Writings Of Nemrah Ahmed

"What Nemrah Ahmed Said About Her Stories/Novels ?"

Namal:

"Namal" is an Arabic word that means "ants". Its a plural of Namlah. Its the name of a Chapter in Qur'an. You will understand the sense I used it in once you read it so let the secrets remain secrets :)

Namal and its characters are different from any of my past work. You have read my mysteries before, but, for once, I wanted to write a non-mystery. So Namal is a pure melodrama. For me, its my best work ever. :) I know that it will be judged on the basis of my last work. I can even hear groans and moans of "its not like Jannat Kay Pattay", but I want you to really understand the fact that it cannot be like JKP. Just like when JKP's first episode was published, I heard complaints that it was not like Mushaf. And when Mushaf's first part was published, it was not like KKTM either.(Readers forget, writers never do!) A lot of my cute readers keep asking me to write again characters like Jihan and Haya. But I tried my best to make every character of Namal different from previous ones. Anyways, first episodes are pilot episodes and pilot episodes are an introduction of the kind of people you are going to spend some time with! :) So read it without any prejudice and I am confident that you'll like it.

Jannat Kay Pattay:

In the recent years, when we are seeing much religion-related stuff in print and electronic media, whenever a protagonist is portrayed with strokes of Deen, writer is most of the times (not always) hung between story and religion, and as a result, one or more aspects of religious sanctions are ignored. Forget the others, even my previous heroines were not the perfect Islamic girls, and no one can be perfect. We are portraying humans, not angels, and we are portraying Pakistani girls and if they are not perfect, we have to write about imperfect ones. Or else people cannot relate to them. But there are some girls, (some because they are very few in millions), who at least try to adopt Hijaab completely. Not in parts. Not in bits and pieces. But as a whole. They will wear it with every non-mehram, even try their best on their wedding, and other functions to cover themselves up. And then these girls have their stories. Happy stories. And painful stories. If a girl does not wear the Shariah Niqaab, she has no idea, ABSOLUTELY no idea, what a Niqaabi girl goes through. The pain, the suffering, the endurance of hers is above the level of understanding of a ‘’normal’’ girl. Just like a non-doctor cannot understand the troubles of a medical student, non-hijaabis can never understand those of hijaabi girls. For once, I wanted to write a completely Niqaabi girl’s story. Something every hijaabi girl can relate with. And JKP  was not about Haya only. It was about Ayeshe too (A non-niqaabi, only-hijaabi girl), about DJ too (a non-hijaabi, non-niqaabi girl) and the message I tried to convey is that its about time Hijaabi girls should stop taking non-hijaabi ones as Kaafir, idiots and bad girls, and non-hijaabi girls should start showing some respect for the hijaab. It’s all about mutual understanding. If being a Hijaabi, you don’t ‘understand’ a non-Hjaabi, then how can you expect her to understand your life? This mutual tolerance can only help us become a better Muslim and a better human being. A message I always give: do  not judge people, you have not lived their life!

And then, I wanted to sketch Hijaab as a very beautiful thing to adopt in life. I know how writers are blessed with the ability to make people fall in love with the profession they portray. If readers can wish to become climbers after reading a mountaineering novel, why not give them a better direction? Something more sacred and precious. Like Qur’an and Islamic values. Hmm…why not?

Mus'haf:

Mainly, Mus'haf was about two girls. One grew up with Deen and Ilm, other acquired it later in life. With due course of time, they both did  prove themselves to be devoted, religious and God-fearing Muslimahs. Because the story was narrated from Mehmil's point of view, revealing her  inner-most reflections only, she did not look quite religious to readers as compared to Farishteh, even though the former after one zamanay ki thokar moulded itself quite quickly and kept reforming herself. Once, she was touched by Pride of Knowledge but soon she realized her mistake and returned.

Mus'haf was not about how a religious girl turns out to be a culprit, as misunderstood by many. It was about how two religious, piuos, God-fearing girls  when made to enter a new door of life react exactly opposite to each other. One went for Humayun, other for Allah. Though they both loved the two, each went for the one she loved more. It was just a matter of how much they really loved their beloved.

Guman, or mistakenly named as "Wo Mera Hay" by substitue Editor at Khawateen Digest in the days when the Head Editor was on Hajj leave, (a mistake they are really sorry for), was a first ever comic penned down by me that left my entire readership in utter disbelief. Comic was the last thing you expected from me, I know :) But I had very solid grounds for a comic, how childish it turns out to be I did not worry for. It was result of a very sincere advice from my Editor at Khawateen Digest for which I am thankful to her.

