اردو میں دینی ادب (انیسویں صدی کے نِصف اوّل میں)

Abstract

Religious texts played a significant role in the advancement of Urdu prose during the early period of Urdu literature. In the late seventeenth century, some religious books were written or translated from Arabic and Persian, albeit with limited scope and circulation. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, however, this practice gradually increased. Some important factors contributed to this growth. Firstly, the social, moral and religious milieu of the sub-continent experienced deterioration. Secondly, the introduction of the modern printing press paved way for the publication of books in large numbers. Thirdly, Christian missionaries propagated their religious views to convert the locals. All these factors provoked different scholars to massively compose religious books in Urdu. These scholars focused on the themes like Qur’ānic exegesis, translation of the Holy Prophet’s traditions, amelioration of social life, and rebuttal of the Missionaries’ arguments. This article reviews and evaluates the religious prose of the first half of the nineteenth century in the said context.