He was born in Daryabad, Barabanki district of India in the Qidwai family. His grandfather Mufti Mazhar Kareem was sentenced to the Andaman Islands for signing a fatwa against the British Raj. He obtained his BA in philosophy from Canning College, Lucknow in 1912. In his academic career, he edited the Urdu weekly Sach and then Sidq. Amin Ahsan Islahi, another Indo-Pak Muslim scholar, also worked with him on his weekly newspaper, Sach. For higher studies, MA Philosophy, he joined the then MAO College and then went to St Stephen's College of Delhi, but because of his financial crisis, he could not complete the course. His first book in English, The Psychology of Leadership, was published by Louis Fisher, London in 1913. Since childhood, he took interest in reading a variety of books and writing articles. His first article was published in an Urdu daily, Wakeel Amritsar when he was nine years old. Philosophy, logic and psychology were his favourite subjects. He studied several books of Orientalists and under their influence, became sceptical of religion and called himself a "rationalist". For almost nine years, he remained away from religion but repented and became a devout Muslim. He came in contact with the Muslim scholar, Shibli Nomani and assisted him in the composition of Sirat-un-Nabi. He developed friendships with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Syed Sulaiman Nadwi, Muhammad Ali Jouhar, Akbar Allahbadi and many prominent literary figures. He wrote more than fifty books on the Quran, the life of Muhammad, travelogues, philosophy and psychology. He also penned biographies, literary and critical essays, hosted radio talks and also translated a number of books into chaste Urdu in accordance with the Lucknow School of writing.
Works
Following is the list of books authored by Daryabadi listed at The Universal Digital Library:
Falsafa e Ijtima Yani Jamaat Ki Dimaghi Zindagi Ki Tamseel Wa Tashrih
Falsafa e Jazbat
Feeh Ma Feeh Malfuzat Muhammad Jalaluddin Rumi Wa Tabsira
Following is the list of books authored by Daryabadi listed at 'Islamic Books Library':
Tafseer – e – Majidi
Tafseer – e – Majidi – English
Bashriyyat -e- Ambiya
Hakeem -ul- Ummat
Aap Beeti
Other writings:
Language: Urdu, Subject: Religion, Quran
Later evaluation
Aaap Beeti is an autobiography of Daryabadi. Abdul Qavi Desnavi published a special number on Daryabadi in Lucknow edition of Naya Daur an Urdu monthly magazine. He also published a review on Daryabadi in Maasreen published in Sahir Bombay Vol. 51 – No. 7 in 1980. In 2008 Md. Shams Alam a research scholar from the Department of Arabic, Persian and Urdu of University of Madras published a research paper on Daryabadi which was titled Moulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi ki ilmi wa adabi khidmath.
Personal life
Daryabadi belonged to the Kidwai family which was one of the highly educated and distinguished Muslim families of modern India. Khan Bahadur Sheikh Masood-uz-Zaman his brother-in law, was a member of the Legislative Council, the upper house of legislature for the United Provinces under British Raj. He would be the last elected deputy president of the Council before it was dissolved. His sister was married to Nawab Nazir Yar Jung of Hyderabad state, a judge of the Hyderabad High Court. His niece was Hamida Habibullah, wife of General Enaith Habibullah and mother of Wajahat Habibullah of Saidanpur taluqa in Awadh. His son-in law, Hakeem Abdul Qavi Daryabadi, was a reputed Urdu Journalist, His son-in law and nephew, Dr Muhammad Hashim Kidwai, was an accomplished Author, academician and MP and AMU faculty. His grandsons are also well known academicians. Prof. Saleem Kidwai, is a professor of political science in Jawaharlal Nehru University. Prof. Abdur Raheem Kidwai, is a professor of English at the Aligarh Muslim University and a well-known author of many works on the Qur’an and Islam. Dr Shafey Kidwai, is a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu and Iqbal Samman awardee, well-known bilingual critic and Professor of Mass Communication at the Aligarh Muslim University. Rasheed Kidwai, is a well-known political analyst, journalist and author. Nafay Kidwai was a well known columnist and journalist who got UP Urdu Academy's .
