''Al-Hilal'' (Urdu: هلال "The Crescent") was a weekly Urdu language newspaper established by the
Indian Muslim
Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...
independence activist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The paper was notable for its criticism of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
in India and its exhortation to Indian Muslims to join the growing
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
. ''Al-Hilal'' ran from 1912 to 1914, when it was shut down under the Press Act.
Background
''Al-Hilal'' followed several earlier forays into publishing by Azad. His earliest attempt was ''Nairang-e-Alam'', a poetry periodical published in 1899 when he was 11 years old, followed by ''Al-Misbah'', a current events periodical published in 1900, and ''Lisan-us Sidq'' ("The Voice of Truth") in 1904. Azad also contributed to journals like ''Khadang-i-Nazar'', ''Makhzan'', and ''Al-Nadva''.
In 1908, Azad embarked on travels through several Muslim countries in Asia and Africa and was exposed to anti-imperial movements in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. He became particularly close with Egyptian activist
Mustafa Kamil Pasha
Mustafa Kamil Pasha ( ar, مصطفى كامل, ) (August 14, 1874 - February 10, 1908) was an Egyptian lawyer, journalist, and nationalist activist.
Early life and education
Kamil was born in Cairo in 1874. His father was an engineer who firs ...
and was inspired by his active and explicit dissent against British authorities in Egypt. ''Al-Hilal'' was named after the publication with the same title published in Egypt, pointing to the influence of Egyptian anti-imperial activists on Azad's thinking.
1912 to 1914
The first edition of ''Al-Hilal'' was published in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in 1912. According to British authorities at the time, ''Al-Hilal'' was at odds with the majority of the Muslim press in India, which they claimed was largely pro-government. ''Al-Hilal'' was often mentioned in British reports alongside '' The Comrade'', a newspaper established by the Indian Muslim scholar Muhammad Ali. While ''The Comrade'' and ''Al-Hilal'' shared a critical view of British imperialism, ''The Comrade'' was an English-language publication targeted at British-educated Muslims, while ''Al-Hilal'' was an
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
, which Azad claimed had "betrayed the people." Additionally, ''Al-Hilal'' reflected Azad's pan-Islamic approach to anti-imperialism and often included news about anti-imperial struggles among Muslim populations in other parts of Asia and Africa. For example, during the
Balkan War
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defea ...
, ''Al-Hilal'' published photos of Turkish independence activists and compared British activities in Turkey with British attitudes towards the destruction of the Kanpur mosque in India. In his writing, Azad drew from Islamic theology and the ''
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
'' in order to contextualize the Indian independence struggle for his Muslim readership.
Over the course of its two-year run, ''Al-Hilal'' established itself as an extremely popular newspaper in the Indian Muslim community. Its readership spanned
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
. By Azad's own account, the newspaper had devoted readers in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
as well. At the time, ''Al-Hilals peak circulation of over 25,000 marked a record for Urdu journalism, and back issues were regularly republished due to high demand.
Shutdown in 1914
British authorities regularly expressed concerns about ''Al-Hilal'''s hostile attitude towards the colonial government, and monitored it closely throughout its run. The newspaper was notorious enough that it was mentioned at a 1915 meeting of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
, where British leaders specifically drew attention to ''Al-Hilals apparent "anti-British and pro-German" stance and its publication of an article that stated that the British Army "prefer edretreating to fighting."
In 1914, Azad was fined Rs. 2000 under the Press Act, which allowed for the
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
of Indian publications promoting nationalist views. Once he had paid the initial fine, he was fined a further Rs. 10,000. ''Al-Hilal'' was finally forcibly shut down by British authorities in November 1914.
Azad attempted to revive ''Al-Hilal'' as ''Al-Balagh'' ("The Message") in 1915, but the new newspaper only lasted five months. He tried again to establish a new newspaper with ''Paigham'' in 1921, but the paper was banned by December 1921 and Azad was arrested for his continued refusal to comply with the Press Act.
Impact and legacy
''Al-Hilal'' is widely considered to be a major turning point in Muslim engagement with the independence movement, inspiring a new community resistance to the British Raj. Several prominent independence activists acknowledged the importance of Azad's work with the newspaper, even after its shutdown. In a 1920 edition of his publication ''
Young India
''Young India'' was a weekly paper or journal in English founded by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1916 and later published by Mahatma Gandhi. Through this work, Mahatma Gandhi desired to popularise India's demand of self-government or Swaraj.
It was publ ...
'',
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
highlighted the importance of ''Al-Hilals critique of the British government. Similarly, in his 1944 book ''
The Discovery of India
''The Discovery of India'' was written by the Indian Independence leader, Jawaharlal Nehru (later India's first Prime Minister) during his incarceration in 1942–1945 at Ahmednagar fort in present day Indian state of Maharashtra by British co ...
'',
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
praised Azad for the political and literary innovations he pioneered with ''Al-Hilal'', stating that:
Abul Kalam Azad spoke in a new language to them he Indian Muslim populationin his weekly ''Al-Hilal''. It was not only a new language in thought and approach, even its texture was different, for Azad's style was tense and virile, though a little difficult because of its
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
background. He used new phrases for new ideas and was a definite influence in giving shape to the Urdu language, as it is today. The older conservative leaders among the Muslims did not react favourably to all this and criticized Azad's opinions and approach. Yet not even the most learned of them could easily meet Azad in debate and argument, even on the basis of scripture and old tradition, for Azad's knowledge of the happened to be greater than theirs.
In 1921, Mufti Shaukat Ali Fehmi purchased the press that Azad had used to publish ''Al-Hilal'' to establish his own Urdu-language magazine, '' Din Dunia''. The press continued to be used for almost five decades to publish Urdu publications. While the Fehmi family attempted to have the press preserved in recognition of its historical significance, they received little interest from any universities, museums, or government agencies, and it was eventually sold for scrap.