Haroon Ur Rashid Tabassum: A prolific writer
Syed Afsar Sajid
Titles: 1. Hilal-e-Iqbal 4. Zeba’iye Khayal
2. Insani AukkaraN tay Iqbal 5. Rashhat-e-Aarzu
3. Khushbu-e-Iqbal 6. Dastan-e-Kutub
Author: Prof. Dr. Haroon Ur Rashid Tabassum
Pages and Price: 1. 216 (1000/-); 2. 208 (1000/-); 3. 246 (1200/-)
192 (800/-); 220 (1000); 180 (800/-)
(Prof. Dr.) Haroon Ur Rashid Tabassum is a well-known writer, socio-literary activist, and
media man. In the year 2023, he authored and published as many as six books in Urdu:
three on Iqbal and the remaining three on miscellaneous literary topics plus reviews of
books.
Dr. Tabassum writes in a lucid, racy, and allusive style. He brings all of his thought (that
‘never dies’, as espoused by famed diasporic writer Javed Amir in his book of that title),
experience and observation to bear upon his creative work which eventually tends to
enhance its reading clientele. Though he has a prolific pen, his writings do rarely
suggest that he writes in hurry and is thus prone to override the niceties of expression or
the requisites of syntax. It would be interesting to note that Dr. Tabassum has so far
brought out 155 literary publications besides some 27 related to curricula.
Hilal-e-Iqbal: The book comprises some 21 essays on Iqbal, his person and art together
with his achievements as a philosopher, poet, legal practitioner, teacher, and politician.
Informative essays on Auntie Doris, German governess of Iqbal’s children, Ali Bakhsh,
Iqbal’s life-long domestic aide, Allah Dad, a commoner and a devout admirer of Iqbal, and
Prof. Muhammad Munawar Mirza, and Dr. Ayub Sabir, both Iqbal’s illustrious interpreters
and experts on Iqbal studies. The introductory to the book by the author himself is a
vibrant critical estimation of Allama Iqbal in the contemporary world of letters.
Insani aukarraN tay Iqbal: The medium of this book is Punjabi in which the author has
highlighted Iqbal’s concern on the problems and issues pertinent to mankind in general
and the Umma in particular, in 12 thought-provoking essays. Some of the topics relate to
moral values, Iqbal’s concept of life, Islamic unity, conflict of civilizations, Iqbal’s
economic philosophy, Iqbal’s views on feministic issues et al.
Khushbu-e-Iqbal: It is a compendium of critiques written on various dimensions of
Iqbal’s person and art and also on those luminaries who have studied Iqbal from some
specific angles. Distinguished names in this list are the author himself, Dr. Rafiuddin
Hashmi, Waheed ur Rahman Khan, Zulfiqar Ahsan, Kh. Ejaz Ahmad Butt, Dr. Talib
Hussain Sial, Tafakhar Mahmood, Mian Sajid Ali, Dr. Moinudddin Aqeel, Prof. Khayal
Afaqi, Dr. Arooba Masroor Siddiqui, Dr. Saadat Saeed, Dr. Abdul Haq, Dr. Muhammad
Tahir Faruqi, Tanvir Zahoor and some others.
Zeba’iye Khayal: It is a miscellany of essays on disparate topics like community rearing
and character-building in the light of Iqbal’s views, economics and modern economic
theorems, Iqbal’s literary-cum-critical awareness, Iqbal and the concept of a modern state, Bushra Rahman — a movement in herself, the white cane day and its significance,
introduction of a uniform educational policy in the country, book culture in our
universities, apathy to libraries, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Akbar Allahabadi
as a critic of life, vision of a welfare state and Iqbal’s ideology, need to implement Iqbal’s
ideology, Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, and a few minor topics.
Rashhat-e-Aarzu: The book contains some 30 essays, both descriptive and reflective, on
topics like tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nabuwwat and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Seerat-e-Rasool and
defence of Pakistan, Allama Muhammad Iqbal and aqeeda-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, the
ideological base of Pakistan, the role of writers in the Pakistan Movement, corruption as
a social malady, national language, Indian role in the cession of ‘East Pakistan’, Pakistan
Movement and Quaid-e-Azam’s charismatic leadership, religious harmony, Air
Commodore M. M. Alam, Quaid-e-Azam’s awareness of Islam, from the passing of the
Pakistan Resolution to the creation of Pakistan, a historical perspective of Indian
brutalities in Occupied Kashmir, Allama Iqbal and his concept of homeland (‘watan’),
Iqbal on servant labourer (‘banda-e-mazdoor’), esteem of the martyrs, some memories of
the day of 14 th August, 1947, and Azhar Javed and Sargodha.
Dastan-e-Kutub: It is an anthology of the author’s critical reviews of 21 divers books in
Urdu and Punjabi authored by Shahida Muzaffar Khan, Dr. Hafeez Ahmad, Manzar Arfi,
Sardar Muhammad Akram Buttar, Attiya Masooma, Khurram Sohail, Dr. Aziz Ahsan,
Muhammad Yaqoob Firdowsi Ameer Badshah, Akram Kunjahi, Dr. Nisar Turabi, Ashraf
Ali Ashraf, Kaleem Ihsan Butt, Dr. Muhammad Musharaf Hussain Anjum, and Sahibzada
Hazeefa Ashraf Asimi.
The aforesaid books are sure to satisfy the craze of the bibliomaniacs who are keen to
have a reasonable variety of good books on their personal shelves for whiling away their
leisure gainfully. The author deserves kudos for doing this wonderful job of promoting
book culture, without any practical motive.
