Altaf Hussain Hali ( – ; 1837 – 31 December 1914), also known as Maulana
Khawaja
Khawaja (Persian language, Persian: خواجه ''khvâjəh'') is an honorific title used across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, particularly towards Sufi teachers.
It is also used by Kashmiri Muslims and the Mizrah ...
Panipat
Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on List of National Highways in India, NH-1. The three major battles fought in First Battle of Panipat, 1526, Second Battle of ...
to Aizad Baksh and was a descendant of
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari ( ar, أبو أيوب الأنصاري, Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, tr, Ebu Eyyûb el-Ensarî, died c. 674) — born Khalid ibn Zayd ibn Kulayb ibn Tha'laba ( ar, خالد ابن زيد ابن كُليب ابن ثعلبه, Kh ...
. He was in the care of his elder brother Imdad Husain after the death of his parents and when he was seventeen he married his cousin Islam-un-Nisa.Hameed, 'Introduction', p. 26. Hali studied the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical 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 in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
under Hafiz Mumtaz Husain,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
under Haji Ibrahim Husain and
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
under Syed Jafar Ali. Aged seventeen he travelled to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
to study at the
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
opposite
Jama Masjid
A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.*
*
*
*
*
*
*
...
, which was called Husain Baksh ka Madrasa.Hameed, 'Introduction', p. 27.
Hali composed an essay in Arabic that supported the dialectics of
Siddiq Hasan Khan
Sayyid Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān al-Qannawjī (14 October 1832 – 26 May 1890) was an Islamic scholar and leader of India's Muslim community in the 19th century, often considered to be the most important Muslim scholar of the Bhopal ...
, who was an adherent of
Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...
. His teacher, Maulvi Navazish Ali, belonged to the
Hanafi
The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named aft ...
school and when he saw the essay he tore it up. At this time Hali adopted the
takhallus A takhallus ( ur, , fa, تخلّص, hi, तख़ल्लुस), is a pen-name. Pen names were widely adopted by Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Persian poets.
''Takhallus'' is an Arabic word which means, literally, "to get liberated" or "become s ...
"Khasta", which means "the exhausted, the distressed, the heartbroken". He showed his work to the poet
Ghalib
Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan (Urdu, fa, مرزا بیگ اسد اللہ خان; 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869) also known as Mirza Ghalib (Urdu, fa}) was an Urdu and Persian language, Persian shayar (poet), poet of the 19th century Mughal Em ...
, who advised him: "Young man, I never advise anyone to write poetry but to you I say, if you don't write poetry, you will be very harsh on your temperament".
In 1855 he returned to Panipat and his first son was born. In the following year he was employed at the Collector's office in Hissar.
Writing
The
Indian rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
was an armed uprising in
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 ...
against the oppressive and destructive British colonial rule and was also popularly remembered as the 'First War of Independence'. This was a turning point in his life because he was an eyewitness to the catastrophe. His family took in a widowed girl who lived with them for the rest of her life. Her plight left a deep impression on Hali and he composed two poems on the condition of women: ''Munajaat-e-Beva'' (Supplication of the Widow) and ''Chup ki Daad'' (Homage to the Silent).Hameed, 'Introduction', p. 28.
Syeda Saiyidain Hameed
Syeda Saiyidain Hameed (born 1943) is an Indian social and women's rights activist, educationist, writer and a former member of the Planning Commission of India. She chaired the Steering Committee of the Commission on Health which reviewed the Na ...
called Hali "Urdu's first feminist poet".
In 1863 he was appointed tutor to the children of Nawab Mustafa Khan Shefta of
Jahangirabad
Jahangirabad is a town in Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The town is named after mughal emperor Jahangir, who is said to have stayed here for a couple of days. It has various holy places like Binner Devi, Dhaka De ...
, a position he held for eight years. In
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. ...
he was employed at the Government Book Depot from 1871 to 1874, where his task was to correct Urdu translations of English books. This brought him into contact with a wide range of literature and led to him writing the first book of
literary criticism
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
in Urdu, ''Muqaddama-e-Shair-o-Shairi''. This was published as an introduction to his collected poems, ''Divan'' (1890) and then on its own (1893).
Annemarie Schimmel
Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.
Early life and education ...
called Hali the "founder of literary tradition in Urdu". He had by this time changed his takhallus from "Khasta" to "Hali", which means "contemporary" or "modern".Hameed, 'Introduction', p 30.
While in Lahore Hali saw a new form of
Mushaira
''Mushaira'' ( ur, , Mušā'ira) is a poetic symposium. It is an event (called ''mehfil'', Mushairi) where poets gather to perform their works. A mushaira is part of the Culture of North India, Pakistan and the Deccan, particularly among the Hy ...
