P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Iraj Bashiri

184
joined the Communist Party, and between 1951 and 1960, contributed

to Zanoni Tajikiston and Sadoi Sharq.
Muhammadiev graduated from the Gorkii Institute of Literature in
Moscow in 1962. In the same year, he became the Editor of the satiric
journal Khorpushtak (1962-64). From 1964 to the end of his life, he
dedicated his time to the production of documentaries and to creative
writing.
Muhammadiev began his career as a simple reporter in the 1950s,
but quickly rose to the level of a credible author. His Porchai Ostin
(The Sleeve Material, 1955), as well as other works dealing with the
social and civilizational issues, were received enthusiastically. Two of
his works, Raisi Nav (The New Boss, 1955) and Muhojiron (The
Immigrants, 1956), dealing with the needs of the rank and file of the
collectives, clearly place him in the forefront of social reformers of the
decade.
In the 1970s, Muhammadiev traveled extensively to the isolated
hamlets of the republic talking to industrial workers in Norak, Roghun,
and Berghozi. "Shirai Zamin" ("The Essence of the Earth," 1981), "Oini
Muqaddas" ("The Sacred Custom," 1982), and "Savolu Javobhoi
Enajon Boimatova" ("The Questions and Answers of Ainajan
Baimatova," 1986) reflect his assessment of the industrialization
process in the former republics of the Soviet Union.
The clash between tradition and modernization also occupied some
of his time. Investigation of the complex inner aspects of life was
Muhammadiev's goal from the beginning. Maktubi Dust (The Friend's
Letter, 1958), Savdoi Umr (The Zest for Life, 1958), and Roh (The
Road, 1962) are indicative of that, as is Odamoni Kuhna (Traditional
Folks, 1963), which deals with the generation gap, bribery, and
sponging on society. The translation of Traditional Folks into Russian
included Muhammadiev among the best Soviet writers of the time.
Muhammadiev considered religion to be a historical stage in man's
development. He believes that religion can dull a person's creative
intellect and limit his worldview. Was it not Islam, he argued, at the
base of the bai-feudal system that treated women like chattel? Neither
are his characters ignorant of the tenets of the Islamic faith. In fact, it is
after a thorough examination of the said tenets that they become more
devoted to their socialist homeland and the Communist ideology.

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