After six months of a somewhat trajic, complicated islamic fiction, I was building grounds for the Path that I have chosen for my pen. When I write, I desire to be read and I desire to be read by every soul that knows how to make alphabets into words. I don't want only a mature/islamic oriented readership to follow my write-ups. I want every subscriber of the popular fiction digests to read them. Like it or not is their choice. I just don't want anyone to see my name in the contents, shake his/her head in dismay and blurt out, "Another lecture!!!...lets skip her and jump to some entertainment". My dear readers, I do not wish to be skipped, and skipped would I be if a monotonous image of mine is formed. Balance is the beauty of universe. Monotony bores everyone. That's the reason I try to write on variety. I succeed or not is the readers' decision. Now if the comic was bad, or the end was hastily done (regrettably, Guman's last two scenes were badly edited and the actual final scene was deleted for some reason I still fail to understand), or the style was poor, or jokes were not upto the mark, those are solely my own shortcomings; I admit them, I accept them, and I promise to improve them.

Hadd... Another short story published in Pakeeza Digest which arose many doubts in the minds of my readers, critics and even page admins :)))) They suspected me for either having a conflict with Idara Khawateen Digest or that I have demanded a higher royalty or anything similiar. Why I have started writing in Pakeeza and why I have left writing in Khawateen/Shuaa was the frequently asked question in previous weeks.

Khawateen Digest is maadr-e-ilmi  for me; my sole institue of Urdu Language, my teacher and guide always. It would hurt even to think of quitting my writing career from KD, let alone acting upon it. Let me asseverate it very precisely; Nemrah Ahmed is part of Khawateen Digest Publications and has NOT quit writing for them :) Relax! :)

Why I wrote for Pakeeza, then? Well, a lot of writers are writing for both digests, I just tried to experience a similar venture. KD's regular readership may not like Pakeeza, but the latter possesses a readership, though smaller in number than the former, but it does have one! Being a writer, I would want my readership to increase and since I have no plans for TV writing, I felt no harm in trying for another digest amid of working on an episodic for Shuaa. I hope I have elucidated myself enough :)

Coming to Hadd, what took me completely off the guard was to find many readers waiting for its "next episode" :) Must have been my own fault then. I should've been more explicit. I apologize for that. Besides, it arose some querries and doubts which I feel necessary to address.

Firstly, why such a cruel punishment is given to a person who has merely uttered a single word? That's what I tried to show in Hadd; reader may not like the story, its okay, but i want them to remember all their lives that this is how one single word can push a happy family in sheer destruction. Such allegations break homes and destroy trust. They contaminate the relations. A woman can call for a court or not is not a question, for when men make the wrong choices, a woman has to step in.

Another question, what if the girl was right?

According to our Shariah, if she couldn't bring four witnesses, she would be lashed whether she was right or wrong. Cruel? Well, if she is accepted as "right", the hence-proved guilty party would be lashed more severely or stoned till death. More cruel? That's the reason Islam has kept a very hard punishment for this, because it does not want people to be punished. You can never find four witnesses, even if you are right. Had the girl considered the consequences that may follow, she wouldn't have opened her tongue on the matter. That's why the conditions are strict. Don't open your tongue against anybody unless you have four witnesses. Thats what I wanted my readers to remember. Never utter words that can destroy someone's Duniya and your Aakhirah.

Lastly, Ahmaq Tamashai... It was the shortest story I have ever written. Idea was simple. Many of us daily overhear incomplete talks from beyond the neghbours' walls, and unintentionally we do so. Most of us form a complete story out of such incomplete words. We just hear and hear and hear, and never bother to see what lies beyond our self-created story. Half of inter-colony wars originate from such events, no? :) The gist of the story lay in its name. Lets mind our own business and lets stop creating tales about other people's lives. You may never know enough :) It can only be a kid rehearsing for a puppet show.

-Nemrah Ahmed

Nemrah Ahmed's Novels are as follows:

- Mere Khuab Mere Jugnu - 2007

- Pahari Ka Qaidi - 2008

- Mehrunnisa - 2008

- Saans Sakin Thi - 2008

- Qaraqaram Ka Taj Mehal - 2009

- Beli Rajputan Ki Malika - 2010

- Mus'haf - 2011

- Jannat Kay Pattay - 2013

- Namal - 2014

- Haalim 2017

Short Stories :
- Hudd - 2012

-Ahmaq Tamasha 2012

- Gumaan or Woh mera hai - 2011

- Iblees - 2012

- Apni Ungli 2013

Other Books :
Husn-e-Anjam

Husn E Anjaam Is a booklet that contains true stories of some people's last dying moments. Why do some people recite kalimah before dying, we compiled some events and tried to shed some light on their lives.