Salam was scientific advisor to theMinistry of Science and Technology in Pakistan from 1960 to 1974, a position from which he played a major and influential role in the development of the country's science infrastructure.[9][11] Salam contributed to numerous developments in theoretical and particle physics in Pakistan.[11] He was the founding director of theSpace and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), and responsible for the establishment of theTheoretical Physics Group (TPG).[12][13] For this, he is viewed as the "scientific father"[5][14] of this program.[15][16][17] In 1974, Abdus Salam departed from his country in protest after theParliament of Pakistan unanimously passed aparliamentary bill declaring members of theAhmadiyya Muslim community, to which Salam belonged, non-Muslim.[18] In 1998, following the country'sChagai-I nuclear tests, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative stamp, as a part of "Scientists of Pakistan", to honour the services of Salam.[19]
Abdus Salam was born to Muslim parents during theBritish Raj on 29 January 1926 in thePunjab Province ofBritish ruled India (present day inPakistan).[24] He belonged to theMuslim of Rajput ancestry community professingthe Ahmadiyya sect in Islam, his son Ahmad Salam later recounting that he would tell him stories of Rajput cultural history "of which he was very proud";[25] as per Jagjit Singh in his biography of Salam, his family traced its genealogy back to a Rajput prince named Buddahn who converted to Islam at the hands of aSufi preacher and later founded the city ofJhang around the year 1160.[26] Salam was the son of Chaudhary Muhammad Hussain, a school teacher of Jhang and Hajirah who belonged to Faizullah Chak nearBatala.[7]
The name Choudhary Muhammad Hussain gave his son wasAbd al-Salam which means "Servant of God".Abd means servant and Salam is one of the99 names of God in the Qur'an. In English, his name is usually transliterated as Abdus Salam, which should be understood as a single given name. His father followed the custom of not giving a surname. Later in his life he added Mohammad to his name.[27]
Salam established an early reputation in Punjab for outstanding academic performance. At age 14, he scored the highest marks ever recorded for the entrance examination of thePunjab University, earning a full scholarship to theGovernment College of Lahore.[23] Instead of moving toLahore immediately, he remained in Jhang and studied for two years at Government Intermediate College. In 1942, he passed his FA examinations with the highest scores in the province.[28]
In 1942, Salam moved to Lahore to study at Government College.[28] As a fourth-year student, he published an elegant solution for a mathematical problem originally studied bySrinivasa Ramanujan.[29][30] In 1944, his mathematics exam results set a new Punjab record. Salam also excelled inUrdu andEnglish literature, which could have led him to pursue further studies in English. However, on the recommendation of a mentor, he chose to continue with aM.A. in Mathematics.[31]
At his father's urging, Salam attempted to enter theIndian Civil Service (ICS), considered the most prestigious career path for young graduates.[32] He applied to theIndian Railways but was rejected after failing the medical optical tests; examiners also ruled that he was too young to qualify.[32] Salam remained in Lahore, completing his M.A. in Mathematics at Government College in 1946 with record marks.[31]
That same year, he was awarded a scholarship toSt John's College, Cambridge, where he enrolled in the undergraduateMathematical Tripos and graduated in 1949 with aDouble First-Class Honours in Mathematics and Physics. Although his M.A. from Lahore would have qualified him to proceed directly to research, he still intended at that stage to pursue the ICS, and was advised to obtain a Cambridge mathematics degree first.[33] In 1950, he received theSmith's Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to Physics.[34] After finishing his degrees,Fred Hoyle advised Salam to spend another year in theCavendish Laboratory to do research inexperimental physics, but Salam had no patience for carrying out long experiments in the laboratory.[32] Salam returned toJhang and renewed his scholarship and returned to the United Kingdom to do his doctorate.[32]
He obtained a PhD degree in theoretical physics from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge.[35][36] His doctoral thesis titled "Developments in quantum theory of fields" contained comprehensive and fundamental work inquantum electrodynamics.[37] By the time it was published in 1951, it had already gained him an international reputation and theAdams Prize.[23]During his doctoral studies, his mentors challenged him to solve within one year an intractable problem which had defied such great minds asPaul Dirac andRichard Feynman.[32] Within six months, Salam had found a solution for therenormalization of meson theory. As he proposed the solution at the Cavendish Laboratory, Salam had attracted the attention ofHans Bethe,J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dirac.[32]
After receiving his doctorate in 1951, Salam returned to Lahore at theGovernment College University as a Professor of Mathematics where he remained till 1954. In 1952, he was appointed professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics at the neighbouring University of the Punjab. In the latter capacity, Salam sought to update the university curriculum, introducing a course inquantum mechanics as a part of the undergraduate curriculum.[38] However, this initiative was soon reverted by the Vice-Chancellor, and Salam decided to teach an evening course in Quantum Mechanics outside the regular curriculum.[39] While Salam enjoyed a mixed popularity in the university, he began to supervise the education of students who were particularly influenced by him.[40] As a result, Riazuddin remained the only student of Salam who had the privilege to study under Salam at the undergraduate and post-graduate level in Lahore, andpost-doctoral level in Cambridge University. In 1953, Salam was unable to establish a research institute in Lahore, as he faced strong opposition from his peers.[41] In 1954, Salam took fellowship and became one of the earliestfellows of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. As a result of1953 Lahore riots, Salam went back to Cambridge and joinedSt John's College, and took a position as a professor of mathematics in 1954.[42] In 1957, he was invited to take a chair atImperial College, London, and he andPaul Matthews went on to set up the Theoretical Physics Group at Imperial College.[43] As time passed, this department became one of the prestigious research departments that included well known physicists such asSteven Weinberg,Tom Kibble,Gerald Guralnik,C. R. Hagen,Riazuddin, andJohn Ward.
