Ahmed Sofa

Ahmed Sofa (আহমদ ছফা, ; 30 June 1943 – 28 July 2001) was a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, novelist, poet, philosopher and public intellectual.

Sofa is considered by many, including National Professor Abdur Razzaq and Salimullah Khan, to be the most important Bengali Muslim writer after Mir Mosharraf Hossain and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

A writer by occupation, Sofa wrote 18 non-fiction books, 8 novels, 4 collections of poems, 2 collections of short stories, and several books in other genres.

He began his writing career in the 1960s.

He moved to Dhaka in 1962 and were admitted to the Department of Bangla in the University of Dhaka.

At the University of Dhaka, he stopped attending classes after getting rebuked by Ahmed Sharif once.

In 1967, he earned a bachelor's degree as a private candidate from Brahmanbaria College.

From 1969 till his death, Sofa served many newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines as chief editor, literary editor or advisory editor.

"Rabindranather Sanskriti-Sadhana" was first published in Kanthaswar in 1969 and "Banglar Chitra Oitihya: Sultaner Sadhana" was first published in Mulabhumi in 1980.

In 1970, he earned his master's in political science from the University of Dhaka.

In 1970, he was granted a fellowship by Bangla Academy to do his PhD, under the supervision of Abdur Razzaq, on "The Growth of Middle Class in Bengal as it influenced its literature, Society and Economics from 1800 to 1858."

This led to his lifelong friendship with Abdur Razzaq though Sofa did not finish his PhD program.

In Buddhibrittir Natun Binyas (A New Mode of Intellectualism, 1972), Sofa mapped the intellectual landscape of Bangladesh, delineating general opportunistic tendencies of Bangladeshi intellectuals, their collaboration with the Establishment, and their failure to bring any real material change in postcolonial Bangladesh.

Characterized by “a freshness of language”, and "constant experimentation, and novelty" of subject matter and narration, his fictions portrayed Bangladesh with all its social, spiritual and political nuances.

Critics acclaimed his intricate characterization depicting psychological and sociocultural subtleties with realism.

Abul Fazal, and many others considered Sofa's Omkar (The Om, 1975) the best literary expression of the liberation movement of Bangladesh.

Never to be co-opted by the establishment, Sofa rejected Lekhak Shibir Award in 1975, and Sa'dat Ali Akanda Award offered by Bangla Academy in 1993.

In the eponymous essay "Bangali Musalmaner Man" first published in Monthly Samakal in 1976, Sofa explored the historical formation of Bengali Muslims' identity across the millennium.

The essay considerably changed the academic perception of Bengali Muslims' identity and the subsequent scholarship about the issue.

Upon publication, it polarized critics' opinion, some welcoming and others condemning the work.

Sofa attributed the causes of the backwardness of Bengali Muslims to the detachment of the ruling class from the mass people.

Some of his long poems include Ekti Prabeen Bater Kache Prarthana (Prayer to an Ancient Banayan Tree, 1977), and Basti Ujar (The Eviction of the Shanti Town Dwellers), etc.

Sofa and his works guided, inspired, influenced, and continue to inspire and influence many writers, filmmakers, painters, artists, and intellectuals including Humayun Ahmed, Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Tareque Masud, Farhad Mazhar, Salimullah Khan, etc. He remains one of the most powerful intellectual influences in Bangladesh through his works and legacy.

For a bohemian lifestyle, and outspoken nature, Sofa was a controversial figure during his lifetime.

He was called rebel, mad, insolent, devoid of respect for authority, and an overly uncompromising figure among the intellectuals.

Sofa's Bangali Musalmaner Man (The Mind of the Bengali Muslims, 1981) is a highly acclaimed critical survey of the formation of Bengali Muslims' identity, causes of their backwardness, their development as a community, and their intellectual progress.

Anisuzzaman and many others consider Sofa's Bangali Musalmaner Man one of the greatest non-fiction books written in the Bengali language.

Marked by "a rare brilliance of genius" and revealing insight, Sofa's non-fiction writings deals with history, sociological issues, contemporary politics, literary and cultural critiques, etc. Sofa's Bangali Musalmaner Man (The Mind of the Bengali Muslims, 1981) contains nine essays written over twelve years from 1969 to 1980.

In another essay titled "On the Issue of Bangladesh's Upper Class and a Social Revolution" (1992), Sofa made a similar point in the present context that the nexus of urban elites had zero ties with the large swathes of poor and struggling people across the country.

Gabhi Bittanta (A Tale of a Cow, 1995), a novel satirizing university teachers involved in party politics and corruption is among the best satires in Bengali literature.

These relationships were the basis of Sofa's novel, Ardhek Nari Ardhek Ishvari (Half Women Half Goddess, 1995).

Pushpa Briksa ebang Bihanga Puran (Tales of Flowers, Trees, and Birds, 1996) recounts Sofa's spiritual attachments with birds, plants and trees reflecting his profound biophilia and ecoconsciousness.

Sofa died of cardiac arrest on 28 July 2001 in a hospital in Dhaka.

He was buried in the close to the Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard.

Though Sofa never married, he had relationships with several women; among them, his relationships with Shamim Sikder and Suraya Khanam are notable.

He was awarded Ekushe Padak posthumously by the Government of Bangladesh in 2002.

Ahmed Sofa was born into a family of farmers at Gachbaria in the district of Chattogram.

His father was Hedayet Ali, and his mother, Asiya Khatun.

He was supported by his elder brother, Abdus Sobi, to carry on his work in literature.

He received his secondary and higher secondary education in Chattogram.