He lives with his family in Aligarh.
Following his graduation, there were job opportunities for him with the Archaeology Department of the Government of India and at Calcutta University, however Dr. Zakir Husain, the new vice-chancellor of AMU who was well aware of Mukhtar Sahib's capabilities through his articles and the famous 'Ghalib Number' of the Aligarh Magazine, wanted him to stay at Aligarh and arranged a part-time job for him at Lytton library. He worked from morning to afternoon at the library and devoted the rest of his time to his research finishing his thesis work for a Ph.D. degree in Arabic, under the able guidance of Maulana Abdul Aziz Memon, a world-renowned Arabic scholar, Professor and Chairman Department of Arabic at AMU Aligarh and a disciple of Deputy Nazir Ahmad, in less than two years. Dr Cranko, the renowned German scholar, Chairman of Arabic at Cambridge University, who was the assigned foreign examiner/expert for Mukhtar Sahib’s thesis was ill and hospitalized at the time. He initially refused to take up the responsibility of serving as the examiner. However, when he came to know of the topic of Mukhtar Sahib’s research, which was in a field of his own interest, in spite of his infirmity he accepted to evaluate his thesis. He was greatly impressed by the high standard and quality of Mukhtar Sahib’s Ph.D. thesis and even recommended its publication by the Wiesbaden Academy in Germany. Breaking tradition, he also wrote a personal letter directly to Mukhtar Sahib profusely praising his excellent research work and encouraging him to continue his research activities.
After completing his Ph.D., he joined the Department of Arabic as Lecturer in 1953 and in the same year received a Rockefeller Fellowship which required him to work and study in the United States of America. However, he was more interested in going to Europe and therefore wrote a letter to the Director of the foundation, along with a copy of his research proposal, pleading that since the universities in the United States did neither have the resources in terms of documents and manuscripts nor faculties of the same caliber as in Europe, he be allowed to carry out his research in England or another European country. The foundation forwarded his request to Professor Gibb of Oxford and Professor Smith of McGill University in Canada, who liked his proposal and the foundation made arrangements for him to work with the internationally famous Professor Gibb on 'Social Criticism in Modern Arabic Literature'. At the end of his one year stay at Oxford, he was ready to return to Aligarh but Professor Gibb encouraged him to continue his research and intervening on his behalf, wrote letters to Dr. Zakir Husain, vice-chancellor and Professor Abdul Aleem, Chairman, Department of Arabic requesting an extension in Mukhtar Sahib's leave of absence, which was granted.
His stay in Europe and his contact with eminent scholars and teachers served as a strong stimulus to his research capabilities and interests. On the one hand he established contacts with top orientalists of premiere universities and research institutions of Europe and on the other spent a great deal of time at British Museum and other depositories of research material in England as well as visiting libraries in Holland, Scotland, Germany and France in order to collect material for his research before returning to Oxford. Just like his Ph.D. at AMU, he completed his degree at Oxford also in a record time of only fifteen months. Professor Gibb had left Oxford for Harvard University near the completion of Mukhtar Sahib's thesis research. Therefore, Professor Batesman served his thesis preceptor and Professor Arby of the Department of Arabic at Cambridge University was the external examiner.
He stayed in Holland for a few months and worked at the Leiden University Library where he discovered a very useful and rare manuscript on the poetry of a Syrian poet, Muslim Bin Mamhood Shari. Based on this find, he wrote an important critical analysis of Shari’s poetry. Furthermore, during his stay in Europe, he discovered three rare and seemingly lost manuscripts in Urdu including 'Tazkira-e-Azurda' and 'Tazkira-e- Haideri'. However, his most remarkable contribution to Urdu was the discovery of the rare manuscript of 'Karbal Katha', considered to be the oldest book of North Indian prose and thought to have been lost to time, through his painstaking search and its subsequent publication in collaboration with his close friend, the late Malik Ram. Before his departure for Oxford, he had gone to meet Qazi Abdul Wadood who beseeched him to look for the manuscript of Fazli’s book by this name which Dr. Sprenger had taken back with him when he left Calcutta to go back to Germany, over hundred years ago, and thus render an invaluable service to Urdu literature. He was able to locate this manuscript in a library of a small German University town of Tubingen by sifting through thousands of manuscripts one by one.