In 1957, Punjab University conferred Salam with anhonorary doctorate for his contribution in particle physics.[44] The same year with help from his mentor, Salam launched a scholarship programme for his students in Pakistan. Salam retained strong links with Pakistan, and visited his country from time to time.[45] At Cambridge and Imperial College he formed a group of theoretical physicists, the majority of whom were his Pakistani students. At age 33, Salam became one of the youngest persons to be elected aFellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1959.[7] Salam took a fellowship at thePrinceton University in 1959, where he met withJ. Robert Oppenheimer[46] and to whom he presented his research work on neutrinos.[47] Oppenheimer and Salam discussed the foundation of electrodynamics, problems and their solution.[48] His dedicated personal assistant was Jean Bouckley. In 1980, Salam became a foreign fellow of theBangladesh Academy of Sciences.[49]
Early in his career, Salam made an important and significant contribution inquantum electrodynamics andquantum field theory, including its extension intoparticle andnuclear physics. In his early career in Pakistan, Salam was greatly interested in mathematical series and their relation to physics. Salam had played an influential role in the advancement of nuclear physics, but he maintained and dedicated himself to mathematics and theoretical physics and focused Pakistan to do more research in theoretical physics.[32] However, he regarded nuclear physics (nuclear fission and nuclear power) as a non-pioneering part of physics as it had already "happened".[32] Even in Pakistan, Salam was the leading driving force in theoretical physics, with many scientists he continued to influence and encourage to keep their work on theoretical physics.[32]
Salam had a prolific research career in theoretical and high-energy physics.[50] Salam had worked on theory of theneutrino – an elusive particle that was first postulated byWolfgang Pauli in the 1930s. Salam introducedchiral symmetry in the theory of neutrinos. The introduction of chiral symmetry played crucial role in subsequent development of thetheory of electroweak interactions.[51] Salam later passed his work toRiazuddin, who made pioneering contributions in neutrinos. Salam introduced the massiveHiggs bosons to the theory of theStandard Model, where he later predicted the existence ofproton decay. In 1963, Salam published his theoretical work on thevector meson. The paper introduced the interaction of vector meson, photon (vectorelectrodynamics), and therenormalisation of vector mesons' known mass after the interaction.[52] In 1961, Salam began to work withJohn Clive Ward onsymmetries andelectroweak unification.[53][54] In 1964, Salam and Ward worked on aGauge theory for theweak andelectromagnetic interaction, subsequently obtainingSU(2) ×U(1) model. Salam was convinced that all theelementary particle interactions are actually the gauge interactions.[55] In 1968, together withWeinberg andSheldon Glashow, Salam formulated the mathematical concept of their work. While in Imperial College, Salam, along with Glashow andJeffrey Goldstone, mathematically proved theGoldstone's theorem, that a masslessspin-zero object must appear in a theory as a result of spontaneous breaking of a continuousglobal symmetry.[55] In 1967-8, Salam and Weinberg incorporated theHiggs mechanism into Glashow's discovery, giving it a modern form in electroweak theory, and thus theorised half of the Standard Model.[56] In 1968, together withWeinberg andSheldon Glashow, Salam finally formulated the mathematical concept of their work.
