Syed Abbas Rizvi and S. Khasim T. Rizvi interview

This interview with Syed Abbas Rizvi and S. Khasim T. Rizvi, authors of Shattered: The Sectarian Divide and Start of the Feminist Revolution in Islam, was first published in June 2009.

Where were you born and raised?

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S. Khasim T. Rizvi Khasim: I was born and raised in dear Chicago, near Park Ridge, Illinois, and I’ve spent all my life here, aside from a brief stint in Boston, MA for high-school.

Syed Rizvi: I was born and raised in Hyderabad, India. I came to the USA at the age of 23, completed my MS in chemistry from the US and worked as a Director, Manager, and Research Scientist with US pharmaceutical and health care industries for more than 30 years.

What was it that first got you into writing?

Text Box:

Syed Abbas Rizvi Khasim: I first started writing all the way back when I was in 2nd grade, making short story after short story first for school, then for the sake of writing. Writing was incredibly fun for me, and my key motivation was to take the largest fears, the most vivid and frightening dreams, and the largest problems I faced and translate them into a short story. It was almost therapeutic, and as I received good comments from teachers and my parents, I continued from that age on to continually attempt to make my writing better and develop my own personal style.

Syed Rizvi: I have been interested from my early junior high school years. My interests were both in fiction as well as in world history and events relating to human rights. I was always focused on writing against repressive regimes connected to suppression and the killing of the weak and helpless minorities. My first article was published in a college magazine which gave me the courage to pursue writing and express my views on various subjects of my interest. I have also written articles and reports in the area of polymer engineering and polymer physics. I have several patents in my name for the development of novel devices in micro surface analysis of bio and synthetic polymers for biocompatibility.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Khasim: My largest influence in writing would be my personal favorite author and the only writer who’s work I’ve read multiple times: Philip Roth. His finesse, style, and character development were always a dream of mine to achieve, albeit in conjunction with my own personal writing style. The other writers who also greatly influenced my writing would be Jerzy Kosinski (The Painted Bird was an all-time favorite), Marquis De Sade for his surrealist vision and intense story creation, and William Golding (I grew up continually applying themes from the novel Lord of the Flies to my writing, and they drove a large part of the way I viewed society).

Syed Rizvi: Joseph Conrad, Bertrand Russell, John Steinbeck, Oliver Goldsmith, Sheridan, Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw, Tolstoy, Emile Bronte, Kafka, Edward Said, Bernard Lewis and many others.

What kind of things do you write?

Khasim: I have always written fiction short stories, so Shattered was a large detour for me from the norm. I attempted to continuously create the atmosphere of a fiction with imagery and tone in this book, while continuing to maintain its research-oriented integrity.

Syed Rizvi: I enjoy addressing current issues relating to human values and rights. I am passionate about writing on injustices, human sufferings, pain, and the persecution and torture inflicted by oppressive and tyrannical regimes.

What are you working on now?

Khasim: As of now, I have a few projects that I have brain-stormed on as well as begun to create storylines for. Hopefully soon, I’ll have a more definitive answer to that question.

Syed Rizvi: I am currently involved in several projects that focus on obscure yet incredibly horrific tragedies which I feel need to be presented before the world.

What is your writing day like?

Khasim: As much as I would love to say writing dominates my day, most of my day is spent with school, or work. What little time I have aside from those, I try to squeeze in a maximum for creating new ideas and building new short stories.

Syed Rizvi: Usually I am involved in research relating to the projects I am working on to enable me to have all the tools necessary to bring them to completion. This requires a lot of reading and gathering of information crucial for analysis and the formulation of strategies to express my views effectively.

What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?

Khasim: As far as non-fiction goes, it would have to be the immense challenge of writing a plethora of information consolidated into a book, while also attempting to maintain an engrossing storyline. For my norm of short story writing though, I would have to say the most exciting aspect is translating the wildest aspects of my thoughts, social commentaries, and views into a truly creative work. Nothing is more exciting then the realization that through the art of storytelling, you have completely delivered the intended view you started with without losing the subtle power of a short-story.

Syed Rizvi: The most exciting moment would be when I am able to express a scene or an event that reflects the depth and breadth of the emotional components associated with it that touch the mind and heart of the reader.

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

Khasim: As far as non-fiction writing goes, the most frustrating part would have to be constructing the realities of history or fact without being able to creatively construct what you view to be a better version of them that you can create in your mind. For fiction, the most frustrating aspect would be writing a storyline where once you’re deep in the middle of it, you realize that you’ve lost track of the point of the story altogether. With me, that means a completely scrapped work.

Syed Rizvi: The difficulties in conveying the message or in describing events and scenes in a dramatic manner can be incredibly daunting. The most challenging task, however, is to reach an audience of different nationalities, ethnicities, beliefs and religions, and expanding readability as much as I can.

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

Khasim: Shattered deals with a slew of controversial topics and argues them with an immense amount of information and history. Suffice it to say, delivering information and history had not yet been a forte of mine. Thus, when someone commented to me that the book was extremely engrossing and informative, and changed their views through logic, I was ecstatic to know that the combined views and writing styles of my father and I had created a book that could deliver the best of both worlds: creative writing, and non-fiction.

Syed Rizvi: Shattered: The Sectarian Divide and Start of the Feminist Revolution in Islam has drawn attention of both Muslims and Non-Muslims about the importance of women’s rights in Islam. A lot of readers have sent me positive feedback for presenting one of the most crucial events in the history of Islam that clearly demonstrates that Islam provided respect with guaranties to women’s rights that no other religion had at that time. I have also received extremely helpful feedback for addressing some of the common misconceptions on Islam. Some of the controversial issues addressed in this book have created ripples among the groups that have been misinformed.

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

Khasim: I’ve always felt that unless you feel that the completed work you have before you doesn’t have your mind, with all its nuances, scrawled across it, you’re not finished. This view has always been a guiding light for me and has lead me away from what I feel is the anti-creative force that wrecks the most able writers: catering to an audience.

Syed Rizvi: My goal is to reach out to the public in general.

Do you have a homepage? Do you have short stories or poems published online?

Syed Rizvi: My homepage is http://shatteredbook.wordpress.com. I do not have any short stories or poems available for publishing at this time.

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