Volume II, Special Issue, February 2026
Volume-II, Special Issue, February, 2026 |
Received: 24.12.2025 | Accepted: 03.01.2026 | ||
Published Online: 28.02.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.specialissue.W. | |||
আবুল বাশারের কথাসাহিত্যে মুসলিম অন্দরমহল ড. আঞ্জুমান লিপি, সহকারী অধ্যাপক, বাংলা বিভাগ, কালিয়াচক কলেজ, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
The Muslim Inner Household in the Fiction of Abul Basar Dr. Anjuman Lipi, Assistant Professor, Department of Bengali, Kaliachak College, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
In the field of Bengali fiction, Abu Bashar stands out as one of the foremost writers whose works present a comprehensive portrayal of the inner quarters of Bengali Muslim society. Centering his narratives on issues such as divorce, polygamy, child marriage, unequal marriages, and halala marriage, he courageously exposes the harsh realities of female oppression carried out under the shelter of religion within the Muslim patriarchal domestic sphere. This bold representation is undoubtedly worthy of appreciation. The women inhabiting the inner worlds of Abu Bashar’s fiction—Zahida, Madina, Rabeya, Kulsum, Shirin, Nabina, or Rajia—are ultimately compelled to disappear within the narrow and complex entanglements of society and religious law. Whether educated or uneducated, affluent or impoverished, women across all strata of the inner household in Abu Bashar’s works are subjected to inhuman suffering and relentless anguish. In the short story Simar, eleven-year-old Zahida is forced to meet the physical demands of eighteen-year-old Sukhabas and dies on the very night of her marriage. In the short story Nastik, the educated Rabeya is likewise driven into darkness due to the religious fanaticism, recklessness, atheism, and misplaced loyalty to friendship displayed by Hamidul and Mamun. On the other hand, in Ek Tukro Chithi (A Fragment of a Letter), even after offering Shirin a glimpse of an enlightened path, the author ultimately pushes her toward a terrifying fate, defeated by religion, wealth, society, politics, power, and inhuman cruelty. Akhtar Haji, a representative of a patriarchal society obsessed with polygamy, cunningly marries the beautiful and intelligent adolescent Shirin in exchange for five bighas of land and a house in the city. From that moment, all harmony and rhythm vanish from Shirin’s life. In the novel Phulbou, despite being educated, progressive, and mature, Rajia and Millat find their union obstructed by religion, society, and entrenched customs, as Millat is Rajia’s stepson. The religious decrees and interpretations of the Qur’an and Hadith offered by Akbar Maulavi, the self-proclaimed guardian of religion, overpower Riyaz, Rajia, and Millat through the authority of religious zealots. The resistant and progressive educated individuals in this novel are ultimately defeated by the rigid and uncompromising dictates of society and religion. Through these dark narratives of the Muslim inner household, Abu Bashar’s social vision leaves us profoundly speechless. | ||
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