Abdus Salam at the Fifth International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP), 1955, Rochester
Following the publication ofPRL Symmetry Breaking papers in 1964, Steven Weinberg and Salam were the first to apply the Higgs mechanism toelectroweak symmetry breaking. Salam provided a mathematical postulation for the interaction between the Higgs boson and the electroweak symmetry theory.[58]
In 1972, Salam began to work withIndian-American theoretical physicistJogesh Pati. Pati wrote to Salam several times expressing interest to work under Salam's direction, in response to which Salam eventually invited Pati to the ICTP seminar in Pakistan. Salam suggested to Pati that there should be some deep reason why the protons and electrons are so different and yet carry equal but opposite electric charge. Protons are composed of quarks, but the electroweak theory was concerned only with the electrons and neutrinos, with nothing postulated about quarks. If all of nature's ingredients could be brought together in one new symmetry, it might reveal a reason for the various features of these particles and the forces they feel. This led to the development ofPati–Salam model in particle physics.[59] In 1973, Salam and Jogesh Pati were the first to notice that sinceQuarks andLeptons have very similarSU(2) ×U(1) representation content, they all may have similar entities.[60] They provided a simple realisation of the quark-lepton symmetry by postulating thatlepton number was a fourth quarkcolour, dubbed "violet".[61]
Physicists had believed that there were four fundamental forces of nature: the gravitational force, the strong and weak nuclear forces, and the electromagnetic force. Salam had worked on the unification of these forces from 1959 with Glashow and Weinberg. While at Imperial College London, Salam successfully showed that weak nuclear forces are not really different from electromagnetic forces, and two could inter-convert. Salam provided a theory that shows the unification of two fundamental forces of nature, weak nuclear forces and the electromagnetic forces, one into another.[50] Glashow had also formulated the same work, and the theory was combined in 1966. In 1967, Salam proved the electroweak unification theory mathematically, and finally published the papers. For this achievement, Salam, Glashow, and Weinberg were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979. The Nobel Prize Foundation paid tribute to the scientists and issued a statement saying: "For their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current".[8] Salam took the Nobel Prize medal to the house of his former professor, Anilendra Ganguly, who taught him at theSanatan Dharma College in Lahore, and placed the medal around his neck, stating "Mr Anilendra Ganguly this medal is a result of your teaching and love of mathematics that you instilled in me".[62] Only one known official replica of the Nobel Prize Medal was ever produced by the Mint of Pakistan in 1979/80. This medal has a large test cut and damage from two to three o'clock. The replica medal was sold at auction to an unknown bidder on April 23, 2025.[63] In the 1970s Salam continued trying to unify forces by including the strong interaction in aGrand Unified Theory.
Sign on the road named after Abdus Salam inCERN, Geneva
Abdus Salam returned to Pakistan in 1960 to take charge of a government post given to him by PresidentAyub Khan. From her independence in 1947 after thePartition of India, Pakistan has never had acoherent science policy, and total expenditure on research and development was only ~1.0% of Pakistan's GDP.[64] Even thePakistan Atomic Energy Commission headquarters was located in a small room, and less than 10 scientists were working on fundamental physics concepts.[65] Salam replacedSalimuzzaman Siddiqui as theScience Advisor, and became firstMember (technical) of PAEC. Salam expanded the web of physics research and development in Pakistan by sending more than 500 scientists abroad.[66] In 1961 he approached President Khan to set up the country's first national space agency,[67] thus on 16 September 1961 theSpace and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission was established, with Salam as its first director.[67] Before 1960, very little work on scientific development was done, andscientific activities in Pakistan were almost diminished.[clarify] Salam calledIshfaq Ahmad, a nuclear physicist, who had left for Switzerland where he joined CERN, back to Pakistan. With the support of Salam, PAEC established PAEC Lahore Center-6, with Ishfaq Ahmad as its first director.[68] In 1967, Salam became a central and administrative figure to lead the research in Theoretical and Particle physics.[21] With the establishment of the Institute of Physics atQuaid-e-Azam University, research in theoretical and particle physics was engaged.[21] Under Salam's direction, physicists tackled the greatest outstanding problems in physics and mathematics[21] and their physics research reached a point that prompted worldwide recognition of Pakistani physicists.[11]
From the 1950s, Salam had tried establishing high-powered research institutes in Pakistan, though he was unable to do so. He moved PAEC Headquarters to a bigger building, and established research laboratories all over the country.[69] On the direction of Salam,Ishrat Hussain Usmani set up plutonium and uranium exploration committees throughout the country. In October 1961, Salam travelled to the United States and signed a space co-operation agreement between Pakistan and US. In November 1961, the USNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) started to build a space facility –Flight Test Center (FTC) – atSonmiani, a coastal town inBalochistan Province. Salam served as its first technical director.
