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 zBharat Ratna' in 1992. Journalist, Scholar, author, freedom fighter, and the first minister for education in the first ministry of independent India, Abul Kalam Mohiyuddin Ahmed was born in Mecca in 1888. His father was Maulana Muhamed Khairuddin, a great Islamic scholar. He migrated to Mecca after the First Independence Struggle of India of 1857. He came into the attention of Muhamed Zahir Vatri, a renowned scholar of Medina and married his daughter Aeli. They had five kids, including Abul Kalam. The sudden demise of his wife made Sheikh Khairuddin decide to return to India and he settled in Calcutta with his kids.
