the quarterly literary magazine isbat was published from mira road, mumbai, with ashar najmi as its chief editor. the first issue of isbat appeared from june to august 2008, priced at ₹50 per copy. the owner, publisher, and printer of the magazine were syed amjad hussain, later succeeded by shahab allahabadi, after which ashar najmi began publishing the magazine independently. the magazine's slogan was "a reflection of positive and universal literary values," and it was dedicated to the memory of jameela farooqi (wife of shamsur rahman faruqi). within a short period, isbat established itself as a distinguished literary journal, known for both its content and controversies. initially, each issue contained about 250 pages, which expanded into voluminous editions for special issues. the general structure of the magazine included: an editorial, articles, ghazals, international literary works under the "special studies" section, poems, short stories, intellectual critiques, classic selections under "rare works," and reader impressions. in 2013, due to ashar najmi’s health issues, the magazine ceased publication but was revived in 2018. with its quality and presentation, isbat soon became the first urdu magazine to be published simultaneously from both india and pakistan. the magazine featured several special issues, including: obscenity and erotic writing issue centennial personalities: manto & meeraji centennial personality: faiz ahmed faiz plagiarism issue revival of religion unity, disintegration, and conflict world prose literature, etc. isbat was embroiled in controversies from the beginning. due to its bold and candid content, it was both appreciated and criticized. it was rumored that shamsur rahman faruqi wrote its editorials due to his support for the magazine. some also speculated that it was dedicated to jameela farooqi to gain faruqi’s favor. particularly, the publication of the obscenity and erotic writing issue led to its removal from the list of family-friendly magazines. similarly, the plagiarism issue sparked a major controversy as it boldly scrutinized literary figures accused of plagiarism. the magazine maintained a balanced approach by accommodating both classical literature and new experimental works. it meticulously published translations of international literary pieces and revived classical urdu literature. it also paved the way for discussions on various literary aspects and encouraged counterarguments. these qualities contributed to the magazine's popularity.