Salam played an influential and significant role in Pakistan's development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In 1964, he was made head of Pakistan'sIAEA delegation and represented Pakistan for a decade.[70] The same year, Salam joinedMunir Ahmad Khan – his lifelong friend and contemporary at Government College University. Khan was the first person in the IAEA that Salam had consulted about the establishment of theInternational Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), a research physics institution, inTrieste, Italy. With an agreement signed with IAEA, the ICTP was set up with Salam as its first director. At IAEA, Salam had advocated the importance of nuclear power plants in his country.[71] It was due to his effort that in 1965, Canada and Pakistan signed a nuclear energy co-operation deal. Salam obtained permission from President Ayub Khan – against the wishes of his own government functionaries – to set up theKarachi Nuclear Power Plant.[72] Also in 1965, led by Salam, the United States and Pakistan signed an agreement in which the US provided Pakistan with asmall research reactor (PARR-I). Salam had a long-held dream to establish a research institute in Pakistan, which he had advocated for on many occasions. In 1965 again, Salam and architectEdward Durell Stone signed a contract for the establishment of thePakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) atNilore, Islamabad.[73]
In early 1961, Salam approached President Khan to lay the foundations of Pakistan's first executive agency to co-ordinate space research.[67] By executive order on 16 September 1961 theSpace and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) was established with Salam founding director.[67] Salam immediately travelled to the United States, where he signed a space co-operation agreement with the US Government. In November 1961, NASA built the Flight Test Center in Balochistan Province. During this time, Salam visited thePakistan Air Force Academy where he met withAir Commodore (Brigadier-General)Wladyslaw Turowicz – a Polish military scientist and anaerospace engineer.[74] Turowicz was made the first technical director of the space centre, and a programme of rocket testing ensued. In 1964, while in the US Salam visited theOak Ridge National Laboratory, and met with nuclear engineersSalim Mehmud andTariq Mustafa.[75] Salam signed another agreement with the NASA which launched a programme to provide training to Pakistan's scientists and engineers.[75] Both nuclear engineers returned to Pakistan and were inducted into SUPARCO.[67]
Salam knew the importance ofnuclear technology in Pakistan, for civilian and peaceful purposes.[76] But, according to his biographers, Salam played an ambiguous role in Pakistan's own atomic bomb project. As late as the 1960s, Salam made an unsuccessful proposal for the establishment of a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, but it was deferred on economic grounds by Ayub Khan.[76] According to Rehman, Salam's influence in nuclear development was diminished as late as 1974, and he became critical of Bhutto's control over science.[76] But Salam personally did not terminate his connection with the scientists working in the theoretical physics division at PAEC.[77] As early as 1972–73, he had been a great advocate for the atomic bomb project,[78] but subsequently took a stance against it after he fell out with Bhutto over theSecond Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan which declared theAhmaddiya denomination to be non-Islamic.[78]
In 1965, Salam led the establishing of the nuclear research institute – PINSTECH.[79] In 1965, the plutoniumPakistan Atomic Research Reactor (PARR-I) wentcritical under Salams' leadership.[77] In 1973, Salam proposed the idea of establishing an annual college to promote scientific activities in the country to the Chairman of PAEC, Munir Khan, who accepted and fully supported the idea. This led to the establishment of theInternational Nathiagali Summer College on Physics and Contemporary Needs (INSC), where each year since 1976 scientists from all over the world come to Pakistan to interact with local scientists. The first annual INSC conference was held on advanced particle and nuclear physics.
