Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and later, following the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. Described by

Wilfred Cantwell Smith Wilfred Cantwell Smith (July 21, 1916 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian Islamicist, comparative religion scholar, and Presbyterian minister. He was the founder of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Quebec and later th ...

as "the most systematic thinker of modern Islam", his numerous works, which "covered a range of disciplines such as Qur’anic exegesis, hadith, law, philosophy and history", were written in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, Telugu, Kannada, Burmese, Malayalam and many other languages. He sought to revive Islam, and to propagate what he understood to be "true Islam". He believed that Islam was essential for politics and that it was necessary to institute '' sharia'' and preserve Islamic culture similar to reign of the Rashidun and abandon

immorality Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to ...

, from what he viewed as the evils of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

, which he understood to be the influence of Western imperialism. He was the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the then largest Islamic organisation in Asia. At the time of the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

, Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami actively worked to oppose the partition of India. After it occurred, Maududi and his followers shifted their focus to politicizing Islam and generating support for making Pakistan an

Islamic state An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. They are thought to have helped inspire General

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

to introduce " Sharization" to Pakistan, and to have been greatly strengthened by him after tens of thousands of members and sympathizers were given jobs in the judiciary and civil service during his administration. He was the first recipient of the Saudi Arabian King Faisal International Award for his service to Islam in 1979. Maududi was part of establishing and running of

Islamic University of Madinah The Islamic University of Madinah ( ar, الجامعة الإسلامية بالمدينة المنورة) was founded by the government of Saudi Arabia by a royal decree in 1961 in the Islamic holy city of Medina. Many have associated the uni ...

, Saudi Arabia. He was the second person in history whose absentee funeral was observed in the Kaaba, after King Ashama ibn-Abjar. Maududi is acclaimed by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Circle of North America,

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam ...

and other organizations.

Early life

Background

Maududi was born in the city of

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

in colonial India, then part of the princely state enclave of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

. He was the youngest of three sons of Ahmad Hasan, a lawyer by profession. His elder brother, Sayyid Abu’l Khayr Maududi (1899–1979), would later become an editor and journalist. Although his father was only middle-class, he was the descendant of the

Chishti The Chishtī Order ( fa, ''chishtī'') is a tariqa, an order or school within the mystic Sufi tradition of Sunni Islam. The Chishti Order is known for its emphasis on love, tolerance, and openness. It began with Abu Ishaq Shami in Chisht, a ...

; in fact his last name was derived from the first member of the Chishti Silsilah, i.e. Khawajah Syed Qutb ul-Din Maudood Chishti (d. 527 AH). He stated that his paternal family originally moved from Chicht, in modern-day

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, during the days of

Sikandar Lodi Sikandar Khan Lodi (died 21 November 1517), born Nizam Khan, was a Pashtun Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517. He became ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Khan Lodi in July 1489. The second and most ...

(d. 1517), initially settling in the state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

before moving to Delhi later on, and on his mother's side, his ancestor Mirza Tulak, a soldier of Turkic origin, moved into India from

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

around the times of

emperor Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

(d. 1707), while his maternal grandfather, Mirza Qurban Ali Baig Khan Salik (1816–1881), was a writer and poet in Delhi, a friend of the

Urdu poet Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghali ...

Ghalib ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Kala Mahal, Agra, Maratha Confederacy , death_date = , death_place = Gali Qasim Jaan, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Delhi, British India , occupation = Poet , language ...

Childhood

Until he was nine, Maududi "received religious nurture at the hands of his father and from a variety of teachers employed by him." As his father wanted him to become a

maulvi Mawlawi ( ar, مولوي; also spelled Maulvi, Molvi, Moulavi and Mawlvi) is an Islamic religious title given to Muslim religious scholars, or ulama, preceding their names, similar to the titles Mawlānā, Mullah, or Sheikh. Mawlawi generally ...

, this education consisted of learning Arabic,

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Islamic law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

and

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

. He also studied books of mantiq (logic). A precocious child, he translated

Qasim Amin Qasim Amin (, arz, قاسم أمين; 1 December 1863, in AlexandriaPolitical and diplomatic history of the Arab world, 1900-1967, Menahem Mansoor – April 22, 1908 in Cairo) was an Egyptian jurist, Islamic Modernist and one of the founders ...

