Shaheen: The Literature Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in memory of Syed Qutubuddin Ahmad (1930 - 2018) born at Hamzpur, Sherghati, District Gaya, Bihar. He was the first post graduate of his native place and secured a Master’s Degree in Urdu Literature from Magadh University, Bodhgaya in the year 1962. He began his career as a teacher of a middle school but soon then under financial pressure of his, he joined Gaya Municipality as Professional Tax Inspector and later on, became the In-charge of Professional Tax Department of Gaya Municipal Corporation.

He was always been inclined towards literature and started writing poetry, short stories, novels and essays first under the pen name of Huma and then Shaheen Hamzapuri. He even got published a few times in noted Urdu literary magazines like Aaj Kal, Parwaz e Adab, Palika Samachar, Tameer, Zaban o Adab, Sohail etc… A collection of his essays titled Afkaar e Shaheen was published by Bihar Urdu Academy, Patna. In the late eighties of the previous century when he was getting recognition among the literary circle of Bihar a change of heart came in and he shifted himself in taking interest in religious activities and Sufism. This change led to a complete but unnatural withdrawal from literature and creativity    

Nahīñ terā nasheman qasr-e-sultānī ke gumbad par

tū shāhīñ hai baserā kar pahāḌoñ kī chaTānoñ meñ

Thy adobe is not on the dome of a royal palace,

You are a royal peregrine falcon and you should live on the rocks of mountains.

Being devoutly inspired by Allama Iqbal he took his pen name, Shāhīñ, from the strongly meaningful yet enigmatic symbol of Iqbal’s poetry.  The word means a peregrine falcon or royal white falcon, which is a respected falconry bird. And hence the foundation takes its name from these two inspirational sources.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

The objective of the foundation is to promote literature among the youth, to ignite the passion of reading and understanding literature and to attract the youth towards the art of creative writing. The mother tongue we speak in, i.e. Urdu is so very important for the existence of our culture and traditions. So, the second objective of ours is to widely spread the language and its literature and to remain faithful to the cosmopolitan composite culture and the Ganga-Jamuni Tahzeeb of India of which Urdu is certainly a great player. The foundation also will work passionately to express the beauty of Urdu language to those who are not exposed to it.

Apart from Urdu the activities of the foundation will also be in English, Hindi, the scheduled languages and the tribal languages of India.

We ensure that the foundation in future will host certain offline and online activities/events such as literary meets, deliberation and discussion sessions on literature, seminars, workshops,  literary competitions among students, debate, publication of journals, literary interactions etc. for the writers, students of literature and literature-enthusiasts who will be linked with us.

The foundation will also make certain miniscule efforts for the educational assistance and welfare of those who belong to the weaker sections of the society irrespective of religion, class or caste. However assistance to students will be limited to academics only and no financial help will be provided by the foundation.

The foundation will not only act as stand-alone organisation for its activities but also work in collaboration with like-minded institutions, organisations or individuals. 

In future efforts will be made to get the foundation registered. The immediate family members of Syed Qutubuddin Ahmad, namely his son S. M. Yahiya Ibrahim, his daughter-in-law Tarannum Jahan (Shazia), his grandson Saad Inshrah and granddaughters Sadia Sarosh and Ayesha Shibal will be the sole custodian and decision makers of the foundation at present. This status may change in future in case of future marriages, deaths or births in the family. The paternal relatives of Syed Qutubuddin Ahmad will also be associated with the foundation. However they will not interfere in any decision making exercise of the foundation.    

The foundation will have no political stakes and associations and it will not aspire for any political activity or award. But the foundation will be committed to the secular ethos and socialistic approach of the constitution of India and any disruptive, divisive activity or individual will not be accepted on different platforms of the foundation.

Presently the foundation will be headquartered at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and all its activities will be undertaken at Jamshedpur. However Hamzapur, Sherghati, District Gaya, Bihar will always be its base and a few activities may also be undertaken there. 

MEMBERSHIP & FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

 The immediate family members of Syed Qutubuddin Ahmad and their spouses and children will be the primary members of this foundation. His paternal relatives will be the associate members of the foundation.

The Executive Committee of the foundation comprises of the primary members of the foundation i.e. S. M. Yahiya Ibrahim, Tarannum Jahan Shazia, Saad Inshrah, Sadia Sarosh, Ayesha Shibal. In future some like-minded persons may also be included in the executive committee.

The foundation will invite sympathizers and likeminded people to join its cause as its members.

In near future an advisory committee will be formed taking members from our sympathizers and likeminded people.

The foundation certainly needs finance to undertake its activities hence financial assistance is welcome. We request our perspective financers and contributors to contact us either in person or through mail or phone if they intend to patronize us financially. However we would like to clarify that we do not accept religious charities and we can offer no tax exemptions. But certainly we will be committed to complete transparency and an annual balance sheet of income and expenses will surely be provided through the website of the foundation. 

We are looking forward to your support and cooperation in the activities of the foundation. Please guide us and promote us through your wide reach.

Sincerely Yours

Executive Committee Members

Shaheen: The Literature Foundation

Gaya :: Jamshedpur   

CONTACTS:

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