Ishtiaq Ahmad (or Ishtiaq Ahmed or اﺸﺘﻴﺎﻖ اﺤﻤﺩ in Urdu), is primarily a fiction writer from Lahore, Pakistan, (originally from Jhang, Pakistan) famous for his spy, detective novels in Urdu language, and is the author of the highest number of novels (his 773 rd novel is published by Atlantis Publications in Apr'2011) by any author in any language throughout the world.[citation needed] He started by writing short stories for kids and then he wrote his first novel in 1973. He was on his peak of popularity in 70s to 90s due to his Inspector Jamshed series, Inspector Kamran Mirza series, and Shoki series. He is currently an editor of the magazine, "[Bachon ka islam] " and writing novels under "Atlantis Publications , karachi- Pakistan".
Ishtiaq Ahmed has authored hundreds of suspense thriller novels in Urdu for kids till now (773 till Apr'2011 and still he is writing continuously). His books were published at a very fast rate. His detective teams included Inspector Jamshed, Inspector Kamran as well as the Shoki brothers. It was the Inspector Jamshed team (and the series built around their escapades to protect Pakistan in general and the Muslim Nation in particular) that captured the imagination of several generations in Pakistan. The series featured a detective, Inspector Jamshed Ahmed, who solved crimes with the help of his three children, Mehmood, Farooq & Farzana. Inspector Jamshed was married, with his wife referred to as the children's mother or simply Mrs. Jamshed (Begum in Urdu). In his detective work, he had not only his children to help, but also a retired army officer, Khan Rehman (who was very rich),Professor Dawood, a brilliant scientist and his subordinate sub-inspector Ikraam .
Style
Ishtiaq Ahmed is a master of writing suspense thrillers aimed at adult readers. The novel always started with a Hadith, followed by "Doo Batain" (Two Words), although the order was reversed in the beginning. Depending on the size of the novel, there could be more than one Hadith, with a short comment for clarification.
The "Doo Batain" section started as a way to address the reader. It often contained news about the author, his interpretation of world events, possibly a preview regarding the story, or at times, a completely off the topic narrative. The ultimate purpose of this was to inform and entertain. Notable ones began with: "Doo Batain: Batain to shoro ker chuka, ab aagay kiya khaak likhoon ga?" ("My Two Cents Worth: worth what?").
[edit] Themes
The main theme of the novels revolved around a detective family, solving cases without having any commercial stakes in the matters. As time moved forward the themes became more religious and were aimed at providing basic level islamic teachings to young adults. The novels carried an underlying theme of faith in ALLAH and the humility of the characters and their firm beliefs.
The enemies ranged from ordinary criminals to highly sophisticated and trained agents who possessed extra ordinary powers. The novels often started with the family conversations and many ended as epic adventures. The situations were different however an underlying theme of the battle between good and bad always continued.
Social corporate Responsibility:
The novels were aimed at young minds, at teaching core values to their immature thought processes. Not only was he is a good writer and living legend of Pakistan, he also tried to instill these values in the young Pakistani nation. All the events that took place in his books were assumed to be fictional but there was a strong affiliation with the real happenings of his times. He took the mental of spreading the ideas of a collective nation for the people of Pakistan at the time when the government was unable to do so.
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