Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Recalling Mumtaz Mufti: LAHORE LITERARY SCENE
Dawn (newspaper), Published 10 November 2001, Retrieved 4 September 2017 Initially a

religious skeptic Religious skepticism is a type of skepticism relating to religion. Religious skeptics question religious authority and are not necessarily anti-religious but skeptical of specific or all religious beliefs and/or practices. Socrates was one of t ...

influenced by authors like

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...

, Havelock Ellis, Alfred Adler and

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, he would eventually come back to Islam through

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

. Critic

Nasir Abbas Nayyar Nasir Abbas Nayyar ( ur, ) is a Pakistani Urdu language writer, criticcolumnistand essayist. He has written books on poetry, literary theory and post colonial study of Urdu literature. He has produced some important books on structuralism an ...

described his writing style as psychological realist.

Early life

Mumtaz Mufti was born Mumtaz Husain in Batala,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

(now in India). He was the son of Muhammad Hussain and his first wife Sughra Khanum. He was employed as a civil servant under British rule, having earlier started his career as a school teacher. Soon after

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

in 1947, he migrated to Pakistan with his family.Biography of Mumtaz Mufti on urduadab4u.com website
Retrieved 4 September 2017

As a writer

Mumtaz Mufti started writing

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

. Pakistan's famous writer Ashfaq Ahmed was one of his close friends. According to Ashfaq Ahmed, Mufti used to read unpopular literature by a Swedish writer before 1947. Mufti initially did not like the 1947 partition plan of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, but changed his views later to become a patriotic Pakistani. In his later life, he used to defend Islam and its principles. His transformation from Liberalism to

was due to his inspiration from a fellow writer Qudrat Ullah Shahab. Despite all the changes in his viewpoints, he did manage to retain his individual point of view and wrote on subjects which were frowned upon by the conservative elements in the society. The two phases of his life are witnessed by his autobiographies, ''

Ali Pur Ka Aeeli Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Alakh Nagri Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Ali Pur Ka Aeeli Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Alakh Nagri Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Qudrat Ullah Shahab.Biography of Mumtaz Mufti on goodreads.com website
Retrieved 4 September 2017 The book ''Talaash'' ("Quest") was the last book written by Mumtaz Mufti. It reportedly highlights the true spirit of Quranic teachings.Mumtaz Mufti interviewing folk singer Tufail Niazi at Lok Virsa, Islamabad event on YouTube
Published 5 April 2013, Retrieved 4 September 2017

Awards and recognition

* 1986: Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) Award by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Profile of Mumtaz Mufti on samaa.tv website
Published 27 October 2011, Retrieved 4 September 2017 * 1989: Munshi Premchand Award (a literary award from India)

Legacy

His son, Uxi Mufti, a literary critic himself, created a ''Mumtaz Mufti Trust'' after his death in October 1995. This trust has been observing Mumtaz Mufti's death anniversary events in different cities of Pakistan. His friends and admirers, including Ashfaq Ahmed,

Bano Qudsia Bano Qudsia ( ur, ‎; 28 November 19284 February 2017), also known as Bano Aapa, was a Pakistani novelist, playwright and spiritualist. She wrote literature in Urdu, producing novels, dramas plays and short stories. Qudsia is best recognized ...

and

Ahmad Bashir Ahmad Bashir (Punjabi, Urdu: احمد بشیر; March 24, 1923 – December 25, 2004) was a writer, journalist, intellectual and film director from Pakistan. He was the father of leading television artists Bushra Ansari, Asma Abbas, Sumbal ...

have appeared as speakers at these events. Another famous writer

Kishwar Naheed Kishwar Naheed ( ur, ) (born 1940) is a feminist Urdu poet and a writer from Pakistan. She has written several poetry books. She has also received awards including Sitara-e-Imtiaz for her literary contribution towards Urdu literature. Early l ...

comments in one of her book reviews that Mumtaz Mufti had plenty of human weaknesses but also has appreciated him as a learned critic. There is a road named after him in the city of

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

, Pakistan.

Books

Short stories

* ''Gehma Gehmi'', 1949, 256 p. * ''Asmarain'', 1952, 327 p. * ''Ghubare'', 1954, 220 p. * ''Ghurya ghar'', 1965, 312 p. * ''Raughani putle'', 1984, 244 p. * ''Muftiyane'', 1989, 1526 p. (collected short stories) * ''Kahi na jae'', 1992, 178 p. * ''Chup'', 1993, 269 p. * ''Samai ka bandhan'', 1993, 192 p. * ''Talash'', 1996, 278 p. (last book, the theme being Islam)

Play

* ''Nizam saqqah'', 1953, 169 p.

Autobiographical novels

* ''Alipur ka Eli'', 1961, 1188 p. (first part of the autobiography) * ''Alakh nagri'', 1992, 996 p. (second part of the autobiography)

Travelogues

* ''Hind Yatra'', 1982, 359 p. (travel to India) * ''Labbaik'', 1993, 320 p. (account of a

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

pilgrimage undertaken in 1968)

Essays

* ''Piyaz ke chilke'', 1968, 184 p. (literary criticism and views on

Pakistani nationalism Pakistani nationalism refers to the political, cultural, linguistic, historical, ommonlyreligious and geographical expression of patriotism by the people of Pakistan, of pride in the history, heritage and identity of Pakistan, and visions for ...

) * ''Aukhe log'', 1986, 311 p. (impressions of famous Pakistani writers) * ''Aukhe avalre'', 1995, 258 p. (biographical sketches of famed Pakistani authors)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mufti, Mumtaz 1905 births 1995 deaths Pakistani autobiographers Pakistani novelists Pakistani male short story writers Urdu-language short story writers Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Scholars of Sufism Urdu-language novelists Pakistani literary critics Writers from Lahore Punjabi people 20th-century novelists Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz 20th-century Pakistani short story writers 20th-century Pakistani male writers Converts to Islam from atheism or agnosticism