ʿIlm al-Kalām (Arabic: علم الكلام‎, literally the study of "speech" or "words") is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim (plural mutakallimiin). There are many possible interpretations as to why this discipline was originally called "kalām"; one is that the widest controversy in this discipline has been about whether the Word of God, as revealed in the Qur'an, can be considered part of God's essence and therefore not created, or whether it was made into words in the normal sense of speech, and is therefore created.

Throughout history the place of kalam in Islamic thought has been controversial. A few traditional Sunni Muslim scholars have either criticized or prohibited it. Imams such as Abu Hanifa prohibited his students from engaging in kalam, stating that those who practice it are of the "retarded ones."Malik ibn Anas referred to kalam in the Islamic religion as being "detested", and that whoever "seeks the religion through kalam will deviate". In addition Muhammad Shafi'i said that no knowledge of Islam can be gained from books of kalam, as kalam "is not from knowledge" and that "It is better for a man to spend his whole life doing whatever Allah has prohibited - besides shirk with Allah - rather than spending his whole life involved in kalam."Ahmad ibn Hanbal also spoke strongly against kalam, stating his view that no one looks into kalam unless there is "corruption in his heart," and even went so far as to prohibit sitting with people practicing kalam even if they were defending the Sunnah, and instructing his students to warn against any person they saw practicing kalam.

Bulleh Shah (1680–1757) (Punjabi: بلہے شاہ, ਬੁੱਲ੍ਹੇ ਸ਼ਾਹ, Hindi: बुल्ले शाह) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, humanist and philosopher. His full name was Abdullah Shah

Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680, in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, in present day Pakistan. His father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was a teacher and preacher in a village mosque. Little is known about Bulleh Shah's ancestry except that some of his forebears were migrants from Uzbekistan, and that his family claimed direct descent from Muhammad.

When he was six months old, his parents relocated to Malakwal. His father later got a job in Pandoke, about 50 miles southeast of Kasur. Bulleh Shah received his early schooling in Pandoke and moved to Kasur for higher education. He also received education from Maulana Mohiyuddin. His spiritual teacher was the Qadiri Sufi Shah Inayat Qadiri, who was a member of the Arain tribe of Lahore.

A large amount of what is believed to be known about Bulleh Shah comes through legends, and is subjective; to the point that there isn’t even agreement among historians concerning his precise date and place of birth. Some "facts" about his life have been pieced together from his own writings. Other "facts" seem to have been passed down through oral traditions.

Abrar-ul-Haq (Urdu/Punjabi: ابرار الحق) (born Abrar-ul-Haq Kahloon July 21, 1968) is a Pakistani pop, bhangra and folk singer. On his first album "Billo De Ghar" his name appears as simply "Abrar". Before becoming a singer, he was a geography teacher at the Aitchison College in Lahore.

In December 2011 it was reported that Abrar ul Haq had joined the Pakistani political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Abrar caused some controversy with his Parmeen. He was criticized by the columnist Javed Chaudry for using the common female Pakistani name of Parveen in an odd way. This followed Chaudhry receiving a letter from a girl name Parveen that related the effects of the song on her life. The girl claimed that she had stopped attending college in Lahore because of harassment from male students. The case was taken to Pakistan's Supreme Court, which ordered Abrar to change the lyrics. He stated that he would abide by the court's decision.

He is the founder and chairman of Sahara for Life Trust, a charitable organisation promoting health and education in remote areas.

Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh (Punjabi: میاں محمد بخش ) was a Sufi saint and a Punjabi/Pahari poet; he belonged to the Qadiri tariqah. He is especially renowned as the author of a book of poetry called Saiful Malūk. He was born in a village called Khari Sharif, situated near Mirpur, Azad Kashmir.

He was a fourth generation descendant of Damriyan Wali Sarkar, who is buried in Khari Sharif. Damriyan Wali Sarkar's khalīfah was Dīn Muhammad; and his khalīfah was Mīān Shamsuddīn, who had three sons: Mīān Bahāval Bakhsh, Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh - the subject of this article -, and Mīān 'Alī Bakhsh. Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh's ancestors originated in Gujrat, but had later settled in the Mirpur District of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. He was a poet of Phari language (widely spoken in different parts of Kashmir.

There is considerable disagreement about his year of birth. Mahbūb 'Alī Faqīr Qādirī, in a biography printed as an appendix to the text of Saiful Malūk gives the date as 1246 AH (1826 AD), a date also followed by the Shāhkār Islāmī Encyclopedia; 1830 and 1843 are suggested in other works. Mīān Muhammad Bakhsh himself states in his magnum opus - Saiful Malūk - that he completed the work in the month of Ramadan, 1279 AH (1863 AD), and that he was then thirty-three years of age. Hence, he must have been born in 1829 or 1830.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam ( pronunciation (help·info); born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is an Indian politician and scientist who served as the 11th President of India. Apart from being a professor of aerospace engineering, he is also famous for his contribution to missile technology for India, pertaining to which he has been honoured Bharat Ratna award, India's highest civilian honour.

He was born and brought up at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, being born in a poor family he had to work his way through average grades and financial hard ships, completing his studies in aerospace engineering at Madras Institute of Technology (MIT – Chennai). He joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), India and is known for his many contributions to Aeronautical and Missile technology of India.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was elected president of India in 2002, defeating Lakshmi Sahgal, and was supported by both National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and BJP, then major political party of India. After serving office as a president till 2007 he is now a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Management, Indore; Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), JSS University (Mysore), and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India and is involved in philanthropic work as on 2012 .