Capt. Azizul Islam chose the life of a sailor but went on with his sadhana. The long lonely hours on board, the sound of the open sea-air, sea-waves, the absence of the crowd, and religious purity fascinated and created a perfect atmosphere for his meditation for playing the flute. Though he had no formal training because of his career away from land, yet it could not prevent him from being a flute-maestro, now known as Ustad Capt. Azizul Islam.

But the metamorphosis from an 'ataayi' to a maestro required long hours of practice, passion and natural gift. He used to listen and learn from the records of Pandit Panna Lal Ghosh and Ustad Ali Akbar and other classical artistes. Prominent sitar player Ustad late Priyada Ranjan Sangupta was his first guru. However, four classes a month were not enough to quench his thirst.

After a few months, he had the opportunity to become a disciple of Ustad Bilayet Ali Khan, the only maestro of Agra Gharana, who used to reside at Chittagong at that time. He mastered the art of raga Iman under Ustadji's proper guidance.

His second teacher was Ustad Bahadur Khan , the famous sarod player, who came to Chittagong around in 1974. Later on Islam took lessons from Pandit Devendra Murdeshwar in Mumbai, who is the son of the legendary flutist Pandit Pannalal Ghose. He would fly to Mumbai once a week to take the talim. In his opinion, Pandit Panna Lal Ghose had the purest style or form of playing the classical flute.

He says, 'To learn that perfect method I had to go through hours of rigorous trainings. I knew nothing about the different styles and forms of holding and finger placements, it is Pandit Devendra Murdeshwar and Pandit V G Karnad who taught and defined all the deviations and gradually I succeeded to learn the most perfect position of holding and finger placements. Their guidance has helped me greatly and made me what I am today'.

Many legendary musicians were very religious and were also sufis. They have spent their lives in devotion and sought after the secrets of pure sound and tune which is a heavenly gift for mankind from its Creator.

Capt.Islam had the rare opportunity to perform at the inauguration programme of the Golden Jubilee Festival at Dover Lane Music Conference in West Bengal, which is considered the most prestigious music conference in the subcontinent. He was also invited by Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture for a solo flute recital. The wonderful recital was held at Viveknanda Hall, Ramkrishna Mission and Goal Park. The programme was telecast on Tara Bangla TV and DD7 channel.