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
Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality in ...
,
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler ( , ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, family constellation and birth order ...
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 ...
Batala
Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur. Batala ranks as the second-oldest city after Bathinda. It is a municipal corpo ...
,
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
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
, 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 ...
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 ...
. Pakistan's famous writer
Ashfaq Ahmed
Ashfaq Ahmed Khan ( ur, ; 22 August 1925 – 7 September 2004) was a writer, playwright and broadcaster from Pakistan. His works in Urdu included novels, short stories and plays for television and radio of Pakistan. He received the President's ...
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
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 ...
was due to his inspiration from a fellow writer
Qudrat Ullah Shahab
Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab, ur, ; 26 February 191724 July 1986) was an eminent Urdu writer and civil servant from Pakistan.
Shahab holds the distinction of having served as the Principal Secretary to three heads o ...
. 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
Qudrat Ullah Shahab (or Qudratullah Shahab, ur, ; 26 February 191724 July 1986) was an eminent Urdu writer and civil servant from Pakistan.
Shahab holds the distinction of having served as the Principal Secretary to three heads o ...
Sitara-e-Imtiaz
The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially m ...
(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
Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known by his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer of Hindi and Urdu social fiction. He was one of ...
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
Ashfaq Ahmed Khan ( ur, ; 22 August 1925 – 7 September 2004) was a writer, playwright and broadcaster from Pakistan. His works in Urdu included novels, short stories and plays for television and radio of Pakistan. He received the President's ...
,
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)