Muhammad Ali Siddiqui (7 March 1938 – 9 Jan 2013) was a noted
newspaper columnist from Pakistan. He was also widely known by his pen name Ariel in Pakistan.[2]
Early life and career
He was born on 7 March 1938 in
Pakistan Studies in 2003 after doing his PhD in the same subject in 1992. He worked at the Pakistan Studies Center of the University of Karachi.[1][3]
Muhammad Ali Siddiqui was a member of many national and international organizations such as: Pakistan Writers Guild, Pakistan, Association Des Litteraire Critiques International, Paris, European Union of Writers and Scientists, Rome, International Association of Literary Critics (AILC), Stavanger, Norway, Majlis-i-Farough-i-Urdu Adab, Doha, Qatar.[4]
Ali Siddiqui was a prominent Urdu language critic. He was also the Dean of the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences,
Progressive Writers Association in 2013 at the time of his death.[1]
Ali Siddiqui had penned more than 100 research articles. He has 16 books to his credit, two of them Tawazun and Croce ki Sarguzasht, were adjudged as the 'Best Books of the Years' in 1976 and 1979 respectively. He used to write for the business journal Business Recorder and he wrote a column for the Dawn newspaper under the pen name Ariel for over two decades.[2][3][4]
He had delivered lectures in many overseas universities such as the School of Oriental & American Studies
"Most people think Muzaffar Ali Syed was the most learned man in Pakistan. Among the living, Muhammad Ali Siddiqui or Ariel of Dawn is undoubtedly the most learned man. He holds his own compared with the late Syed who created waves more often by being controversial. Not that Siddiqui is non-controversial. His assessments of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Allama Iqbal have been heretical but have escaped attention because his scholarship is unassailable and we generally don't like reading controversial things if they are deeply scholarly. If you can't face a critic, ignore him".
Books
Tawazun (A Book of Critical Writing) (1976)[2][1][3]
Croce Ki Sarguzasht (Translation of Bendetto Croce, Autotrigraphy) (1976)[4]
Nishanat (A Collection of Critical Writings) (1981)[2][4]
Pakistaniat(Vol.1), Edited with Dr. H.M.Jafri (1989)
