Urdu Literature, Writers and World Peace
By Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
23 August 2023
Main points
1.
A book titled
"Urdu Literature, Writers and World Peace" was released at a two-day
international conference in September 2018.
2.
The book covers
fourteen subjects, including poetry, travelogues, Jahili literature, and Urdu
literature.
3.
The key topics
include the Qur'an, Hindi language, Hazrat Umar's sermons, ethics, Persian
poetry, and Saadi Shirazi's poetry.
4.
Dr. Inayatullah Wani
Nadvi's essay highlights the Qur'an's principles and guidelines for global
peace, emphasizing its universal application and the importance of adhering to
its precepts.
5.
Articles suggest
writers should adopt new writing styles, seminars, and workshops to spark fresh
inquiry and ideas.
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A compilation of Urdu papers titled "Urdu
Literature, Writers and World Peace" was released at a two-day
international conference titled ‘The Message Of Benevolence, Love And Peace In
Indo-Pak Urdu Literature’. This was held at Government Degree College, Doda
in September 2018. The speakers from several countries participated in this
conference and shed light on the theme of goodwill and peace that may be found
in the writings of many Urdu literary figures. Dr. Akhtar Hussain and Dr.
Imtiaz Ahmed Zargar compiled these articles into a book form. Prof. Dr Shafqat
Hussain Rafiqi Principal GDC Doda thinks that the Doda caravan of peace will
keep burning the candle of love in the future. Twenty-two subjects are covered
in the book, and Mr Khan Muhammad Rizwan provides a brief summary in Urdu.
Dr. Akhtar Hussain wrote the preface, and Prof (Dr) Mohammad
Riaz and Prof. Dr Shafqat Hussain Rafiqi Principal GDC Doda, contributed their
perspectives in "Khas Baat" and "Tassuraat." There are fourteen subjects covered in the
book, including poetry, travelogues, the theme of peace in Jahili literature,
and Urdu literature. Important topics covered are "The Qur'an and the
Elements of World Peace," "The Role of Hindi Language and Literature
in World Peace," and "The Role of Hazrat Umar's Sermons and
Letters in World Peace." The topics also discussed include
"Ethics in Persian Poetry," "The Ethical Sayings of Sheikh
Sadi," "Poetry of Sadi Shirazi," and other issues. The relevance
of the book is seen in its wide range of subject matter.
This collection of essays is crucial for achieving world
peace in the modern world. It consists of three parts: writers, literature, and
world peace. The writers aim to create works that promote social justice,
tolerance, and peace through their literary works.
Undoubtedly literature is sometimes referred to as the
mirror of society. If we carefully examine the literature, we can gain an
understanding of this. Different literary movements emerged especially the
progressive ones that produced writing for human needs through their manifesto.
They worked to advance literature in addition to the cause of world peace. They
talked about issues including justice, advancement, employment, equality, and
releasing people from oppression. They shouted in defiance of every brutality
and oppression. As they saw hunger and unemployment as the nation's leprosy,
they wrote literature to end them, and they were successful. But for the time being,
all we can do is wish for peace and do nothing to bring it about. Today, we do
only formal, paper-based labour. However, they were beneficial on all fronts
due to how realistic and successful all of these people's work was.
People have desired peace throughout history and across all
eras. Modern people are not the only ones who need this. The statement in Dr.
Muhammad Riyaz Ahmad's "Taassuraat" that language is "the
breath of emotions" is highly accurate. In his remarks, he made the
audacious claim that materialism and selfishness are quickly developing. It's
also true that when materialism and selfishness are replaced by honesty,
compassion, and brotherhood, man will lose his conscience and humanity.
Prof. Shahab Inayat Malik came to the conclusion in his
article "Necessity and Importance of Literature for world peace"
that, in places where peace is not established by politics, preaching,
religion, history, science, and harsh constitutional restrictions, it is only
possible to achieve peace and security, love, and compassion in human life
through literature.
In his essay "The Qur'an and the Composite Elements of
the Global Peace," Dr. Inayatullah Wani Nadvi, has made it abundantly
clear with great beauty and eloquence that the Qur'an not only establishes the
principles and guidelines for the establishment of peace but also guides people
in the right direction. Additionally, he makes the argument that the only way
to achieve world peace is through abiding by the Qur'anic precepts, which are
applicable to all people.
Yasir Arafat Baig Nadvi wrote the brief essay "Role of
Hazrat Umar's Sermons and Letters in World Peace". The author makes it
very clear that the Qur'an and Hadith are the wellspring of peace,
notwithstanding the essay's concision. After discussing the Qur'an, he pointed
out that this was an important message of reconciliation and utilized the
Prophet's statement on the occasion of the conquering of Makkah to justify
peace and security for the city's criminals. The author then made a praiseworthy
attempt by providing relevant quotes from Hazrat Umar's lectures and letters as
evidence.
The essay by Altaf Ahmad is titled "The Message of
world peace and friendship based on human values in Urdu travelogues after
independence." He has made an attempt to show how various travelogues may
be used to spread the message of peace and harmony and highlighted the various
facets of peace and harmony in this by citing travel accounts by Kashmir Lal
Zakir, Ibn Insha, Mujtaba Hussain, Jameel Zuberi, Dr. Tanveer Ahmad Alvi, Dr.
Kewal Dhir, Rifat Sarosh, Abdul Majid Dariyabadi, Saleha Abid Hussain, and Syed
Ehtesham Hussain, among others.
"Role of Urdu Language and Literature in Global
Peace" is the title of Parshottam Singh's essay. He has made an attempt to talk about how the
literature and language of Urdu have helped to improve world peace. He has only
covered a few poets; the subject needs to include a wider range of Urdu
literature. If he had gone through the
verses of poets from every age, the Urdu poets and literature would have been
comprehensively covered. However, both
the subject and the ideas are sound.
Mohammad Rafi's essay, "A Message of Peace in the Name
of Humanity in Urdu Poetry," uses the poems of a few poets as examples.
However, it would have been more successful if he included important poets from
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as representative poets from
the eighteenth century. Rafi concludes by quoting a few available poets for
convenience, but the subject matter falls short.
In his essay "The Message of Peace in Urdu Language and
Literature", Mushtaq Ahmed examines how the Urdu language and literature
convey the message of peace, highlighting Indian civilization, the 1947
incident, and significant Urdu poets, writers, and groups. The essay's emphasis
on these accomplishments is not evident, though. The subject could have been
changed, or the message should have been conveyed through poetry and
literature. Although it is admirable that the scholar tried to explain the
topic using examples from poetry and literature, the topic is not fully
comprehended.
Due to the similarity of the topics and main concepts in the
collection of articles, I am avoiding commenting on other articles which are
well-written and easy to read.
After reading this collection of articles, I've come to the
conclusion that writers should avoid reusing concepts already expressed in
other works and use a different writing style. This can spark fresh inquiry and
fresh concepts. Readers may not always find traditional writing styles to be
interesting. But I do want to share with you all something that I think is very
important: doing seminars and workshops like the one where this collection was
released gives us the chance to develop untapped potential and educate the next
generation.
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Kaniz
Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/urdu-literature-world-peace/d/130502