HASAN Askari was a critic who not only inspired a number of writers but influenced many intellectuals to follow in his footsteps leading to the traditionalist philosophy that confronted modernist school of thought. Some of his true disciples formed a kind of informal 'Askari school of thought' and they include critics such as Saleem Ahmed, Jamal Panipati and Shamim Ahmed. Later, Siraj Muneer, Tehseen Firaqi, Suhayl Umar and Sajjad Mir carried the torch. You can add a few more names from the newer generation, too, Mubeen Mirza, for example.

And if you compile a list of the most talented, intelligent and well-read scholars and critics that we have produced in the last four decades or so, Siraj Muneer's name will have to be incorporated in it. But he died when only 39 or I would have said that his name would make it to the top of the list. Had he lived a little longer, he would have touched the heights of literary fame and finesse that many of today's so-called critics could only dream of — provided that he would have refrained from being practically involved in the country's politics that can at best be described as unsavoury.

Siraj Muneer was a poet, scholar, critic, editor, orator, broadcaster and an intellectual deeply steeped in traditionalist philosophy. His father Maulana Mateen Hashmi, a religious scholar known for his erudition, had migrated to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from Gahzipur, UP, India, after the creation of Pakistan. Born in Saidpur, East Pakistan, on June 1, 1951, Siraj Muneer did his Master's in English from Government College, Lahore, and began teaching. A restless soul as he was, he in 1979 quit teaching and worked for 'Saudi Review', 'Urdu Digest', 'Nawa-i-Waqt' and 'Arabia' (a journal of England's Islamic Press Agency), leaving each to work for the other. In 1984, he was appointed the director-general of Idara-i-Saqafat-i-Islamia, Lahore — a post that he held till his death on September 25, 1990. After he assumed the charge, the institution was transformed into a dynamic institution that launched periodicals and published many invaluable books on Islamic culture and history.

Siraj Sahib proved his mettle in many fields — be it journalism or criticism, broadcasting or publishing — but his first love was the study of civilisations and cultures, their philosophical basis, their comparative study and their rise and fall. He was a keen student of Islamic culture and whatever he wrote revolved around it. Drawing from his profound study of philosophy, metaphysics and literature, Siraj Muneer wrote many essays and articles on philosophy, culture and literature both in English and Urdu. Two collections of his works named 'Millat-i-Islamia: tehzeeb-o-taqdeer' and 'Kahani ke rang' were published. But somehow a large number of his articles could not be collected in book form though many readers have been waiting all along for them. Now, after two decades of his death, his articles and papers titled 'Maqalat-i-Siraj Muneer' have been published by Karachi's Academy Bazyaft.

Compiled by Muhammad Suhayl Umar, these pieces make a virtual treasure for anyone who wants to know the other side of the argument in the debate between modernism and traditionalism. Siraj Sahib, as writes Suhayl Umar in his preface, was a gifted thinker and visionary and his writings are a manifestation of his genius. I would rather say that Siraj Muneer represents the entire school of traditionalism and he was a manifestation of the school's genius in the new age and in an era that is pronouncedly biased in favour of modernism. It has become fashionable to claim to be a modernist as it once was thought to be trendy to claim to be a 'progressive' but a few understand the true meaning of what modernism really means. In fact, modernism is a vague albeit all-embracing term and even modernists sometimes feel difficulty explaining what modernism really is. It is not yet decided whether modernism is a tendency or a movement and is it only breaking away from traditions and conservative values or it was merely a rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church that ensued Protestantism. At least secularism has taken refuge behind the glorious edifice of modernism.

When Siraj Muneer approaches these issues he does so with all his study of western philosophy and the literary movements which have been launched in the last few centuries. Entwined with his insight and a deep sense of belonging to the eastern traditions, this quality of his crystallises the wayward thinking of the western philosophers whose modernistic theories have led the western societies astray. When an issue is illuminated by Siraj Sahib's magical touch, as Mubeen Mirza puts it in his intro to the book, it not only gives the readers the cognizance of the issue but he makes them understand it with its all philosophical and cultural importance.

The book also includes the articles and papers incorporated in his two previous books.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com