In November 1971, Salam met withZulfikar Ali Bhutto in his residence, and following Bhutto's advice, went to the United States to avoid theIndo-Pakistani War of 1971.[80] Salam travelled to the US and returned to Pakistan with scientific literature about theManhattan Project,[81] and calculations involving atomic bombs.[78] In 1972, the Government of Pakistan learned about the development status of the first atomic bomb completed under theIndian nuclear programme. On 20 January 1972, Salam, as Science Advisor to thePresident of Pakistan, managed and participated in a secret meeting of nuclear scientists with former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in Multan, known as the 'Multan Meeting'. At this meeting Bhutto orchestrated the development of a deterrence programme.[82][83] At the meeting, onlyI. H. Usmani protested, believing that the country had neither the facilities or talent to carry out such an ambitious and technologically demanding project, whilst Salam remained quiet.[84] Here, Bhutto entrusted Salam and appointed Munir Khan as Chairman of PAEC, and head of the atomic bomb program, as Salam had supported Khan.[85] A few months after the meeting, Salam, Khan, andRiazuddin, met with Bhutto in his residence where the scientists briefed him about the nuclear weapons program.[86] After the meeting, Salam established the 'Theoretical Physics Group' (TPG) in PAEC. Salam led groundbreaking work at TPG until 1974.[78][87][88]
An office was set up for Salam in thePrime Ministers' Secretariat by order of Bhutto.[76] Salam immediately started to motivate and invite scientists to begin work with PAEC in the development of fission weapons.[76] In December 1972, twotheoretical physicists working at theInternational Centre for Theoretical Physics were asked by Salam to report toMunir Ahmad Khan, the scientific director of the program.[89] This marked the beginning of the TPG, reporting directly to Salam.[90] The TPG, in PAEC, was assigned to conduct research infast neutron calculations,hydrodynamics (how the explosion produced by a chain reaction might behave), problems of neutron diffusion, and the development of theoretical designs of Pakistan's nuclear weapon devices.[91] Later, the TPG underRiazuddin began to directly report to Salam, and the work on the theoretical design of the nuclear weapon was completed in 1977.[92] In 1972, Salam formed the Mathematical Physics Group, underRaziuddin Siddiqui, that was charged, with TPG, with carrying out research in thetheory of simultaneity during the detonation process, and the mathematics involved in the theory of nuclear fission.[93] Following India's surprisenuclear test – Pokhran-I – in 1974,Munir Ahmad Khan had called a meeting to initiate work on an atomic bomb. Salam was there andMuhammad Hafeez Qureshi was appointed head of the Directorate of Technical Development (DTD) in PAEC.[94]
The DTD was set up to co-ordinate the work of the various specialised groups of scientists and engineers working on different aspects of the atomic bomb.[86] The word "bomb" was never used in this meeting, but the participants fully understood what was being discussed.[86] In March 1974, Salam and Khan also established the Wah Group Scientist that was charged with manufacturing materials,explosive lenses andtriggering mechanism development of the weapon.[95] Following the setting up of DTD, Salam, Riazuddin andMunir Ahmad Khan, visited thePakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) where they held talks with senior military engineers led by POF chairmanLieutenant-General Qamar Ali Mirza.[12] It was there that theCorps of Engineers built the Metallurgical Laboratory inWah Cantonment in 1976.[96] Salam remained associated with the nuclear weapons programme until mid-1974, when he left the country afterAhmadi were declared non-Muslims by the Pakistani Parliament.[18] His own relations with Prime minister Bhutto fell out and turned into open hostility after theAhmadiyya Community was declared as not-Islamic; he lodged a public and powerful protest against Bhutto regarding this issue and gave great criticism to Bhutto over his control over science.[78] In spite of this, Salam maintained close relations with the theoretical physics division at PAEC who kept him informed about the status of the calculations needed to calculate the performance of the atomic bomb, according to Norman Dombey.[78] After seeing Indian aggression, theSiachen conflict inNorthern Pakistan, followed by India'sOperation Brasstacks inSouthern Pakistan, Salam again renewed his ties with senior scientists working in the atomic bomb projects, who had kept him informed about the scientific development of the program.[78] In the 1980s, Salam personally approved many appointments and a large influx of Pakistani scientists to the associateship program at ICTP andCERN, and engaged in research in theoretical physics with his students at the ICTP.[78]
In 2008, Indian scholar Ravi Singh noted in his bookThe Military Factor in Pakistan that, "in 1978, Abdus Salam with PAEC officials, paid a secret visit to China, and was instrumental in initiating industrial nuclear cooperation between the two countries."[84] Although he had left the country, Salam did not hesitate to advise the PAEC and Theoretical and Mathematical Physics Group on important scientific matters, and kept his close association with TPG and PAEC.[97]
In 1964, Salam founded theInternational Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP),Trieste, in Italy and served as its director until 1993.[98] In 1974, he founded theInternational Nathiagali Summer College (INSC) to promote science in Pakistan.[99] The INSC is an annual meeting of scientists from all over the world who come to Pakistan and hold discussions on physics and science.[99] Even today, the INSC holds annual meetings, and Salam's pupil Riazuddin has been its director since its start.[100]
In 1997, the scientists at ICTP commemorated Salam and renamed ICTP as the "Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics". Throughout the years, he served on a number of United Nations committees concerning science and technology in developing countries.[23] Salam also founded theThird World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and was a leading figure in the creation of a number of international centres dedicated to the advancement of science and technology.[101]
During a visit to the Institute of Physics atQuaid-i-Azam University in 1979, Salam explained after receiving an award:Physicists believed there are four fundamental forces of nature; the gravitational force, the weak and strong nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force.[relevant?][102] Salam was a firm believer that "scientific thought is the common heritage of mankind", and that developing nations needed to help themselves, and invest in their own scientists to boost development and reduce the gap between theGlobal South and the Global North, thus contributing to a more peaceful world.[103]
