Maulana Mahmud Hasan initially received a traditional Islamic education within his family and then went on to graduate from Dār al-Ulūm Deoband. While teaching became his profession, he developed an interest in politics. In 1878, he formed Samrat al-Tarbiyat (which means ‘fruits of training’)—later renamed as Jamīat al-Ansār—which was a revolutionary organisation. The Silk Letter Movement led to his being exiled to Malta. But upon his return to India, he plunged into the freedom struggle, albeit with a philosophy of non-violence.

The title Shaykh al-Hind was given to him by the Khilāfat Committee in acknowledgement of his dedication and leadership. He always stressed Hindu-Muslim unity. He was also responsible for establishing the organisation Nazarāt al-Maʿrūf to mould Western educated Muslim youth in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunna. He set up many revolutionary centres within and outside the country with the sole aim of overthrowing the British. His courage during the Malta exile is legendary and most inspirational.

One of the chief architects of the Silk Letter Movement, Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi was a devout student of Shaykh al-Hind. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the duo plunged headlong into revolutionary activities with the aim of securing freedom for their country and the formation of Jamīat al-Ansār. Much of his younger life was spent in garnering support from outside of India and he returned to his nation only in 1939. Sindhi strongly believed that the future of India lay in the unity of Hindus and Muslims. He also accepted that the Congress had the strength and maturity required to present a secular front to the international community, and was needed as a mechanism to maintain unity between Hindus and Muslims. Although a revolutionary his entire life, he stood for liberty, economic equality, social progress and political awareness of society.

Muftī Kifayatullah was born at Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. After graduating from Dār al-ʿUlūm Deoband, he first served as the principal of Madrasah Ijāziyyah, Shahjahanpur, and then later he joined Madrasah Amīniyyah of Delhi and subsequently became its rector. He got involved in the freedom movement led by Shaykh al-Hind, preparing the fatwa regarding the non-cooperation movement that was endorsed by 500 ulama. From the time of the formation of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, he served as its president for two decades. He was a prominent scholar and theologian of the Jamiat and a leader in its struggle for freedom. From an early age, Kifayatullah enjoyed reading and writing. Kifayatullah’s most renowned publication is Talim al-Islām, which consists of four volumes of questions and answers pertaining to details of fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, meant for children and written in simple language.

This multifaceted personality was born in a religious and educated family in Makkah. Early in his life, it became clear to him that his duties as a Muslim included obligations towards the whole universe, not just his community. Young Azad published a journal called al-Hilāl as a vent for his religious, anti-British and pro-nationalist views. He was the youngest president of the Congress, and fully endorsed Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation, the Salt March, the civil disobedience movement and others, courting arrest and serving jail sentences on many occasions. Like all other leaders of the Jamiat, Maulana Azad used every occasion and forum to reinforce Hindu-Muslim unity.

After independence, he became, befittingly, the first education minister and moulded the new nation’s destiny for over a decade. In 1992, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, which is the nation’s highest civilian award. He played a key role in making the national policy on education that still today enables access to education to all students irrespective of their caste, creed etc.

He was pan-Islamist scholar from Panhasa, a village in the Nalanda district, Bihar. He was educated at Bihar Sharif, Deoband and Allahabad. He started his career as a teacher of theology and taught at Bihar Sharif, Gaya and Allahabad. He founded Anjuman-Ulama-i-Bihar in 1917. He was one of the founders of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and became its General Secretary in 1940 for only six months till his last breath. He was also the founder of Imarat-i-Sharia Bihar. He took a prominent part in the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements between 1920 and 1922. He worked for Hindu-Muslim unity and actively participated in the hartals to boycott the Simon Commission. He took a prominent role in the civil disobedience movement launched by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind in 1930 and was imprisoned during the movement. He used to be regarded as the brain of the organization. He passed away in 1940.

This multifaceted personality was born in a religious and educated family in Makkah. Early in his life, it became clear to him that his duties as a Muslim included obligations towards the whole universe, not just his community. Young Azad published a journal called al-Hilāl as a vent for his religious, anti-British and pro-nationalist views. He was the youngest president of the Congress, and fully endorsed Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation, the Salt March, the civil disobedience movement and others, courting arrest and serving jail sentences on many occasions. Like all other leaders of the Jamiat, Maulana Azad used every occasion and forum to reinforce Hindu-Muslim unity.

After independence, he became, befittingly, the first education minister and moulded the new nation’s destiny for over a decade. In 1992, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, which is the nation’s highest civilian award. He played a key role in making the national policy on education that still today enables access to education to all students irrespective of their caste, creed etc.

He was pan-Islamist scholar from Panhasa, a village in the Nalanda district, Bihar. He was educated at Bihar Sharif, Deoband and Allahabad. He started his career as a teacher of theology and taught at Bihar Sharif, Gaya and Allahabad. He founded Anjuman-Ulama-i-Bihar in 1917. He was one of the founders of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and became its General Secretary in 1940 for only six months till his last breath. He was also the founder of Imarat-i-Sharia Bihar. He took a prominent part in the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements between 1920 and 1922. He worked for Hindu-Muslim unity and actively participated in the hartals to boycott the Simon Commission. He took a prominent role in the civil disobedience movement launched by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind in 1930 and was imprisoned during the movement. He used to be regarded as the brain of the organization. He passed away in 1940.

Maulana Syed Fakhruddin Ahmed was born at Ajmer in 1889. His grandfather, Syed Abdul Karim, was a station house officer (thanedar) in the Police Department there. After graduation in 1910 from Dār al-Ulūm Deoband, he became a teacher in the Dār al-Ulūm. Then after some time, the elders of Dār al-Ulūm, in 1911, sent him to Madrasah Shahi Moradabad, where he lived for nearly 48 years. In 1957, after Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani’s death, the members of the Majlis-i-Shura of Dār al-Ulūm chose him for the post of Shaykh al-Hadith in Dār al-ʿUlūm, Deoband.

Besides his educational preoccupations, he was also connected with national politics from the time of the Khilāfat Movement, as a result of which he too had to bear the hardships and rigors of imprisonment and shackles. During Maulana Madani’s presidency of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, he acted twice as Vice-President; thereafterhe was appointed President and went on discharging the functions of President of this organization till his last breath on 5 April 1972.

He was a multi-faceted personality: an Islamic scholar, a reputed historian, a prolific writer and a leader (both religious and political). Most importantly, he was a freedom fighter who spent most of his life in the struggle for independence (including eight years in jail) and thereafter in chartering a life of identity and dignity for Muslims who had suffered Partition but had refused to leave India. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly, where he used his position to safeguard the interests of the community, but always within the secular framework of the constitution. Shaykh Hifzur Rehman served

on several community organizations. He was a patron to the Nadwat al-Musannifīn and the national General Secretary of the Jamiat. His writings were aimed at inculcating values of Islam as per the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith, in the form of stories which became very popular for they were easy to read.