's ''al-Marah al-jadidah'' ("The New Woman"), a modernist and feminist work, from Arabic into

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Asfar'', the major work of the 17th century

- Shi'a mystical thinker

Mulla Sadra Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā ( fa, ملا صدرا; ar, صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persian Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, the ...

. His thought would influence Mawdudi, as "Sadra's notions of rejuvenation of the temporal order, and the necessity of the reign of Islamic law (the shari'ah) for the spiritual ascension of man, found an echo in Mawdudi's works."

Education

When he was eleven, Maududi was admitted to eighth class directly in Madrasa Fawqaniyya Mashriqiyya (Oriental High School),

, founded by

Shibli Nomani Shibli Nomani ( ur, – ; 3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914) was an Islamic scholar from the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj. He was born at Bindwal in Azamgarh district of present-day Uttar Pradesh.Thomas Arnold, who also taught the same subject to

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...

) as well as

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

, like mathematics,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and chemistry. He then moved to a more traditionalist

Darul Uloom Darul uloom (), also spelled ''dar-ul-ulum'', is an Arabic term that literally means "house of knowledge". The term generally means an Islamic seminary or educational institution – similar to or often the same as a madrassa or Islamic school � ...

in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, his father shifted to

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

– there Maududi befriended Niaz Fatehpuri, another modernist – where he suffered a severe paralysis attack and died leaving no property or money, forcing his son to abort his education. In 1919, by the time he was 16, and still a modernist in mindset, he moved to Delhi and read books by his distant relative, the reformist Sayyid Ahmad Khan. He also learned English and German to study, intensively,

Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

, sociology and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

for full five years: he eventually came up to the conclusion that " ulama' in the past did not endeavour to discover the causes of Europe's rise, and he offered a long list of philosophers whose scholarship had made Europe a world power:

Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

, Hegel, Comte,

Mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

Turgot Turgot may refer to: * Turgot of Durham ( – 1115), Prior of Durham and Bishop of St Andrews * Michel-Étienne Turgot (1690–1751), mayor of Paris * Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (1727–1781), French economist and statesman * Louis Félix Étienn ...

, Adam Smith, Malthus,

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; ; 18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the princi ...

, Darwin,

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, and Herder, among others. Comparing their contribution to that of Muslims, he concluded that the latter's did not reach even 1 per cent."

Journalism

Even if he began to get seriously involved in journalism from the late 1910s onwards, writing an article on electricity for ''Ma’arif'' in 1918 at the age of 15, and being appointed editor of the leading weekly Urdu newspaper ''Taj'' of

Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

in 1920 at the age of 17, he also resumed his studies as an autodidact in 1921, notably through the influence of some members of the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind () is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari F ...

, by studying the

Dars-e-Nizami Dars-i Nizami is a study curriculum or system used in many Islamic institutions ( madrassas) and Dar Ul Ulooms, which originated in the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century and can now also be found in parts of South Africa, Canada, the United ...

and subjects such as adab (literature), mantiq (logic), and

kalam ''ʿIlm al-Kalām'' ( ar, عِلْم الكَلام, literally "science of discourse"), usually foreshortened to ''Kalām'' and sometimes called "Islamic scholastic theology" or "speculative theology", is the philosophical study of Islamic doc ...

(theology and philosophy.) Mawdudi got ijazahs (certificates and diplomas in traditional Islamic learning) but never called himself an

'alim In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

in the formal sense because he found the Islamic scholars to be regressive, even though some Deobandi influence on him would remain:

I do not have the prerogative to belong to the class of Ulema. I am a man of the middle cadre, who has imbibed something from both the systems of education, the new and the old; and has gathered my knowledge by traversing both paths. By virtue of my inner light, I conclude that neither the old school nor the new is totally in the right.

From 1924 to 1927 Maududi was the editor of ''al-Jamiah'', the newspaper of the Jamiyat-i Ulama (an organization of Islamic clergy), a position of "extreme importance and influence." Always interested in independence from the British, Maududi lost faith in the Congress Party and its Muslim allies in the 1920s as the party developed an increasingly

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

identity. He began to turn more towards Islam, and believed that Democracy could be a viable option for Muslims only if the majority of Indians were Muslim. Maududi spent some time in Delhi as a young man but went back to Hyderabad in 1928.