Abdus Salam was a very private individual, who kept his public and personal lives quite separate.[7] He married twice; first time to a cousin, the second time as well in accordance withIslamic law.[107][108] At his death, he was survived by three daughters and a son by his first wife, and a son and daughter by his second, ProfessorDame Louise Johnson, formerly Professor ofmolecular biophysics atOxford University. Two of his daughters are Anisa Bushra Salam Bajwa and Aziza Rahman.[citation needed]
Salam was anAhmadi Muslim,[23] who saw his religion as a fundamental part of his scientific work. He once wrote that "the Holy Quran enjoins us to reflect on the verities of Allah's created laws of nature; however, that our generation has been privileged to glimpse a part of His design is a bounty and a grace for which I render thanks with a humble heart."[23] During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics, Salam quoted verses from theQuran and stated:
"Thou seest not, in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection, Return thy gaze, seest thou any fissure? Then Return thy gaze, again and again. Thy gaze, Comes back to thee dazzled, aweary." (67:3–4)This, in effect, is the faith of all physicists; the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze.[109]
In 1974, the Pakistan parliament made theSecond Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan that declared Ahmadis to benon-Muslim. In protest, Salam left Pakistan for London. After his departure, he did not completely cut his ties to Pakistan, and kept a close association with the Theoretical Physics Group as well as academic scientists from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.[102]
The grave of Abdus Salam atRabwah, Pakistan with the word 'Muslim' obscured.
Abdus Salam died on 21 November 1996 at the age of 70 inOxford, England, fromprogressive supranuclear palsy.[110] His body was returned to Pakistan and kept in Darul Ziafat, where some 13,000 men and women visited to pay their last respects. Approximately 30,000 people attended his funeral prayers.[111]
Salam was buried inBahishti Maqbara, a cemetery established by theAhmadiyya Muslim Community atRabwah, Punjab, Pakistan, next to his parents' graves. The epitaph on his tomb initially read "First Muslim Nobel Laureate". The Pakistani government removed "Muslim" and left only his name on the headstone. They are the only nation to officially declare that Ahmadis are non-Muslim.[112] The word "Muslim" was initially obscured on the orders of a local magistrate before moving to the national level.[113] UnderOrdinance XX of 1984,[114][115] being an Ahmadi, he was considered a non-Muslim according to the definition provided in theSecond Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan.[116]
His craving fornationalism is symbolized best by his wish to be buried in his own homeland... He loved his country and its soil. We projected him as a hero, a father, and role model for our young scientists...
Salam's work in Pakistan has been far reaching and regarded as highly influential. He is remembered by his peers and students as the "father of Pakistan's school of Theoretical Physics" as well as Pakistan's science. Salam was a charismatic and iconic figure, a symbol among them of what they were working or researching toward in their fields.[5][14][15] His students, fellow scientists and engineers, remembered him as brilliant teacher, and engaging researcher who would also influence others to do the same.[50] The International Centre for Theoretical Physics established by Salam has continued to train scientists from developing countries.[117] Salam founded theSpace Research Commission of and was its first director.[50] In 1998, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative stamp to honour Salam as part of its "Scientists of Pakistan" series.[19] His alma mater, Government College Lahore, now a university, has theAbdus Salam Chair in Physics andAbdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences named after him.[118]The Abdus Salam Chair was also established in his honour at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering in theLahore University of Management Sciences.[119] He made a significant contribution towards the 2012 success in the search for theHiggs boson.[120]
Salam has been commemorated by noted and prominent Pakistani scientists, who were also his students. Many scientists have recalled their college experiences.Ghulam Murtaza, a professor ofplasma physics at the Government College University and student of Salam, wrote:
A commemorative stamp honouring Abdus Salam
When Dr. Salam was to deliver a lecture, the hall would be packed and although the subject wasParticle Physics, his manner and eloquence was such as if he was talking about literature. When he finished his lectures, listeners would often burst into spontaneous applause and give him a standing ovation. People from all parts of the world would come toImperial College and seek Dr. Salam's help. He would give a patient hearing to everyone including those who were talking nonsense. He treated everyone with respect and compassion and never belittled or offended anyone. Dr. Salam's strength was that he could "sift jewels from the sand".[121]
Dr Salam was responsible for sending about 500 physicists, mathematicians and scientists from Pakistan, for PhD's to the best institutions in UK and USA.[121]
My last meeting with Abdus Salam was only three months ago. His disease had taken its toll and he was unable to talk. Yet he understood what was said. I told him about the celebration held in Pakistan on his seventieth birthday. He kept staring at me. He had risen above praise. As I rose to leave he pressed my hand to express his feelings as if he wanted to thank everyone who had said kind words about him. Dr. Abdus Salam had deep love for Pakistan in spite of the fact that he was treated unfairly and indifferently by his own country. It became more and more difficult for him to come to Pakistan and this hurt him deeply. Now he has returned home finally, to rest in peace for ever in the soil that he loved so much. May be in the years to come we will rise above our prejudice and own him and give him, after his death, what we could not when he was alive. We Pakistanis may choose to ignore Dr. Salam, but the world at large will always remember him.[121]
However, Salam's legacy is often ignored in the Pakistani education system despite his achievements. According to the documentary 'Salam: The First ****** Nobel Laureate,' very few young Pakistanis have heard of him, and his name is not mentioned in Pakistani school textbooks.[122][123] In 2020, a group of students belonging to the State Youth Parliament desecrated an image of Salam that was present at a college inGujranwala, while chanting slogans against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.[124] This deliberate effort to stifle mention of Salam is attributed to Salam belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, who have faced state-sponsored discrimination since the 1970s.
