Muhammad Hasan Askari ( ur, ) (1919 – 18 January 1978) was a Pakistani

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

, literary critic, writer and

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

of modern

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Russian literature. But in his later years, through personal experiences, geopolitical changes and the influence of authors like

René Guénon René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as ''Abdalwâhid Yahiâ'' (; ''ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥiā'') was a French intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having writte ...

, and traditional scholars of India towards more latter part of his life, like Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi, he became a notable critic of the West and proponent of Islamic culture and ideology.

Biography

Muhammad Hasan Askari was born on 5 November 1919 in a village in

Bulandshahr Bulandshahr, formerly Baran, is a city and a municipal board in Bulandshahr district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Bulandshahr district and part of Delhi NCR region. According to the Governmen ...

, in western

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

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 ...

, to a "traditional, middle-class" Muslim family, in a cultured milieu where youngsters used to read the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

as well as classics of

Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...

Hafez Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī ( fa, خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمّد حافظ شیرازی), known by his pen name Hafez (, ''Ḥāfeẓ'', 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper'; 1325–1390) and as "Hafiz", ...

and Saadi. His grandfather, Maulvi Husamuddin, was a scholar, while his father, Muhammad Moinul Haq, worked as an accountant in the nearby Shikarpur. He was the eldest of six children. He joined

Allahabad University , mottoeng = "As Many Branches So Many Trees" , established = , type = Public , chancellor = Ashish Chauhan , vice_chancellor = Sangita Srivastava , head_label ...

as an undergraduate in 1938 and earned a Master of Arts degree in English literature in 1942. After completing his education, he joined

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, Delhi. For a brief period around 1944–1946, he also taught English literature at

Meerut College Meerut College is a state-funded college in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. The college is affiliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. The college was established in 1892 and has a campus of . The college has glorious history of achiev ...

. For years, he struggled to find a permanent job in Delhi, and as per his brother that might have pushed him to move to the newly forme state of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

but the decisive factor was the civil strife and riots which followed the Partition, and in October 1947, he reached

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

all alone, asking his mother and siblings to also abandon

Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...

. That's where he acquired a more cultural approach of Urdu literature, which would represent the Islamic identity of his new country, whereas his "idea of Pakistan was influenced by a European/French model of democracy, where social and economic justice would go hand in hand with the nurturing of cultural traditions in which the individuals, especially those of the intelligentsia such as poets and writers, could be loyal to the state and society, yet free of governmental pressure and perform the duties of informed, perceptive critics and citizens." In February 1950, he moved to

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

to work as editor for a government journal, and even if it didn't last more than few months, he didn't return to Lahore considering he got a job as English teacher in the Islamia College. With friends as colleagues like Karrar Hussain, he'll remain there until his death in January 1978. He died on 18 January 1978, due to a "massive heart attack", at the age of 57, and was buried in the Darul Ulum cemetery of Karachi, next to Mufti Muhammad Shafi, whose Qur'anic commentary, Ma'ariful Qu'ran, he was translating into English during his last days, the funeral prayer being led by the latter's son, Mufti

Muhammad Taqi Usmani Muhammad Taqi Usmani (born 5 October 1943) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar and former judge who is the current president of the Wifaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia and the vice president and Hadith professor of the Darul Uloom Karachi. An intellectual ...

. After his death, his personal library was donated to the Bedil Library, located in Sharfabad, Karachi.

Ideas and ideology

From "Westernized" to "cultural Islamist"

Askari began his literary life as a short story writer in the mould of

Anton Chekov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, and as an essayist influenced by the ideas of the

Progressive Writers' Movement The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

, a Marxist movement conceptualized by

Sajjad Zaheer Syed Sajjad Zaheer ( ur, ) (5 November 1899 – 13 September 1973) was an Indian Urdu writer, Marxist ideologue and radical revolutionary who worked in both India and Pakistan. In the pre-independence era, he was a member of the Communist ...

aiming to transform society through literature. His early "Westernization" is noticeable by the fact that, contrarily to the contemporary Urdu writers, his favourite authors were not Maulvi Nazir Ahmad or Premchand, but foreign authors like

Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

, Chekhov,

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

and "especially Baudelaire". In that regard, he wrote "obscene" short-stories, involving Anglo-Indians and homoeroticism. He would go on to write literature in that mood for years, but the Partition of India would bring issues like religion and identity, which would push him to adopt a more cultural approach to literature, and more specifically, an Islamic vision. While more or less a-political, he'd specifically turn anti-Western and even more so

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

. The best way to visualize this radical change is by reading a serie of essays, ''Jhalkiyan'', put together by Suhayl Umar and Naghma Umar, chronologically : in the Pre-Partition period, he treats mainly of literature and art, with figures such as Ezra Pound, Andre Gide, Akbar Allahabadi,

Firaq Gorakhpuri Raghupati Sahay (28 August 1896 – 3 March 1982), also known by his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri, was an Indian writer, critic, and, according to one commentator, one of the most noted contemporary Urdu poets from India. He established himself ...

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

D.H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

, Michelangelo, Rodin or

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

. He also wrote on the literary movement known as the

New Apocalyptics The New Apocalyptics were a poetry grouping in the United Kingdom in the 1940s, taking their name from the anthology ''The New Apocalypse'' ( 1939), which was edited by J. F. Hendry (1912–1986) and Henry Treece. There followed the further anth ...