The late Malik Ram was a respected expert on Ghalib and his many works included the authoritative ‘Zikr-e-Ghalib' and countless contributions on Arabic, Persian and Urdu literature. He shared with Mukhtar Sahib the love of research, Ghalibiat, a spirit of collaborative work and a sense of dedication towards completion of a project. Mukhtar Sahib's collaboration with him on the publication of 'Karbal Katha' brought them even closer. A compilation of the hundreds of letters that they exchanged was done by Ali Jawad Zaidi and Mukhtar Sahib himself wrote about Malik Ram endearingly in 'Naqoosh, Lahore Shaqsiat Number’. In this article Mukhtar Sahib describes his sense of utter disbelief and awe on learning during a visit to Malik Ram's house that except for his eldest daughter Usha, his other three children had Muslim names; Bushra, Aftab and Salman. Malik Sahib sensed Mukhtar Sahib's astonishment and explained to him the origin of these names. They had one daughter Usha and when the second was born, the parents were told by a friend that if the newborn was named Bushra in a spirit of utmost sincerity, the next child would be a boy. Malik Ram Sahib’s mother was puzzled on hearing the name Bushra and asked her son if this wasn't a Muslim name to which he retorted that she also had given him a Muslim name i.e. Malik. Equally struck with disbelief was King Saud of Saudia Arabia who visited Bushra's school during a state visit to India and when she, as the student chosen to welcome him did so in impeccable Arabic. His sense of bewilderment and pleasure was heightened when he learned that Bushra was a Hindu. In 1987, Malik Ram organized a committee named 'Majlis-e-Nazr-e-Mukhtar' comprising of a number of the most distinguished educators and scholars of India and compiled a book 'Nazre-Mukhtar' which appeared in 1988. This book included an exhaustive and through article titled "Zikr-e-Mukhtar' written by Malik Ram which discussed every aspect of Mukhtar Sahib's life including his birth and his family.
During the early period of his academic life, Mukhtar Sahib used to compose poetry also under the 'Takhallus' Arzoo which he later dropped and relinquished the pursuit of poetry, but he is still known by the name Mukhtar Uddin Arzoo Sahib in Aligarh. In his article, Malik Ram Sahib has included samples of Mukhtar Sahib's poetry. Perhaps the reason that he didn't pursue this line of intellectual activity was that he wanted to be at least comparable in stature to Josh and Firaq and didn't want to be known as a mediocre poet.
Mukhtar Sahib is one of a select group of scholars, such as Dr. Nazir Ahmad, former Chairman, Department of Urdu, AMU, Dr. Abdul Sattar Siddiqi and Dr. Nisar Ahmad Farooqi whose primary field was not Urdu but who established a prestigious name for themselves in the field of Urdu research. During his student days, Mukhtar Sahib served as the Editor of the Ghalib number of the Aligarh Magazine, which was very well received and to this day is considered to be an important contribution in the field of ‘Ghalibiat’. Material published in the Ghalib number was later published as two books, 'Ahwal-e-Ghalib and ‘Naqd-e-Ghalib’ with addition of many other articles and revision of the old ones. Beside the discovery of Karbal Katha, already mentioned, and many other original Urdu manuscripts in various libraries of Europe and England, he is best known for his critical and logical analysis and appreciation of the great poetry of Ghalib. This has made him one of the outstanding international authorities on Ghalibiat.
Upon his return from abroad, Mukhtar Sahib became a Reader in the Department of Islamic studies and Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies in 1958. He became a Professor and Chairman, Department of Arabic in 1968, and Dean, Faculty of Arts in 1975. On 10th April 1998, Prof. Mukhtar Uddin Ahmad was appointed as the Founding Vice-Chancellor of Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic & Persian University in Patna.
