1. PRESENTED By :
Mohammed Aatif Shahab
&
Md Zafar Ahmed
Dept. of Petroleum Studies,
(Aligarh Muslim University )
2. CONTENT
• EARLY LIFE
• POLITICAL VIEWS
• POLITICAL LIFE
• POST INDEPENDENCE
• LITERACY WORKS
• LEGACY AND INFLUENCE
3. EARLY LIFE
Born on November 11, 1888 in Mecca
His mother was the daughter of a rich Arabian
Sheikh and his father, Maulana Khairuddin, was
a Bengali Muslim of Afghan origins.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's real name was
Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin.
Maulana Azad was well versed in many
languages viz. Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi,
Persian and Bengali. Maulana Azad was a
brilliant debater, as indicated by his name, Abul
Kalam, which literally means “lord of dialogue”
4. In fact, in the field of journalism, he was
publishing a poetical journal (Nairang-e-
Aalam) and was already an editor of a weekly
(Al-Misbah), in 1900, at the age of twelve
In 1903, brought out a monthly journal, Lissan-
us-Sidq
5. POLITICAL LIFE
On his return from abroad, Azad met two
leading revolutionaries of Bengal- Aurobindo
Ghosh and Sri Shyam Shundar Chakravarty
and joined the revolutionary movement
against British.
In 1912, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad started a
weekly journal in Urdu called Al-Hilal to
increase the revolutionary recruits amongst
the people.
Al-Hilal became a revolutionary mouthpiece
ventilating extremist views. The government
regarded Al-Hilal as propogator of secessionist
views and banned it in 1914.
6. Maulana Azad supported Non-Cooperation
Movement started by Gandhi ji and entered
Indian National Congress in 1920.
He presided over the special session of
Congress in September 1923 and was said to
be the youngest man elected as the President
of the Congress.
Maulana Azad became the president of
Congress in 1940 (Ramgarh) and remained in
the post till 1946.
7. POLITICAL VIEWS
He never supported the two nation theory.
In the Ramgarh session he had said, in his
presidential address that
“ If an angel descends from heaven with gift of
freedom of India and declares from Qutub
Minar that India is a free country I would not
accept it unless Hindus and Muslims are united
as if India does not get freedom it is India’s loss
but if Hindus and Muslims do not unite it is
entire humanity’s loss”
For the unity of Hindus and Muslims he
launched ‘AL-HILAL’ and ‘AL-BELAGH’.
8. POST INDEPENDENCE
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served as the first
Minister of Education from 1947 to 1958.
Azad masterminded the creation of national
programmes of school and college construction
and spreading the enrollment of children and
young adults into schools.
In 1956, he served as president of
the UNESCO General Conference held in Delhi.
9. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education
established the first Indian Institute of
Technology in 1951 and the University Grants
Commission in 1953.
He also laid emphasis on the development of
the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and
the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University.
He foresaw a great future in the IITs for India.
10. LITERACY WORKS
Maulana Azad is considered one of the greatest
Urdu writers of the 20th century.
He has written many books including India Wins
Freedom, Ghubar-e-Khatir, Tazkirah, Tarjumanul
Quran, etc.
Ghubar-e-Khatir (Sallies of Mind),is one of the
most important works of Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad, written primarily during 1942 to 1946
when he was imprisoned in Ahmednagar
Fort in Maharashtra.
It is often said that his book India wins
Freedom is about his political life and Ghubar-e-
Khatir deals with his social and spiritual life.
11. LEGACY AND INFLUENCE
Azad is remembered as amongst the leading
Indian nationalists of his time.
His contribution to establishing the education
foundation in India is recognized by celebrating
his birthday as "National Education Day" across
India.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs of the Central
Government of India set up the Maulana Azad
Education Foundation in 1989 on the occasion
of his birth centenary to promote education
amongst educationally backward sections of
the Society.
12. Jawaharlal Nehru referred to him as Mir-i-
Karawan (The Caravan Leader), and Mahatma
Gandhi counting him as "a person of the
caliber of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras“.
On February 22, 1958 Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad, one of the foremost leaders of Indian
freedom struggle passed away.
For his invaluable contribution to the nation,
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was posthumously
awarded India's highest civilian honor, Bharat
Ratna in 1992.
