Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mehr

Maulana Ghulam Rasool Mehr is a Pakistani Muslim scholar and political activist from Punjab. He worked as a journalist, historian, biographer, and translator throughout his life.

Early life and education

Mehr was born on 13 April 1895 in Phoolpur, which is a village located in the Jalandhar district of British India. He attended primary school in Khambra before moving to Mission High School in Jalandhar City. After finishing his schooling, he enrolled at Islamia College in Lahore. This city left a lasting impression on him because he enjoyed its unique culture. While Delhi and Lucknow remained steeped in eastern traditions, Mehr felt that Lahore offered a blend of the East and the West due to its links to the British Raj.

Career

He became deeply involved in the political developments occurring on the Indian front. Young Mehr possessed a strong passion to serve the Muslim millat and the cause of freedom. He began his professional journey by writing for the Daily Zamindar. In Lahore, he met Shibli Nomani and Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk Kamboh. He also listened to Allama Muhammad Iqbal recite verses at an annual conference of Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam.

Mehr spent time in Hyderabad, Deccan, where he could not find a suitable job. This period provided him with a self-taught political education. During his stay in Hyderabad, he shifted his focus from poetry to prose. He started his journalism career in 1921 when he published an editorial in the Daily Zamindar. He soon joined the newspaper and participated in the Tehrik-i-Khilafat movement. He also joined Hizballah, an organisation founded by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Azad served as a major influence on Mehr, who drew inspiration from the publications in Al-Hilal.

The scholar wrote, compiled, edited, and translated over 100 books. His diverse bibliography includes Sīrat-i Imām Ibn Taymīyah, which covers the life of the Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyyah. He also produced Ghālib, a work on the Urdu poet Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. One of his notable works is Navā-yi surosh, which critic Rauf Parekh described as the most voluminous commentary on the Urdu divan of Ghalib. Other important titles include Iqbāliyāt, Tārīk̲h̲-i Sindh, and Yawmīyāt riḥlah fī al-Ḥijāz. He also wrote about Umar Hayat Khan Tavānah in his book Sar ʻUmar Ḥayāt K̲h̲ān̲ Tavānah.

Personal life

Mehr died on 16 November 1971. Toward the end of his life, he decided to record his history for future generations. He dictated his memoirs to his daughter, Muneera Alvi, and his son, Farooq Arshad Shaheen. Mohammad Hamza Farooqi later wrote the book Mehr Beeti, which was published by Al-Faisal Nashran in Lahore. Mehr once mentioned in a letter that his children wanted to learn about their family origins. This interest arose because the family migrated during the Partition of India in 1947 when they left Phoolpur.