Political writings

Maududi's works were written and published throughout his life, including influential works from 1933 to 1941. Maududi's most well known work, and widely considered his most important and influential work, is the Tafhim-ul-Quran (Urdu: تفہيم القرآن, romanized: Towards Understanding the Qur'an), a 6-volume translation and commentary of the Qur'an by Maududi which Maududi spent many years writing (which was begun in Muharram, 1361 A.H./February 1942). In 1932 he joined another journal (''Tarjuman al-Quran'') and from 1932 to 1937 he began to develop his political ideas, and turn towards the cause of

Islamic revival Islamic revival ( ar, تجديد'' '', lit., "regeneration, renewal"; also ', "Islamic awakening") refers to a revival of the Islamic religion. The revivers are known in Islam as ''mujaddids''. Within the Islamic tradition, ''tajdid'' has bee ...

ism and Islam as an ideology, as opposed to what he called "traditional and hereditary religion". The government of Hyderabad helped support the journal buying 300 subscriptions which it donated to libraries around India. Maududi was alarmed by the decline of Muslim ruled Hyderabad, the increasing secularism and lack of

Purdah Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...

among Muslim women in Delhi. By 1937 he became in conflict with

and its support for a pluralistic Indian society where the Jamiat hoped Muslims could "thrive ... without sacrificing their identity or interests." In that year he also married Mahmudah Begum, a woman from an old Muslim family with "considerable financial resources". The family provide financial help and allowed him to devote himself to research and political action, but his wife had "liberated", modern ways, and at first rode a bicycle and did not observe purdah. She was given greater latitude by Maududi than were other Muslims.

Political activity

At this time he also began work on establishing an organization for ''

Da'wah Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات). Etymology The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...

'' (propagation and preaching of Islam) that would be an alternative to both the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

. At this time he decided to leave Hyderabad for Northwest India, closer to the Muslim political center of gravity in India. In 1938, after meeting the famous Muslim poet

, Maududi moved to a piece of land in the village of Pathankot in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

to oversee a ''

Waqf A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitab ...

'' (Islamic foundation) called ''Daru'l-Islam''. His hope was to make it a "nerve center" of Islamic revival in India, an ideal religious community, providing leaders and the foundation for a genuine religious movement. He wrote to various Muslim luminaries invited them to join him there. The community, like Jamaat-i-Islami later, was composed of ''rukn'' (members), a ''shura (a consultative council), and a ''sadr'' (head). After a dispute with the person who donated the land for the community over Maududi's anti-nationalist politics, Maududi quit the waqf and in 1939 moved the ''Daru'l-Islam'' with its membership from Pathankot to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

. In Lahore he was hired by Islamiyah College but was sacked after less than a year for his openly political lectures.

Founding the Jamaat-i-Islami

In August 1941, Maududi founded Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in

as a religious political movement to promote Islamic values and practices. His Mission was supported by Amin Ahsan Islahi, Muhammad Manzoor Naumani, Abul Hassan Ali Nudvi and

Naeem Siddiqui Maulana Naeem Siddiqui (1916 – 25 September 2002) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, writer and politician. He was among the founder-members of the Jamaat-e-Islami and a close associate of Abul A'la Maududi and Amin Ahsan Islahi. Early life a ...

. Jamaat-e-Islami actively opposed the partition of India, with its leader Abul A'la Maududi arguing that concept violated the Islamic doctrine of the

ummah ' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history. It is a synonym for ' ...

. The Jamaat-e-Islami saw the partition as creating a temporal border that would divide Muslims from one another. Maududi held that humans should accept God's sovereignty and adopt the divine code, which supersedes manmade laws, terming it a "theodemocracy", because its rule would be based on the entire Muslim community, not the ''

ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

'' (Islamic scholars). Maududi migrated to Lahore, which became part of the new state of Pakistan.

After the creation of Pakistan

With the partition of India in 1947, the JI was split to follow the political boundaries of new countries carved out of British India. The organisation headed by Maududi became known as ''Jamaat-i-Islami'' Pakistan, and the remnant of JI in India as the

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Jamaat-e-Islami Hind ( ur, جماعتِ اسلامی ہند, abbreviated as JIH) is an Islamic organisation in India, founded as an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which split into separate independent organisations in India, Pakistan, Banglades ...

. Later JI parties were the

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...