. After Partition, his essays become more ideological, and centred around the idea of Urdu as the Islamic cultural cement of the newly founded state of Pakistan. During this period, he also rejets Progressives' ideas about literature, that he embraced years ago. The 1200-odd pages collection of essays also show that during his last years he became disillusioned with Pakistan, thinking it didn't led to the cultural renaissance centred around Urdu he expected, even if he kept his strong opinions about religion, philosophy and politics. As some sort of conclusion to the lack of some Islamic national literature, he declared "the death of

Urdu literature Urdu literature ( ur, , ) is literature in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal '' غزل and '' nazm '' نظم, it has expanded into other styles of writing, including that of ...

" in 1953–1955.

Aesthetics

With the philosophy of

Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

and the poetry of Holderlin as well as Mallarmé, but more specifically influenced by the idea of wahdat al wujud (unicity of Existence) found among Islamic philosophers, Askari sought a poetry which would be unveil the "being" of the individual, and was thus critical of the overtly romantic and emotional outbursts of many of his contemporaries and of classics. He blamed the absorption of

Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

and thinking by Indian Muslims for downgrading poetry to sentimentalism, and wanted to go back to the Islamic sources and Sufi aesthetics, congratulating the works of the Deobandi scholar Maulana

Ashraf Ali Thanwi Ashraf Ali Thanwi (often referred as Hakim al-Ummat and Mujaddid e Millet; 19 September 1863 – 20 July 1943) was a late-nineteenth and twentieth-century Sunni scholar, jurist, thinker, reformist and the revival of classical sufi thought from ...

on the Qur'an and Rumi as representative of this brand of poetics. His aesthetics were thus another emanation of his ideology and politics.

Politics

Politically, he has been described as proposing some sort of

Islamic socialism Islamic socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates Islamic principles into socialism. As a term, it was coined by various Muslim leaders to describe a more spiritual form of socialism. Islamic socialists believe that the teachings ...

, a "self-sufficient Pakistan where Muslims would lead a life enriched with principles of democracy", and was in favour of

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

and naturally a harsh critic of

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

Legacy

He had a direct influence on novelists like

Intizar Hussain Intizar Hussain ( ur, ; 21 December 1925 – 2 February 2016) was a Pakistani writer of Urdu novels, short stories, poetry and nonfiction. He is widely recognised as a leading literary figure of Pakistan. He was among the finalists of the Man Bo ...

and poets like

Nasir Kazmi Nasir Raza Kazmi ( ur, was an Urdu poet from Pakistan. Kazmi was born on 8 December 1925 at Ambala, Punjab, (British India). Kazmi used simple words in his poetry, including "Chand", "Raat", "Baarish", "Mausam", "Yaad", "Tanhai", "Darya" and ...

. Another literary figure under influence was Saleem Ahmed, whose "house in Karachi was the city`s biggest literary hub" in the 1970s and the early 1980s, as per literary critic Rauf Parekh, who also summarizes Askari's legacy by saying that he "is rightly credited with giving a new literary theory to Urdu criticism and establishing a new school of thought."

Works

* ''Meri Behtarin Nazm'' (anthology of his favourite poetry) – 1942 * ''Riyasat aur Inqilab'' (translation of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

’s

The State and Revolution ''The State and Revolution'' (1917) is a book by Vladimir Lenin describing the role of the state in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution to establish the dicta ...

) – 1942 * ''Jazirey'' (collection of short stories) – 1943 * ''Mera Behtarin Afsana'' (anthology of his favourite short stories) – 1943 * ''Qiyamat Ham Rikab Aye na Aye'' (collection of novellas) – 1947 * ''Akhri'' Salam (translation of Christopher Isherwood’s

Goodbye to Berlin ''Goodbye to Berlin'' is a 1939 novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood set during the waning days of the Weimar Republic. The novel recounts Isherwood's 1929–1932 sojourn as a pleasure-seeking British expatriate on the eve of Ad ...

) – 1948 * ''Madame Bovary'' (translation of

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emp ...

) – 1950 * ''Insan aur Admi'' (critical essays) – 1953 * ''Surkh-o Siyah'' (translation of Stendhal's Le Rouge et le Noir) – 1953 * ''Main Kyun Sharmaun'' (translation of Sheila Cousins’ To Beg I am Ashamed) – 1959 * ''Sitara ya Badban'' (critical essays) – 1963 * ''Moby Dick'' (translation of

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

’s

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

) – 1967 * ''Vaqt ki Ragini'' (critical essays) – 1969 * ''Jadidiyat ya Maghribi Gumrahiyon ki Tarikh ka Khakah'' (philosophical and critical essays) – 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Askari, Hasan 1919 births 1978 deaths Muhajir people People from Bulandshahr district Pakistani literary critics Linguists from Pakistan English–Urdu translators French–Urdu translators Russian–Urdu translators University of Allahabad alumni Urdu-language non-fiction writers Linguists of Urdu Urdu critics Writers from Karachi 20th-century translators Traditionalist School 20th-century linguists 20th-century Pakistani philosophers