LLC started formally researching and developing a film on the science and life of Abdus Salam in 2004, two years after the producers had conceived of the idea. A fundraising teaser was released by Kailoola Productions to coincide with Salam's birth anniversary on 29 January 2017.[125] The post-production phase of this documentary film, pending funding, is estimated at US$150,000. The filmSalam: The First ****** Nobel Laureate, directed by theIndian-American documentary filmmaker Anand Kamalakar, was announced in 2018 and released onNetflix in October 2019.[126][citation needed]
Abdus Salam
Pilgrim Films releasedThe Dream of Symmetry in September 2011.[127] Their press release describes it as presenting "the extraordinary figure of Abdus Salam, who not only was an outstanding scientist but also a generous humanitarian and a valuable person. His rich and busy life was an endless quest for symmetry, that he pursued in the universe of physical laws and in the world of human beings."[128]
Dr. Salam's genius was like a magic... And there was always an element of eastern mysticism in his ideas that left one wondering how to fathom his genius...
That it has taken nearly four decades for this country to honour a globally renowned scientist who was one of its own, is a sad reflection of the priorities that hold sway here... For Dr Salam was an Ahmadi, a persecuted minority in Pakistan, and his faith rather than his towering achievements was the yardstick by which he was judged.
In 2008, in an opinion piece,Daily Times called Salam "one of the greatest scientists Pakistan has ever produced".[139][failed verification]
In 2015, the Academy of Young Researchers and Scholars, Lahore, renamed its library as the "Abdus Salam Library".[140] In the town ofVaughan, Ontario, Canada, near the headquarters of the Canadian branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, of which Abdus Salam was a member, the community has named a street after him, 'Abdus Salam Street',[141] while atCERN inGeneva, Switzerland there is 'Route Salam'. Additionally, there are two annual Abdus Salam science fairs, one held in Canada and the other in the US. Each is organised as a National event for young scientists from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in an effort to motivate youth toward scientific endeavour.[142]
On 6 December 2016, Pakistan's Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif approved the renaming ofQuaid-i-Azam University's (QAU) physics centre to the Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics. It was also announced that theProfessor Abdus Salam Fellowship will be established, which will include five annual fully funded Pakistani PhD students in the field of Physics in "leading international universities".[143]
In November 2020,English Heritage erected ablue plaque in Salam's honour in Campion Road, Putney, London, at the house that was his London home for almost 40 years.[144][145]
Abdus Salam with Pakistani intellectual Syed Qasim Mahmood in 1986
In 1979, Salam was awarded a third of the 1979Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Glashow and Weinberg,For their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current.[8] Salam received high civil and science awards from all over the world.[147] Salam is recipient offirst high civil awards –Star of Pakistan (1959) and theNishan-e-Imtiaz (1979) – awarded by the President of Pakistan for Salams' outstanding services to Pakistan.[147] TheNational Center for Physics (NCP) contains anAbdus Salam Museum dedicated to the life of Salam and his work as he discovered and formulated the Electroweak Theory.[11] Below is the list of awards that were conferred to Salam in his lifetime.
