Syeda Ummehani Ashraf

Syeda Ummehani Ashraf is a senior Professor of Urdu at Women's College, Aligarh Muslim University. She is the wife of Urdu poet and critic, Syed Amin Ashraf, who was a faculty member at the Department of English at the same university. The couple belongs to the family of Hashemite Syeds of Kichaucha Shariff (known as the Ashrafi family). She is the first lady of the Ashrafi clan to earn a doctorate degree and a professorship in a university. She has set a precedence for women of her clan to aspire for higher education. She has written five books and a number of research articles and short stories.

Ummehani Ashraf was born to Syed Aale Hasan and Syeda Khatoon on 26 December 1949 at Kichaucha Sharif, District AmbedkarNagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. Ummehani Ashraf is the third child out of five siblings.

Ummehani Ashraf is married to Syed Amin Ashraf who is an Urdu Ghazal poet and critic. He earned his PhD in English Literature from Aligarh Muslim University and later served in the same Department. He has produced three poetic anthologies and a critical collection of essays in the form of a book. Several academic awards have been conferred on his poetic anthologies and numerous critical articles and books have come up extolling his poetic artistry.

Ummehani Ashraf did her primary schooling at the Village madrasa at Kichaucha Shariff. She passed High School as a private candidate in 1966. Encouraged and supported by her husband she went to obtain her B.A.(1973), M.A. (1975), and PhD (1981) degrees from Aligarh Muslim University.

Soon after completing her PhD in 1986 she was appointed Lecturer in Urdu in Women's College of her Alma Mater. From there she rose to the position of Professor of Urdu in 2002.
Books

A study of Classicism and Romanism in Urdu, Publisher Educational Book House, Shamshad Market, Aligarh

Urdu Qaseeda Nigari, Publisher Educational Book House, Shamshad Market, Aligarh

Urdu Marsia Nigari, Publisher Educational Book House, Shamshad Market, Aligarh

A sociological study of Urdu Qaseeda, Publisher Educational Book House, Shamshad Market, Aligarh

A farhang of Urdu Qaseedas as written in North India, Publisher Educational Book House, Shamshad Market, Aligarh

Published articles

A glance at the creative journey of Iqbal ( Fikro Nazar, December 2008)

Iqbal love of Prophet (Mah Noor, Delhi, January 2009)

A study of Akhtarul Iman'sa poem, Ek Larka' ( Nai Kitab, Delhi, Volume:6)

An analysis of Quratul Ain’s, ‘Kohe Damavand’ (Ats Faculty Journal, 2009)

An analysis ‘Peetal ka Ghanta’ by Q. Haidar Published in Nai Kitab, Delhi, April 2009

A study of ‘Shahre Afsoas by Intizar Husain’ published in Tadrees Nama, Delhi, July 2009

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