, and autonomous groups in

Indian Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. With the founding of Pakistan, Maududi's career underwent a "fundamental change", being drawn more and more into politics, and spending less time on ideological and scholarly pursuits. Although his Jamaat-i Islami party never developed a mass following, it and Maududi did develop significant political influence. It played a "prominent part" in the agitation which brought down President Ayub Khan in 1969 and in the overthrow of Prime Minister

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

in 1977. Maududi and the JI were especially influential in the early years of General

Zia ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law i ...

's rule. His political activity, particularly in support of the creation of an Islamic state clashed with the government, (dominated for many years by a secular political class), and resulted in several arrests and periods of incarceration. The first was in 1948 when he and several other JI leaders were jailed after Maududi objected to the government's clandestine sponsorship of

insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the Kashmir insurgency, is an ongoing separatist militant insurgency against the Indian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory constituting the southwestern portion of the larger g ...

while professing to observe a ceasefire with India. In 1951 and again in 1956-7, the compromises involved in electoral politics led to a split in the party over what some members felt were a lowering of JI's moral standards. In 1951, the JI shura passed a resolution in support of the party withdrawing from politics, while Maududi argued for continued involvement. Maududi prevailed at an open party meeting in 1951, and several senior JI leaders resigned in protest, further strengthened Maududi's position and beginning the growth of a "cult of personality" around him." In 1957 Maududi again overruled the vote of the shura to withdraw from electoral politics. In 1953, he and the JI participated in a campaign against the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan. Anti-Ahmadi groups argued that the Ahmadiyya did not embrace Muhammad as the last prophet. Maududi as well as the traditionalist

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

of Pakistan wanted Ahmadi designated as non-Muslims, Ahmadis such as

Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan ( ur, ‎; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his internati ...

sacked from all high level government positions, and intermarriage between Ahmadis and other Muslims prohibited. The campaign generated riots in Lahore, leading to the deaths of at least 200 Ahmadis, and selective declaration of

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

. Maududi was arrested by the military deployment headed by Lieutenant General Azam Khan and sentenced to death for his part in the agitation. However, the anti-Ahmadi campaign enjoyed much popular support, and strong public pressure ultimately convinced the government to release him after two years of imprisonment. According to

Vali Nasr Vali Reza Nasr ( fa, ولی‌ رضا نصر, born 20 December 1960) is an Iranian-American academic and author, specializing in the Middle East and the Islamic world. He is Majid Khaddouri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studi ...

, Maududi's unapologetic and impassive stance after being sentenced, ignoring advice to ask for clemency, had an "immense" effect on his supporters. It was seen as a "victory of Islam over un-Islam", proof of his leadership and staunch faith. In particular, Maududi advocated that the Pakistani state should be in accordance to Quran and sunnah, including in terms of conventional banking and rights to Muslims, minorities, Christians, and other religious sects such as the

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

An Islamic state is a Muslim state, but a Muslim state may not be an Islamic state unless and until the Constitution of the state is based on the Qur'an and Sunnah.

The campaign shifted the focus of national politics towards Islamicity. The 1956 Constitution was adopted after accommodating many of the demands of the JI. Maududi endorsed the constitution and claimed it a victory for Islam. However following a coup by General Ayub Khan, the constitution was shelved and Maududi and his party were politically repressed, Maududi being imprisoned in 1964 and again in 1967. The JI joined an opposition alliance with secular parties, compromising with doctrine to support a woman candidate ( Fatima Jinnah) for president against Khan in 1965. In the December 1970 general election, Maududi toured the country as a "leader in waiting" and JI spent considerable energy and resources fielding 151 candidates. Despite this, the party won only four seats in the national assembly and four in the provincial assemblies. The loss led Maududi to withdraw from political activism in 1971 and return to scholarship. In 1972 he resigned as JI's Ameer (leader) for reasons of health. However it was shortly thereafter that Islamism gathered steam in Pakistan in the form of the ''Nizam-i-Mustafa'' (Order of the Prophet) movement, an alliance of conservative political groups united against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto which the JI gave shape to and which bolstered its standing. In 1977, Maududi "returned to the center stage". When Bhutto attempted to defuse tensions on 16 April 1977, he came to Maududi's house for consultations. When General

overthrew Bhutto and came to power in 1977, he "accorded Mawdudi the status of a senior statesman, sought his advice, and allowed his words to adorn the front pages of the newspapers. Maududi proved receptive to Zia's overtures and supported his decision to execute Bhutto." Despite some doctrinal difference (Maududi wanted ''sharia'' by education rather than by state fiat), Maududi enthusiastically supported Zia and his program of Islamization or " Sharization".