Nobel Prize in Physics (Stockholm, Sweden) (1979)
Hopkins Prize (Cambridge University) for "the most outstanding contribution to Physics during 1957–1958"
TheAbdus Salam Award (also called the Salam Prize) is an award established to recognise high achievements and contributions in physical and natural sciences.[151] In 1979, Riazuddin, Fayyazuddin and Asghar Qadir met with Salam, and presented the idea of creating an award to appreciate scientists, resident in Pakistan, in their respective fields.[151] Salam donated the money he had won as he felt that he had no right use for the prize money.[152] It was endowed by Asghar Qadir, Riazuddin and Fayyazuddin in 1980, and it was first awarded in 1981. The winners are selected by a committee (consisted of Aghar Qadir, Fayyazuddin, Riazuddin, and others) of the Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics (CAMP), which administers the award.[152] TheAbdus Salam Medal is presented by theThird World Academy of Sciences inTrieste, Italy. First given in 1995, the award is presented to the people who have served the cause of science in the Developing World.[153] The Abdus Salam Shield of Honor in Mathematics was initiated by theNational Mathematical Society of Pakistan to promote and recognize quality research in Mathematics in 2015. It was awarded for the first time in 2016.[154]
Salam's primary focus was research on the physics of elementary particles. His particular numerous groundbreaking contributions included:
two-componentneutrino theory and the prediction of the inevitable parity violation inweak interaction;
gaugeunification of weak and electromagnetic interactions, the unified force is called the "Electroweak" force, a name given to it by Salam, and which forms the basis of theStandard Model in particle physics;
^Fraser 2008, p. 249 Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to theanti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard.
^abcRizvi, Murtaza (21 November 2011)."Salaam Abdus Salam".Dawn. Archived fromthe original on 17 February 2012.Mohammad Abdus Salam (1926–1996) was his full name, which may add to the knowledge of those who wish he was either not Ahmadi or Pakistani. He was given the task of Pakistan's atomic bomb programme, as well as Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission to resolve energy crisis and Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). Unfortunately he failed in all the three fields.
^Abbot, Sebastian (9 July 2012)."Pakistan shuns physicist linked to "God Particle"".Yahoo! News. p. 1. Retrieved9 July 2012.In the 1960s and early 1970s, Salam wielded significant influence in Pakistan as the chief scientific adviser to the president, helping to set up the country's space agency and the institute for nuclear science and technology. Salam also worked in the early stages of Pakistan's effort to build a nuclear bomb, which it eventually tested in 1998
^abPhilately (21 November 1998)."Scientists of Pakistan".Pakistan Post Office Department. Archived fromthe original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved18 February 2008.
^Salam, Ahmad (4 July 2018)."Professor Abdus Salam – KBE FRS".Al-Hakam Magazine. Archived fromthe original on 25 January 2025.My father would also talk to me and teach me about my family's cultural history as Rajput, of which he was very proud.
^Singh, Jagjit (1992).Abdus Salam, a Biography.Penguin Books. p. 1.Salam's lineage can be traced to an Indian Rajput princeling named Buddahn who founded Jhang city as the capital of his kingdom around ad 1160.
^Salam, A. (1968). N. Svartholm (ed.).Elementary Particle Physics: Relativistic Groups and Analyticity. Eighth Nobel Symposium. World Scientific Series in 20th Century Physics. Vol. 5. Stockholm: Almquvist and Wiksell. pp. 244–254.doi:10.1142/9789812795915_0034.ISBN978-981-02-1662-7.
^abWangchuk, Rinchen Norbu (18 October 2019)."'This is Your Prize, Sir.' How a Pak Nobel Laureate Paid Tribute to His Indian Guru".The Better India. Retrieved31 August 2021.The teacher was feeble and unable to sit up and greet him when Dr Salam visited him in his house. Dr Salam took his Nobel medal and said that 'Mr Anilendra Ganguly this medal is a result of your teaching and love of mathematics that you instilled in me,' and he put the medal around his teachers' neck," writes Zia H Shah MD, a New York-based physician and Chief Editor of the Muslim Times, in this article. His son narrates another version of the story in the Netflix documentary. "He took the medal to his teacher in India, who was a very old [man] by then. His teacher was lying flat on his back and couldn't get out of bed. And there is a picture of my father putting the medal (Nobel Prize) into his hands… And he told him, 'This is your prize Sir. It's not mine.'
^abcdefghDombey, Norman (10 December 2011). "Abdus Salam: A Reappraisal. Part II Salam's Part in the Pakistani Nuclear Weapon Programme".arXiv:1112.2266 [physics.hist-ph].
Ghani, Abdul (1982). "Science Advisor to the President (1960–1974)".Abdus Salam: a Nobel laureate from a Muslim country: a biographical sketch. p. 234.
Rahman, Shahid (1998). "Development of Weapons". In Rahman, Shahid (ed.).Long Road to Chagai. Islamabad, Pakistan: Printwise publication. p. 157.ISBN969-8500-00-6.
