslim girl, Zulaikha Begum.Azad compiled many treatises interpreting the Qur'an, the Hadis, and the principles of Fiqh and Kalam.

Azad as a journalist

He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called Al-Hilal.In it he criticised the policy of British and tried to strengthen Hindu-muslim unity but it was banned in 1914 under the Press Act.

Azad started a new journal, the Al-Balagh,in which he was talking about the same thing that of previous magazine. With his popularity increasing across India, the government outlawed Azad's second publication under the Defence of India Regulations Act and arrested him. The governments of the Bombay Presidency, United Provinces, Punjab and Delhi prohibited his entry into the provinces and Azad was moved to a jail in Ranchi, where he was incarcerated until 1 January 1920.

Role in freedom movement

After his release, Azad began participating in non-cooperation movement along with Gandhiji. Both Azad and Gandhi shared a deep passion for religion and Azad developed a close friendship with him. He adopted the Prophet Muhammad's ideas by living simply, rejecting material possessions and pleasures. He began to spin his own clothes using khadi on the charkha, and began frequently living and participating in the ashrams organised by Gandhi.Becoming deeply committed to ahimsa (non-violence) himself, Azad grew close to fellow nationalists like Jawaharlal Nehru, Chittaranjan Das and Subhas Chandra Bose.He is the perfect example to show that Islam and non-violence can coexist .

Azad also participated in civil disobedience movement and Quit India movement.

Maulana Azad as an education minister

After India got independence, he became the first education minister of India. He helped start IIT(Indian Instatute Of Technology) ,UGC(University Grant Commission) ,AICTE (All India Council Of Technical Education) etc. He believed in giving compulsory and free education to the children.

Recognition

Jawaharlal Nehru referred to him as Mir-i- Karawan (the caravan leader), "a very brave and gallant gentleman, a finished product of the culture that, in these days, pertains to few".Mahatma Gandhi counting him as a person of the calibre of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagorus.

On his birth anniversary on 11 Nov, National education day is celebrated all over India.