Beliefs and ideology

Maududi poured his energy into books, pamphlets and more than 1000 speeches and press statements, laying the ground work for making Pakistan an Islamic state, but also dealing with a variety of issues of interest in Pakistan and the Muslim world. He sought to be a ''Mujaddid'', "renewing" (''tajdid'') the religion. This role had great responsibility as he believed a ''Mujaddid'' "on the whole, has to undertake and perform the same kind of work as is accomplished by a Prophet." While earlier mujaddids had renewed religion he wanted also "to propagate true Islam, the absence of which accounted for the failure of earlier efforts at tajdid.": "He argued that his intent was not only to revive Islam but to propagate true Islam, the absence of which accounted for the failure of earlier efforts at ''tajdid''." He was very much disheartened after the Ottoman collapse, he believed the limited vision of Muslims to Islam rather than a complete ideology of living, was its main cause. He argued that to revive the lost Islamic pride, Muslims must accept Islam as complete way of livin

Mawdudi was highly influenced by the ideas of the medieval theologian Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Taymiyya, particularly his treatises that emphasized the Sovereignty (''Hakimiyya'') of God. Mawdudi would stress that armed Jihad was imperative for all contemporary Muslims and like Sayyid Qutb, called for a "universal Jihad". According to at least one biographer (

), Maududi and the JI moved away from some of their more controversial doctrinal ideas (e.g. criticism of Sufism or the

Ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

) and closer to orthodox Islam over the course of his career, in order to "expand"the "base of support" of Jama'at-e Islami.

Qur'an

Maududi believed that the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

was not just religious literature to be "recited, pondered, or investigated for hidden truths" according to Vali Nasr, but a "socio-religious institution", a work to be accepted "at face value" and obeyed. By implementing its prescriptions the ills of societies would be solved. It pitted truth and bravery against ignorance, falsehood and evil.: "The erection of communal boundaries and the search for identity in Mawdudi's works increasingly cast the world in terms of good and evil, converting history into an arena for an apocalyptic battle between the two."

The Qur'an is ... a Book which contains a message, an invitation, which generates a movement. The moment it began to be sent down, it impelled a quiet and pious man to ... raise his voice against falsehood, and pitted him in a grim struggle against the lords of disbelief, evil and iniquity.... it drew every pure and noble soul, and gathered them under the banner of truth. In every part of the country, it made all the mischievous and the corrupt to rise and wage war against the bearers of the truth.

In his ''tafsir'' (Quranic interpretation) ''Tafhimu'l-Qur'an'', he introduced the four interrelated concepts he believed essential to understanding the Quran: ''ilah'' (divinity), ''rabb'' (lord), ibadah'' (worship, meaning not the cherishing or praising of God but acting out absolute obedience to Him), and ''din'' (religion).

Islam

Maududi saw Muslims not simply as those who followed the religion of Islam, but as (almost) everything, because obedience to divine law is what defines a Muslim: "Everything in the universe is 'Muslim' for it obeys Allah by submission to His laws." The laws of the physical universe – that Heaven is above the Earth, that night follows day, etc. – were as much a part of ''sharia'' as banning consumption of alcohol and interest on debts. Thus it followed that stars, planets, oceans, rocks, atoms, etc. should actually be considered "Muslims" since they obey their creator's laws. Rather than Muslims being a minority among humans — one religious group among many — it is non-Muslims who are a small minority among everything in the universe. Of all creatures only humans (and

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

) are endowed with free will, and only non-Muslim humans (and jinn) choose to use that will to disobey the laws of their creator. Mawdudi adopted classical Hanbali theologian Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Taymiyya's doctrines on

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

, which asserted that an individual may only be considered a Muslim if his or her beliefs found an adequate representation in their acts. Describing the essential conditions of Islam and stressing the difference between a Muslims and non-Muslims; Mawdudi states:

‘Islam is first of all the name of knowledge �ilmand, after knowledge, the name of action �amal��, that ‘after you have acquired knowledge it is a necessity to also act upon it’, and that ‘a Muslim is distinct from an unbeliever āfironly by two things: one is knowledge, the other action pon it��.

