Nawab M. Ismail Khan actively associated himself with the All India Muslim League and became a member of its Working Committee in 1910 –- a position which he held for more than four decades. Nawab M. Ismail Khan would also contest and win the election to the Central Legislative Assembly, therefore having presided over the All India Khilafat Committee. He was a member of the foundation committee of the Jamia Millia Islamia, but was opposed to the Indian National Congress's campaign for "Swaraj" through civil disobedience. In the 1930s, Nawab M. Ismail Khan would lead the Uttar Pradesh Muslim League and served as the Chairman of the All India Muslim Civil Defence Association. In 1934 and again in 1947, he rendered his services as Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh University.