During the last sixty plus years, Prof. Mukhtar Uddin has written innumerable books, research papers and made other scholarly contributions. Many academicians claim to write a few books and some odd number of research papers in their lifetime. In the case of Professor Mukhtar Uddin Sahib’s research output, a mere listing and indexing of all his contributions, including articles, edited books and original research papers, forms a book by itself, called ‘Mukhtar Nama’ compiled by Dr. Ata Khursheed and Meher Illahi Nadeem and published in 2002. It is quite amazing to see how he could have accomplished so much and how he still remains engaged in doing research and in pursuit of scholarly activities at his age. Among his major works/books in Urdu are: Karbal Katha, Khutoot-e-Akbar Allahabadi, Sair-e-Dehli, Tazkarah Azurdah, Tazkarah Gulshan-e-Hind Haideri, Tazkarah Shoara-e-Farrukhabad, Diwaan-e-Huzoor Azeemabadi, Ahwaal-e-Ghalib and Naqad-e-Ghalib. Edited: Zakir Sahib Ke Khat, Vol. III. This listing of his contributions is illustrative and not exhaustive by any means. Besides having published a large number of papers, he edited the Journal of Islamic Studies ‘MAJALLAT AL-MAJMA AL-ILMI AL-HINDI. He was a member of the Editorial Board: Ma'arif: Monthly Journal of Darul Musannefin, Shibli Academy
During his lifetime Mukhtar Sahib has received many honors and awards. He received the Meer Award from Meer Academy, Lucknow in 1965, the Certificate of Honor from President of India, Ghalib Award in 1983, and was presented a commemorative volume ‘Nazr-e-Mukhtar edited by Dr Malik Ram in recognition of his literary and educational services on his 64th birth anniversary in 1988, as already referred to above, and was awarded the Imam Ahmad Raza Award in 2001. In 2005, the Ghalib Institute organized a function honoring him for his contributions to the literary world. His selection for receiving this year’s ‘Sir Syed Day Life Time Achievement Award’ from the Aligarh Alumni Association of New York Tristate is another befitting tribute to him.
Mukhtar Sahib is a great letter writer. He receives a lot of correspondence and promptly replies all letters as a matter of duty. All letters are earmarked on receipt and kept chronologically in separate large envelopes with dates when the replies were sent noted. The letters cover a wide range, from being personal, to containing questions about literary matters. His accumulated correspondence with many literary experts in Arabic and Urdu of the subcontinent, the Middle East and the rest of the World could constitute several books. He also writes his diary regularly. In fact, it is really impossible to take account of the prodigious amount of work that he has done in any detail.
I have known Prof. Mukhtar Uddin for the last 60 years but he did not know me. He is senior to me by seven years in age but only by four years in terms of Aligarian seniority; he came to Aligarh in 1943 and I joined this institution in 1947. He resided in Sir Syed Hall and I in the Viqarul Mulk Hall. He belonged to the Faculty of Arts and I belonged to the Science Faculty. As a matter of fact, we were poles apart in terms of Aligarh topography. I lived in the north and he in the south of the campus. However, even as a student, he had shown great spark of academic and intellectual seriousness of purpose and single-minded devotion to his academic pursuits. As already mentioned, the editorship of Aligarh Magazine’s Ghalib Number was one of his earliest academic accomplishments while he was still a graduate student. I came to know of him through that magazine, which has remained one of the best documents published under the banner of the university as far as its editorship as well as its literary contents are concerned. It remains to this day a monumental work of literature, especially on the great poet, Ghalib. Right from the beginning, one could see that with the passage of time Prof. Mukhtar Uddin was destined to reach great heights of academic excellence in the areas of his chosen research. Although he married very young at the age of 21, when he was a student of Intermediate, undeterred by opposition from various relatives who feared that he would not be able to concentrate seriously on his education, his dedication to scholarship continued unabated.
I had seen Prof. Mukhtar Uddin on the campus and had heard about him and his academic achievements and the respect in which he was held as one of the best intellectuals and able professors of the AMU. I also knew that his personal library held more than eighteen thousand books, journals, original manuscripts and hundreds of letters written by famous men of literature. My love for Urdu books was more than enough reason to visit his library but there was no occasion to meet him. After my retirement, I was free to pursue my love of Urdu and wanted to meet Prof. Mukhtar Uddin. Ibne Sina academy provided a few but rare opportunities of meeting famous people at some of its regular meetings. Still I was in awe of Prof. Mukhtar Uddin and did not know how to pay a visit to his house and meet this great man at a personal level.
By this time, I had published my autobiography, ‘Main Kiya Meri Hayat Kiya.’ Prof. Mukhtar Uddin had also read it and thus he had become familiar with the name of an obscure novice dabbling in Urdu writing, who happened to be a science student and a teacher. I had heard that he had a very famous book - a dewan of Ghalib called Nuskha-e-Khawaja, edited and published by Prof. Syed Moeen Ur Rehman of the GC University of Lahore. I was very keen to see that book, and Taqreeb kuch tu behr-e-mulaqaat chahiye, I used this as a ruse to visit Prof. Mukhtar Uddin.
