اردو ناول پر بھگتی اور تصوف کےتہذیبی اثرات

THE CULTURAL INFLUENCES OF THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT AND SUFISM ON THE URDU NOVEL

Abstract

This passage encompasses the distinction between the Bhakti movement and Islamic Sufism within the cultural backdrop of the subcontinent, along with their reformative influences on the Urdu novel. According to the author, the Bhakti movement, which emerged in response to the oppression and caste system of Hindu society, was primarily aimed at reforming Hinduism, whereas Islamic Sufism is fundamentally based on Sharia, self-purification (tazkiyah-e-nafs), and pure monotheism (tauheed-e-khalis). When attempts were made in the subcontinent to blend these two distinct currents and erase the Muslim identity through 'Deen-e-Ilahi', Hazrat Mujaddid Alif Sani defended the distinct identity of Islam through his doctrine of Wahdat-ush-Shuhood (Unity of Witness). From its very inception, the Urdu novel absorbed this historical and mystical background; this is precisely why novelists, from Deputy Nazir Ahmad to Munshi Premchand, beautifully depicted the negation of materialistic greed, humanism, and social reform through mystical and moral characters.