RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHIC VIEWS OF THE PROMINENT FIGURE OF THE INDIAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD

The first half of the XX century is an era of crisis and collapse of the colonial system, the formation of national states in Asia and Africa. In many newly formed states, Muslims formed the majority or a significant part of the population, and there were tendencies to identify ethnic and religious identities. The liberation movement in British India, along with its main anti-colonial content, provided one example of such a trend - a surge of Muslim nationalism under the slogan of recognizing the Ummah community as a separate nation, culminating in the division of the country and the creation of two new states. In this regard, the religious and philosophical views of Indian politicians, both supporters of a single secular country and adherents of the idea of partition, are of considerable scientific interest. In this article, the author sets a task to analyze the views of a Muslim by faith, an outstanding fighter for the independence of India, Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), who is poorly studied in Russian science. A genuine Maulana Muslim scholar, one of the leaders of the country's leading political party, the Indian national Congress (INC), an associate of Gandhi and Nehru, what religious and philosophical motives guided him? The article is based on an objective and critical analysis of original sources. Azad was born in Mecca in 1888. In 1890, his family moved to Calcutta. In his youth, he received a traditional Muslim education. In 1912, Azad joined the largest party in India, the Indian national Congress (INC). Since 1920, he continuously was a member of the party's highest body, the Executive Committee. He was twice elected President of the Congress in 1923 and 1940. From 1947 to the end of his days, he served as the Minister of education of India. Azad's religious worldview was the basis for his position on the methods of achieving India's independence, India's participation in the Second World War on the side of the anti-Hitler coalition, and the solution of the religious and communal problems. Azad supported the revision of Islamic teachings based on the Koran, called on Muslims to participate in the national liberation struggle against the mother countries, was a proponent of secularization of public life, called for tolerance of other religions and recognized the unity of all humankind. Below, for the first time in Russian literature, Azad's position is be presented on such issues as the problem of interpretation of the Koran, the knowledge of God, the manifestation of God, the attitude of believers to their faiths, the view of Christianity and other religions, the unity of humanity, Islam and freedom.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, religion, Islam, Koran, India

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