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. ------ 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. ---- Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam. 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