MAULANA AZAD: A Life

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) was an Islamic scholar freedom fighter freethinker journalist and independent Indias first education minister. Born into an orthodox family of famed Islamic scholars Azad was deeply influenced by the pan-Islamic philosophies of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Jamaluddin Afghani. Azad had no formal education but he was an autodidact who taught himself about culture philosophy languages and literature. As a teenager he successfully published several magazines and newspapers and went on to publish the immensely popular Urdu weekly Al-Hilal through which he tried to persuade Indian Muslims to shake off the shackles of British rule. He became inspired by Gandhis non-violent civil disobedience movement and was extremely critical of the Muslim Leagues communal politics. He joined the Indian National Congress and was elected its youngest president. As president Azad fought against the fissiparous politics of the Muslim League as well as the oppressive British regime. After Independence he reinvigorated Indias formal education system and laid the foundations for scientific and cultural learning in India. He pioneered free and compulsory elementary education and adult literacy programmes. In this in-depth biography of Azad historian S. Irfan Habib takes the reader through some of the most decisive moments in Azads life. In The Early Years we learn of Azads unusual upbringing his illustrious family upheavals in the Islamic world and the initial inklings of Azads freethinking outlook on life. Maulana Azad and Critical Thinking in Islam examines the various schools of thought ethical questions and pan-Islamic debates that shaped Azads religious attitudes and his approach to the idea of nationalism. Azad Islam and Nationalism looks at Azads political career and his unwavering belief in composite nationalism and staunch opposition to the Muslim Leagues sectarian politics. Ghubar-i-Khatir Beyond Faith and Politics lays bare Azads philosophical moorings and personal likes and dislikes through a collection of epistolary essays written during his imprisonment in the Ahmednagar Fort prison in the 1940s. And finally Building a New India charts Azads efforts to strengthen the countrys weak education system through initiatives aimed at primary and adult education his efforts towards the scientific and cultural advancement of the country and his contribution to the arts and culture of a newly independent nation.Maulana Azad: A Life is the definitive biography of one of Indias greatest thinkers and nation builders.