The Al-Hilal (Urdu: هلال 'The Crescent') was a weekly Urdu language newspaper established by the Indian leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and used as a medium for criticism of the British Raj in India. The first issue came out on 13 July 1912. The newspaper also espoused the cause of the Indian independence movement and exhorted Indian Muslims to join the movement. The newspaper was shut down under the Press Act of 1914. "Al-Hilal (The Crescent), published in Calcutta, ushered in a new chapter in Urdu journalism and immediately appealed to Muslims in the city"