, where instead of reciting poetry at will, poets were given a subject to write about. This was begun by
Muhammad Husain Azad
Muhammad Husain Azad ( ur, — ; 5 May 1830 – 22 January 1910) was a scholar and an Urdu writer who wrote both prose and poetry, but he is mostly remembered for his prose. His best known work is Aab-e-Hayat ("Elixir of Life").
and the Director of Public Education, W. R. M. Holroyd. Hali composed four poems for this purpose: ''Nishat-e-Umeed'' (Delight of Hope), ''Manazra-a-Rahm-o-Insaaf'' (Dialogue between Mercy and Justice), ''Barkha Rut'' (Rainy Season) and ''Hubb-e-Watan'' (Patriotism).
From 1874 until 1877 Hali taught at the
Anglo Arabic School
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term '' Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people ...
in Delhi, where he came into contact with
Syed Ahmad Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...
. He advised Hali to "write something like '' Marsiya-e-Andalus'' (dirge for Spain)" on the condition of the Muslims of India. Later Urdu writers called this moment: "This is the place where the Quom got a poet and the poet got a Quom". Hali therefore began to compose his epic poem, the ''Musaddas e-Madd o-Jazr e-Islam'' ("An elegiac poem on the Ebb and Tide of Islam"). Khan acclaimed it upon its publication in 1879 in a letter to Hali:
It will be entirely correct if the modern age of Urdu poetry is dated from the date inscribed in ''Musaddas''. I do not have the power of expression to describe the elegance, beauty and flow of this poem. ... I am undoubtedly its inspiration. I consider this poem among those finest deeds of mine that when God asks me what did you bring with you, I will say “Nothing but that I got Hali to write the ''Musaddas''!”Hameed, 'Introduction', p. 31.
He also called it the "mirror of the nation's condition and an elegy expressive of its grief". In the ''Musaddas'' Hali condemned what he saw as dogmatism, obscurantism and bigotry, and he attributed the decline of India's Muslims to the discouragement of dissent and the placing of religious rituals above the spirit of religion. He concluded the poem by warning Muslims to repair their ship before it is ship-wrecked in a storm.
The poem was very popular and apart from the first couple of editions, Hali dedicated the poem to the nation and took no royalties. Some scholars of Pakistani nationalism also consider the ''Mussadas'' an important text for the articulation of a future Muslim nation,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, which eventually was created in 1947. During an international seminar on Hali held in Delhi on 29 November 2001, scholars concluded that Hali could not have written the ''Musaddas'' without reading at least 5,000 pages of Islamic history.
After Khan's death Hali wrote his biography, ''Hayat-e-Javed'', which was published in 1901. He was awarded the title Shamsul Ulema ("Sun among Scholars") by the government. Hali's Mussadas-e-Hali also contains 'Mehnat ki Barkaat', which is an extract intended to spread awareness in Muslims.
Death and legacy
Altaf Hussain Hali died in 1914. Pakistan Post issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor on 23 March 1979 in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series. "His great 'Musaddas' is one of the most inspiring poems in Urdu literature and had a lasting influence on the minds and attitudes of the Muslims in the sub-continent and continues to inspire them to this day."
According to a major Pakistani English-language newspaper, Altaf Hussain Hali and Maulana
Shibli Nomani
Shibli Nomani ( ur, – ; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.
In the same above-mentioned newspaper article, Baba-e-Urdu (Father of Urdu)
Maulvi Abdul Haq
Maulvi Abdul Haq ( ur, ) (20 April 1870 – 16 August 1961) was a scholar and a linguist, whom some call '' Baba-e-Urdu'' ( ur, ) (''Father of Urdu''). Abdul Haq was a champion of the Urdu language and the demanded for it to be made the nat ...
is quoted as saying, "Outstanding poetry happens when there is poetic departure and a poet is able to take universal meaning out of immediate events."
Works
* A biography of
Ghalib
Mirza Beg Asadullah Khan (Urdu, fa, مرزا بیگ اسد اللہ خان; 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869) also known as Mirza Ghalib (Urdu, fa}) was an Urdu and Persian language, Persian shayar (poet), poet of the 19th century Mughal Em ...
, '' Yadgar-e-Ghalib'' – life and works of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), a legendary
Urdu language
Urdu (;"Urdu" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ur, , link=no, ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, In ...
poet of the 19th-century
* A biography of
Saadi Shirazi
Saadi Shīrāzī ( fa, ابومحمّد مصلحالدین بن عبدالله شیرازی), better known by his pen name Saadi (; fa, سعدی, , ), also known as Sadi of Shiraz (, ''Saʿdī Shīrāzī''; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was ...
, ''Hayat-e-Saadi'' – life and works of celebrated
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
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 researche ...
and poet 'Saadi Shirazi' (1210–1292) of the 13th-century
* A biography of
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Order of the Star of India, KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian people, Indian Muslim Islamic modernist, reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British ...
, ''Hayat-e-Javed'' – life and works of a renowned
educationist
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...
,
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 researche ...
and
social reformer
A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...
Junaid Jamshed
Junaid Jamshed Khan ( ur, ; 3 September 1964 – 7 December 2016) was a Pakistani singer-songwriter, television personality, fashion designer, actor, and preacher. After graduating with a degree in engineering from the University of Engineeri ...