Meeting Prof. Mukhtar Uddin was a delightful experience for me. I found him to be very kind and courteous. He received me with great love and affection and willingly showed me the book I wanted to see and even lent it to me to take it home and see it at leisure. I was deeply moved by his generosity and his faith in me that I would take care of his precious and rare book, though it was our first meeting. This was the beginning of our relationship, which has developed into a very close association over the last 3-4 years. His good nature and will to help his students, fellow faculty members, and friends is rather remarkable. Once I suggested to Prof. Mukhtar Uddin to make a note of the books that he lends to people so easily and willingly. He replied. ‘Giving and lending books to people is my duty, to return them is the duty of the persons who borrow my books.’ I hope no body breaches his faith and confidence in human nature.
In the last few years of my association with Prof. Mukhtar Uddin, I have found him to be a man of great intellectual and academic virtues without any signs of arrogance pertaining to his immense intellectual achievements or his exalted place and standing in the academic and literary world of Arabic, Urdu and Persian literature. He is very soft-spoken, listens more than he talks and shows great interest in whatever one has to say and never imposes his will on anyone. When I talk of science and biology to him, he pays the utmost attention and would ask any question that comes to his mind. I have found him to be a very simple, benevolent and affectionate person with immense interest in his work and reading new books. He devotes most of his time, sometimes in excess of 12-16 hours a day to his reading and writing and if he lays his hands on some very interesting book, he may remain awake the whole night to finish it. Once he was staying with a friend who put him up in his guest room/library. Mukhtar Sahib found the library well stocked and when he saw a book that he hadn’t read, he picked it up and kept on reading till he heard a call from downstairs ‘Doctor Sahib Nashta tayyar hai, tashreef lay aaiye’. He did not realize that he had continued reading all night and it was breakfast time. The book contained only 600 pages!!!
Though very soft spoken and a quiet person, he has a great sense of humor that comes out particularly in his Urdu essays, his diaries and travelogues which have been published from time to time in various Urdu periodicals in the sixties and seventies. Many anecdotes of his student days at Aligarh are included in such writings. His Urdu writing style is simple, unencumbered by verbosity or usage of difficult words and hardly a word seems to be redundant or unnecessary.
Mukhtar Sahib has been witness to an era of great turbulence and upheaval which saw the independence of the country as well as its partition. Throughout all the ups and down of political as well as other changes that altered the entire face of life at Aligarh compared to what it used to be when he joined the university as a young student in 1943, Mukhtar Sahib has steadfastedly remained loyal to Aligarh and has never entertained the idea of moving to greener pastures although he could have any lucrative job anywhere in the world just for asking and did indeed receive unsolicited offers of highly paid position at the University of Punjab, Pakistan, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Calcutta University. The changes that took place in the intellectual environment of the university particularly in the areas of literature and poetry due to the rise and fall of the Progressive Writer’s Movement in particular, the decline in the standards of education and in personal behaviors of students and faculty alike, deserve to be chronicled in the context of the life and times of a famous Aligarian like Mukhtar Sahib. Although he has written numerous articles from a first person perspective such as Mukhtar Uddin Arzoo - Khud Nawisht, Meray Bachpan Ka Azeemabad, Aligarh Kay Shub-o-Rooz, Yadoon Kay Chirag, Tulabai Aligarh Dayar-e Farang Main, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan etc, there are not compiled in the form of a unified autobiographical compilation and published as a book. One sincerely hopes that he will write his autobiography in his inimitable style of subtle humor which will encapsulate the vast panorama of his eventful life against the backdrop of one of the most ‘PurAashaub’ era of our university.
Professor Ahmad’s life to date can be summed up in one line of a couplet of Allama Iqbal:
Narm dum-e-Guftagoo, Garm Dum-e-Justujoo
REFERENCES:
1. Nazr-e- Mukhtare, compiled by Malik Ram, Majlis-e-Nazr-e-Mukhtar, New Delhi (1988)
2. Mukhtar-Nama compiled by Atta Khursheed and Mehr Elahi Nadeem, Aligarh Heritage Publications, Aligarh (2002)
3. Professor Mukhtar Uddin Ahmad, Muhaqqiq aur Danishwar, compiled by Shahid Mahli, Ghalib Institute, New Delhi (2005)
