Muslim Women Writers of the Subcontinent (1870-1950) is one of the best works done in English on Muslim women writers of South Asia. Munazza Yaqoob and Sofia Hussain, the editors of this book, worked with M Phil scholars and produced this work. Dr Munazza Yaqoob is an assistant professor of English at the female campus of the Islamic International University. She is also a member of numerous academic forums. Sofia Hussain is a lecturer at the department of English in the Islamic International University. They have produced a biographical work that includes short biographical essays on selected South Asian Muslim women authors from 1870 to 1950.
The cover of the book shows that it contains different Muslim women writers of the subcontinent working in novel writing, prose, poetry, newspapers, journals, etc. This book is a tribute to our legendary Muslim women. From the acknowledgements section we come to know the research the writers conducted in order to collect valuable and authentic data as they visited various institutions in the country. Muslim Women Writers of the Subcontinent (1870-1950) is dedicated to the Critical Thinking Forum, which is an academic forum to encourage critical thought, inter-faculty interaction and develop a culture of research.
There has been plenty of work done on the topic of Muslim women writers in the subcontinent in the Urdu language but this topic has been completely absent from Anglophone works. As English is an international language and one cannot deny its importance, it is necessary to produce such works in it, so that the rest of the world gets to know and understand the marvelous contributions of Muslim women from this part of the world. Unlike the work seen on this topic in the Urdu language, this perspective is feministic and the writers hace supported their arguments well.
The book has been divided into three sections, each containing further sub-sections. The book includes Muslim poetesses, Muslim female prose and fiction writers, progressive women writers and the contribution of Muslim women in journalism. It also includes 11 manuscripts by women writers and seven covers, and contents of literary magazines and journals at the end in order to support the points of view the writers have made while discussing works done by Muslim female writers. Muslim Women Writers of the Subcontinent (1870-1950) has divided these writers into different groups according to their works for clarification.
The works selected for this biographical work are from the last decades of the 19th century and first half of 20th century, documenting two generations, one from 1870 to 1930 and the second from 1930 to 1950. This was the time period when women raised their voices for their own rights. During this time western feminism was at its peak and many writers (western as well as South Asian) attempted to highlight the issues of women’s rights in their writings. The first generation of Muslim women writers in the subcontinent worked with a traditional approach towards sub-continental Muslim culture and society. The second generation went a step further and dismantled oppressive social traditions as they were progressive writers. These women worked for the conscious rising of women of that time period. Muslim Women Writers of the Subcontinent (1870-1950) highlights the theme about how these writers played their role in the feminist movement.
Munazza Yaqoob and Sofia Hussain have included different Muslim poetesses. The first generation of Muslim poetesses consisted of Rahmat Begum, Sughra Begum and Basheer-un-Nissa Begum, and the second generation includes Zehra Nigaa and Adaa Jaafri. The earlier generation of Muslim women writers in prose and fiction are Akbari Begum and Muhammadi Begum. The second generation includes Rokeyya Sakhawaat Hussain and Quratulain Hyder.
When these writers appeared on the literary scene, there were many hurdles — political as well as social — due to colonialism. These women were doubly colonised, both by the culture and by the British Empire. These women writers used male patterns and models due to the hegemony of the male literary tradition in the subcontinent. This was the time period when women were not given exposure to education due to the narrow mindedness of Muslims. Only a few of them received this opportunity and they fortunately became the first generation of educated Muslim women of the subcontinent like Rashid Jahan, Basheer-un-Nissa Begum, Rahat-un-Nissa Begum and Adaa Jafri.
The writers assert that the role of Muslim women in the subcontinent in literary tradition cannot be neglected. Due to the patriarchal constraints these writers were writing with their pen names. Their voices were about the issues of patriarchy, oppression and western imperialism. The writers of this book have included all important events and discussions. They give the proper background of the progressive writers’ movement, influence of western modernism on the progressive writers’ movement, Muslim women progressive writers of the subcontinent and their contribution to the women’s movement and Muslim women of the subcontinent in literary journalism.
There are references of three magazines launched during 1880 to 1947. The editors of this book have divided these magazines into three categories: conservative/traditional magazines, liberal magazines and culturally appropriate magazines. The first category includes Gul Dasta-e-Sukhan, Gul Dast-e-Piyam-e-Yaar, Gul Dast-e-Naaz, Shareef Bibiyan, Tehzeeb-e-Niswan, Parda Nasheen, Shareef Bibi and Anees-e-Niswan. The second category includes Mufeed-e-Aam, Moalim, Rafeeq-e-Niswan, Akhbar-un-Nissa, Moalim-e-Niswan, Parda-e-Ismat and Tammadun. The third category includes Chirag-e-Ka’baa, Ismat, Ummahat, Saheli, Makhzan, Hoor and Zeb-un-Nisa.
The main aim of this book is to trace the roots of a generation of legendary ancestors and also to trace out our socio-cultural identity. It will help to develop a connection to our superb past and reconcile it with the present. This book is a valuable record of the literary and cultural history of the subcontinent. This is a very useful book to facilitate researchers and students interested in the cultural history of the subcontinent and in exploring the feministic movements of the subcontinent.
The reviewer is a freelance columnist