Husnul Muab Or Concludes... Novel Analysis by Shoby

Husnul Muab Or Concludes... Novel Analysis by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

By Al-Asr. Indeed, mankind is in loss. Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience. (Sura Al-Asr)

And I say, we the human creed is seriously in loss. Do you know why, because either many of us do not Believe and for many others in case we believe, we don't believe it wholeheartedly on embracing truth & patience, leave aside the aspect of advising it to others.

Husnu Muaab Or, a Saira Raza novel gained my attraction initially just because of its very unique title. And when I started reading the pilot episode, it instantly took me into a trance as I fastened my seat belts & got ready to read a magnum of treat in the form of this written endeavour. To me, this thirteen episodic novel is more of a spiritual endowment theory than a mere social assignment.

To give you the gist of the story, it primarily revolves around the lives of our protagonists Husnul Muab and Musa B. It is about how their fortunes unites & apart them with certain tricks & twists along while battling out with the stories of many other characters who contribute to make the mega plot. As per my habit, I obviously am not going to tell you the story, as I want you to experience the thrill by reading it yourself. :-) 

First of all let us examine the most important characters of the novel. Although it had a plethora of characters but all of them are well justified considering the canvas of the subject matter. Starting with Musa B (aka Sami Uddin), he is the heart of the story. An international signing sensation, a rockstar, heartthrob of thousands of fans, a style icon who unfortunately started the very first day of his life with a regret of having (self-confessed) worst parents and went on to live each & every day of the remaining life with the same regret. His parents have stories of their own, and although they never tried to justified how they lead their lives but indeed they were not to blamed, in the totally. After all, we as a Muslim believe that every child is born on the phenomenon of Fitrat: state of intrinsic goodness.

Lets now talk about Husnul Muaab, an enthralling combo of beauty & mind. Her brought up was of a highly respected religious family and she had the knowledge in tons of volumes but due to what we may call the rigidness of some of the family member's attitude, she got diverted from the path as she was all set to fly high with new horizons to explore. After all, who cares whats good & bad. What matters the most is the self satisfaction. Manasa Rao says, “A question that always haunts me. Why can’t people just be real? It’s easier being real than pretend being real. Give yourself a chance.”

Sheher'Zaad, an ageing celebrity who needed the support of an established artist (Musa B) to be in the game. Showbiz is said to be a fad event in celeb's lifeline and she was almost out of the game, just when Musa B entered into her life. From nowhere she grew love for Musa B out of this friendship and later on played a vamp and did every written task to separate Musa B & Husnul's pair.

Then comes another very interesting character Mehru (aka Merry), an off spring of a Muslim (by birth) father & a Muslim (converted from Christianity) mother. You noticed, I hereby unintentionally drew a line between the religious school of thought of her parents and this is the same thing which people associated closely to her have done all through her grooming days and this paradox floating around dual gods made her live a confused life which ultimately lead her to bear no religion.

I don't want to make the review more lengthy so I am just cutting of the character anatomy here, however I must mention some other important characters which were pertinent in growing up the story. Khadja, Haleema, Scarlet, Badruddin, Abdul Mubeen, Ram Nath (in a strong cameo) and this list is literally a never ending thing, however not even a single of these characters was placed by the writer in the heart of the plot to make things look exaggerated. 

Coming towards the narrative part of the story, I would give 10 on 10 to Ms. Saira for the utmost perfection in her execution. You may find no or very little loopholes in the script. She was crystal clear about the idea she conceived and she went on to project it quite impressively. The circumstances she built for the pertinent incidents in the story were truly make-belief. Although it was quite evident that Husnul's prayers (to marry Musa B) would be answered positively but I was wondering how will she manage to look it realistic on papers and let me say, she did a very commendable job in this perspective.

Saira presented in front of us diverse atmospheres in the story. From glitz & glamour of entertainment industry to the orthodox religious mentality, from a church attached Christian family to to a balance Islamic following school of thought family, she was spot on in the projection of many different envelops that wrapped up the story nicely.

It would not be false if I say that we, the humans are selfish & above all hypocritical in nature. We assume we are the best and the version of any particular entity we have is the best one available. We overlook the other party's side of the picture and being judgemental, we are always in a hurry to announce someone as doomed.

Let us confess many of us are in the pride of being righteous ones but in fact, it is not true. How can we be a true Muslim, if other Muslims (or even other creations of ALLAH) are not saved from our hands or tongues. People like Mehru & Maria have to go through a tragedy which no one else can understand. They are being stereotyped and we as a society totally disowns them. This whole episode was beautifully materialised by Saira in this novel.

Talking about my favourite scenes, I still cant get over the frame where lost Mus B is finally discovered and then abused by Ram Nath. It brought tears to my eyes literally. Specially these lines:

Us ne kaha, kaisey Muslim ho? Apney NABI (saww) ke barey mein kuch jantey nahi. Mujh se pooch lo kisis bhi devi devta ke barey mein. Tum kaisey Muslim ho. Tumhain k,uch pata hi nahi.

Woh mujh se UN (saww) ke Father (asws) or Mother (sa) ke Naam pooch raha tha. Mujhey nahi maloom they. Main un ke Bachon ke Naam bhi nahi janta tha.

Naam to tumhain bataeney parhey ge... Woh meri charpai ke gird chakar laganey laga.

"Mujhey maloom hi nahi tha. Bohat zor deney per IMAM HUSSAIN (asws) ka Naam bataya to us ne naya sawal ker diya...

Acha to WOHI HUSSAIN (asws) Jis ka tum logon ne pani band ker diya tha... Yaar kaisey log ho tum... Wesey pani kiyo band kiya tha..."

Mujhey jawab nahi aya...

This one specific scene gave me goosebumps. Hats off Saira on penning this one.

Apart from this, music concert scene where Husnul Muab noticed Musa B for the first time was also impressive. Maria's wedding with Fayaz was also a notable scene. Another scene that managed to gain my attention was the rift & fight sequence which took place at Mufti Abdul Rehman's home. When Scarlet & Samiudin goes to meet Musa B and he finally agrees to meet them was emotional at its core.

Saira's research in the subject matter was also very authentic. She properly used Ayat e Mubarka from QURAN PAK & some verses from Bible wherever she found appropriate & necessary. Her dialogues were pitch perfect and went smoothly with the characters for which they were written. One thing I must highlight here that she intentionally avoided the cheesy so-called romanticism in this novel & the dialogues, whereas she was having all the liberty to showcase this in the form of Husnul Muaab and Sheher'Zaad's characters.

The most beautiful part of this story is the way Saira depicted multiple shades of different characters. It is said that every person has more than one personality and he discovers (or presents) his face according to the need of the times. Similarly, all the pertinent characters went through a transformation and Saira was very convincing in this display of transformation. We have seen multiple shades of personalities pertaining to Husnul Muaab, Musa B, Mehru and others in the novel.

I loved the ending parts, where she ended the story with a new ray of hope, a bright light, a new beginning by telling that Husnul Muaab Or is not only the story of Husnul. In fact, Mehru completes the pending phrase. Thankfully, Saira didn't made the finale cheesy by making all love wins. If she would have shown Husnul Muab & Musa B once again united, it would have been a unrealistic & unjustified affair.

On the whole, I would rate this novel as a very good read. The author emerged as victorious in telling what she wanted to tell. Do tell me, how you found Husnul Muaab Or...

PS: Please don't forget to provide your valuable feedback in the below comments section.