The term 'movement' is “commonly applied to a trend or development in literature”, says J. A. Cuddon in his book 'A Penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory'. But those who draw a line between a movement and a trend believe that a literary movement works for the advancement of a shared cause whereas a literary trend or tendency shows an inclination towards a specific characteristic, preferred whether individually or collectively. So, Progressivism was a movement but Romanticism was a trend.

The Islamic Literature Movement, or 'Tehrik-i-adab-i-Islami', is one of the movements that influenced Pakistani Urdu literature and drew a considerable strength. Getting under way during the period just after the creation of Pakistan, the movement influenced a large number of writers and readers concerned with the issues of morality and spirituality or matters relating to eastern and traditional values and their depiction in literature.

Another movement that had begun even earlier was Pakistani Literature Movement. Dr Taseer and Mohammad Hasan Askari had raised the question of Pakistani literature and its characteristics just before Pakistan's birth. They insisted that the Pakistani literature must have its own content and tone and should portray the country's ideology and its values. Later, as some critics believe, Askari Sahib got the Pakistani literature intermingled with Islamic literature and the confusion spread. Some believe that Islamic Literature Movement was an offshoot of Pakistani Literature Movement.

These two, in fact, were two separate literary movements.

The Marxists did not agree, in principle, to the idea of a separate homeland for Muslims and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a declared Marxist, had said of the morning of August 14, 1947

ye daagh daagh ujala ye shab gazeeda sahar
wo intezar tha jis ka ye wo sahar to nahin

This naturally enraged those who saw the dawn of independence as a dream come true. Hasan Askari and Mumtaz Shireen raised the question of a writer's commitment to the state and demanded that Pakistani writers be loyal to this country. The Marxists were committed to other ideologies and had their own philosophy of loyalty. Against this backdrop, some writers began criticising the progressive movement and their literature, especially their disregard for morals, religion and traditions. Though some protesting voices against the progressive literature had always been there, the new critics based their criticism on moral and Islamic values and raised the question of patriotism, too. It soon gathered the momentum of a movement and was called 'Islami adab ki tehrik'. Though many of the writers and critics who supported Islamic literature movement were either sympathisers or members of the Jamaat-i-Islami, not all of them could be called so.

With the banning of the Communist Party of Pakistan in 1953, the Islamic literature movement in the absence of a tangible rival lost much of its steam and today it is only a shadow of its former self, though not actually over.

In the ranks of the writers and intellectuals who staunchly opposed the progressives was Mahir-ul-Qadri. He had been opposing them and their philosophy even in the pre-independence days. Having migrated to Pakistan in 1947, Mahir Sahib picked up his relentless ideological pursuit — a war on progressivism — from where he had left it in India. He launched his own monthly 'Faaraan' from Karachi and strictly followed some principles. Every literary piece received for publication, for instance, whether prose or verse, had to conform to a certain standard of morality. No ads were accepted for publication from banks and no ads carrying any pictures were published. The lapses in the use of language were dealt with severely and Mahir-ul-Qadri in his book reviews rebuked the writers who underestimated the power and honour of words and misused them. You may or may not agree to Mahir's principles, but you have to admit that he had some principle-based policies and followed them sincerely. 'Faaraan' was not merely a literary magazine but a vehicle that carried certain moral and Islamic values and reflected certain aspects of traditional Islamic culture. Mahir-ul-Qadri was not a man but a movement unto himself.

Born Manzoor Hussain on July 30, 1906 in a small town named Kaseer in district Buland Shehar of the UP, Mahir-ul-Qadri was a poet, critic, short story writer, novelist, sketch-writer, lexicologist and journalist. He got his early love for the printed word from his father who was the only literate man in the town and was also a poet. After completing his high school studies, Mahir got a job in the princely state of Deccan. Here he remained in the company of poets and intellectuals. With long hours of study and hard work, he polished his natural talent for poetry, composing some marvellous poems that ultimately earned him name. In 1933, Mahir quit his job and went to Bijnour to join 'Madina', a bi-weekly newspaper that was to become a daily. In addition, he was entrusted with editing the sister publication 'Ghuncha', a monthly for children which did not go well for certain reasons and had to be abandoned after six months.

Mahir Sahib came back to Deccan. In 1941 he went to Bombay (now Mumbai) to attend a mushaera.

Soon he created a niche for himself and in 1944 he settled in Bombay, where he wrote stories and lyrics for a number of movies. Here he moved in a society of celebrities and rumours had it that Jaddan Bai, a famous singer of the day, wanted to marry off her daughter Nargis with Mahir. But Mahir Sahib loved literature and certain values more than anything else. He called it a day in 1946 and settled in Delhi with the intension of bringing out a literary magazine 'Faaraan'. In his later years, he used to lament the time he had spent in Bombay's film world.

But the destiny was smiling at him. As soon as he purchased some property in Delhi for the magazine, partition was declared and riots broke out. Mahir rushed back to his hometown which was later besieged by rioters. He somehow slipped throught to safety with his family to cross the border over to Pakistan.

In 1949, he launched monthly 'Faaraan' from Karachi and established 'Halqa-i-adab-i-Islami', or Islamic literary circle. 'Faaraan' remained a regular publication till his death, in 1978, fighting for the cause Mahir had envisioned.

Mahir-ul-Qadri died on May 13, 1978 in Jeddah, where he had gone to perform Umra and attend a mushaera. He was buried in Makkah.

His books include 'Tilism-i-hayat', 'Zahoor-i-Qudsi', 'Durr-i-yateem', 'Mehsoosat-i-Mahir', 'Jazbat-i-Mahir', 'Naghmat-i-Mahir', 'Naqsh-i-tauheed', 'Karavan-i-Hijaz' and 'Yaad-i-raftagan'.

Abdul Ghani Farooq wrote a doctoral thesis on Mahir-ul-Qadri which was published in 2002.

—drraufparekh@yahoo.com