Pir Husamuddin Rashidi: a scholar, a bridge & an institution unto himself

THE other day I watched a report on a TV channel that showed parents waiting outside the premises of a school in Karachi for hours just to get in. The school had announced the opening of admissions and people had started arriving there since 6:00 in the morning to ensure that their children were not deprived of the opportunity to get quality education. It just reminded me of the people who received education at schools with a little or virtually no amenities but had changed the course of history. There have been scores of people who never had any formal schooling but they became icons of literature, research and culture. Husamuddin Rashidi was one such personality. He wrote and compiled over 50 books in Sindhi, Persian and Urdu but had never attended a school. "The work done single-handedly by Husamuddin Rashidi for the promotion of Sindhi language, literature, culture and rediscovering and researching Sindhi literature is rivaled by none except for Mirza Qaleech Baig," writes Syed Mazhar Jameel in his ` Mukhtasar tareekh-i-zaban-o-adab: Sindhi ` (National Language Authority, 2009). Pir Syed Husamuddin Rashidi was born in a small town named Bahman Goth near Larkana on September 20, 1911. His ancestors were known for their scholarly pursuits and his father, Syed Haamid Shah Rashidi, was a religious scholar. Husamuddin Rashidi was taught Arabic, Persian and Sindhi at home and he later learned English on his own. He began his career as journalist when he joined ` Phaagan `, a Sindhi newspaper published from Shikarpur. Here he contributed such impressive articles on Sindh`s history and its historic personalities that he was invited to join ` Al-minaar `, a literary magazine published from Sukkur, as its editor. In the early part of his career, Rashidi Sahib wrote some short stories in Sindhi, too. But his first love was history. Soon he devoted his life for the study of history and especially that of Sindh. "Pir Husamuddin Rashidi was basically a scholar of history and history was the angle through which he would see every branch of knowledge," writes Dr Jameel Jalibi. According to Dr Jalibi, Rashidi Sahib brought back to life the basic sources and historical material vital for researching history and culture of Sindh. He edited, compiled and annotated such rare books as Tohfat-ul-kiran , Makli nama and Maqalat-i-shuara . Rashidi Sahib had a penchant for research and research techniques. Not only he himself wrote research papers and books but also remained associated with several institutions for about half a century and all these institutions benefited from his knowledge and insight. These are National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi; Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, Karachi; Urdu Dictionary Board, Karachi; Urdu Science Board, Lahore; Idara-i-Yadgar-i-Ghalib, Karachi; Majlis-i-Taraqqi-i-adab, Lahore; and many others. In every literary and scholarly body, Rashidi Sahib remained in touch with relevant personalities and helped initiate projects relating to the editing and publishing of rare books. Many books were translated into Sindhi or Urdu from other languages, especially English and Persian. Such books include the famous Chach nama , as well as lubul-albaab , Hadiqat-ul-aulia , Tareekh-i-Masoom , Tareekh-i-Nasiri , Nusrat nama tarkhan , Rozat-us-salateen and many many more. He also got edited and published, through different institutions, books on the life and selected works of classical Sindhi poets. "Rashidi Sahib had realised that the taste for Persian in the subcontinent was on the decline and neither was there any hope for its revival. So he, using his influence, tried to get classical texts and historical accounts translated into Urdu and Sindhi. He believed that in that way they would be accessible to general readers. That`s the reason why he worked systematically to get transferred the authentic accounts of Muslim era in South Asia into these languages," wrote Dr Moinuddin Aqeel. Rashidi Sahib wrote in Urdu too and among his Urdu works is an article ` Urdu zaban ka asli moallid: Sindh ` (or the true birthplace of Urdu: Sindh). In this article of his, he has tried to prove that Urdu was born in Sindh. To prove his point, he quotes extensively from the different sources on the history of Sindh and in addition to reproducing the couplets of ancient poets of Sindh who composed poetry in Urdu, he narrates an interesting historical incident that proves, according to him, that Urdu was the common language of Sindh even in the eighth century Hijri. Rashidi Sahib says that in 751 Hijri, Sultan Mohammad Tughlaq attacked Thatta where Soomros ruled but he fell ill and died. After 10 years, Feroz Tughlaq attacked Thatta but the attack was thwarted. The people of Thatta were rejoiced and an adage got currency that said " Barkat-i-Shaikh Pattha, aik mooaa aik nattha " which can be translated as "it was due to the blessings of Shaikh Pattha that one died and the other fled". Rashidi Sahib writes that Shaikh Hussain alias Shaikh Pattha (560-606 Hijri) is a famous Sufi saint of Sindh and his shrine still stands near the city of Thatta. He then says that the source from which this incident is quoted is authentic and contemporary and the currency of the adage in classical Urdu proves that Urdu was a common language in south western Sindh in those days. Rashidi Sahib was as unbiased and non-partisan as a true scholar is expected to be. In his youth he was an avid reader of Urdu literature. Later, he not only wrote books in Urdu but worked with the institutions working for the promotion of Urdu. Many scholars of Urdu were his close friends. In fact, he was a bridge between the scholars and intellectuals of Urdu and Sindhi and brought them closer. Both Urdu and Sindhi benefited from his friendly and scholarly personality. His work in different fields surpasses the collective works of some institutions. H was an institution unto himself. Aside from his published works, there is a huge body of invaluable manuscripts waiting to be published. One hopes that the institutions that Rashidi Sahib served unselfishly would come forward and return his gesture by publishing his unpublished works. Husamuddin Rashidi died on April 2, 1982, in Karachi and was buried in the historic Makli graveyard. drraufparekh@yahoo.com