But in rejecting Islam (Maududi believed) the non-Muslim struggled against truth:

His very tongue which, on account of his ignorance advocates the denial of God or professes multiple deities, is in its very nature 'Muslim'.... The man who denies God is called
Kafir Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or reject ...
(concealer) because he conceals by his disbelief what is inherent in his nature and embalmed in his own soul. His whole body functions in obedience to that instinct.... Reality becomes estranged from him and he in the dark.

Since a Muslim is the one who obeys divine law, simply having made a ''

shahada The ''Shahada'' ( Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there i ...

'' (declaration of belief in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet) or being born into a Muslim family does not make you a Muslim.: "a Islam, we wrote, was not a birthright, nor a simple proclamation of the ''shahadah'', but the testimony to an individual's absolute obedience to God – Islam found meaning only in the context of works." Nor is seeking "knowledge of God" part of the religion of Islam. The Muslim is a "slave of God", and "absolute obedience to God" is a "fundamental right" of God. The Muslim does "not have the right to choose a way of life for himself or assume whatever duties he likes.": "He wrote: 'You must remember that you are a born slave of God. He has created you for His servitude only'.... He viewed absolute obedience to God as a fundamental right of God.... 'Man ... does not have the right to choose a way of life for himself or assume whatever duties he likes.'" Maududi believed that Islam covered all aspects of life.

Islam is not a 'religion' in the sense this term is commonly understood. It is a system encompassing all fields of living. Islam means politics, economics, legislation, science, humanism, health, psychology and sociology. It is a system which makes no discrimination on the basis of race, color, language or other external categories. Its appeal is to all mankind. It wants to reach the heart of every human being.

Of all these aspects of Islam, Maududi was primarily interested in culture—preserving Islamic dress, language and customs, from (what he believed were) the dangers of

women's emancipation Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, etc. It was also important to separate the realm of Islam from non-Islam—to form "boundaries" around Islam. It would also be proven scientifically (Maududi believed) that Islam would "eventually ... emerge as the World-Religion to cure Man of all his maladies.": " e wouldscientifically prove that Islam is eventually to emerge as the World-Religion to cure Man of all his maladies." But what many Muslims, including many ''Ulama'', considered Islam, Maududi did not. Maudid complained that "not more than 0.001%" of Muslim knew what Islam actually was. Maududi not only idealized the first years of Muslim society (Muhammad and the " rightly guided" Caliphs), but considered what came after to be un-Islamic or ''jahiliya''—with the exception of brief religious revivals. Muslim philosophy, literature, arts, mysticism were syncretic and impure, diverting attention from the divine.: "Although traditional divines idealized the early history of Islam, they did not view what followed that era to be "un-Islamic", ...Maududi did not view Islamic history as the history of Islam but as the history of un-Islam or ''jahiliyah''. Islamic history as the product of human choice, was corruptible and corrupted."

Hadith

Maududi had a unique perspective on the transmission of

—the doings and sayings of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

that were passed on orally before being written down, and which form most of the basis of Islamic law. The authenticity and "quality" of hadith are traditionally left to the judgments of "generations of ''muhaddithin''" (hadith scholars) who base their decisions on factors like the number of chains of oral transmission (known as ''isnad'') passing down the text of the hadith (''matn'') and reliability of the transmitters/narrators passing down the hadith in the chain. But Maududi believed that "with extensive study and practice one can develop a power and can intuitively sense the wishes and desires of the Holy Prophet", and that he had that intuitive ability. "Thus ... on seeing a Hadith, I can tell whether the Holy Prophet could or could not have said it." Maududi also disagreed with many traditional/conservative Muslims in arguing that evaluating hadith, traditional hadith scholars had ignored the importance of the ''matn'' (content) in favor of the ''isnad'' (chain of transmission of the hadith). Maududi also broke with traditional doctrine by raising the question of the reliability of companions of the prophet as transmitters of hadith, saying "even the noble Companions were overcome by human weaknesses, one attacking another".

Sunnah

Maududi wrote a number of essays on the '' Sunnah''—the customs and practices of Muhammad—and sought a middle way between the belief of conservative Islamists that the sunnah of the prophet should be obeyed in every aspect, and the traditions that tells us that Muhammad made mistakes, and was not always obeyed by his followers ( Zayd divorced his wife against the wishes of Muhammad). Mawdudi argued that mistakes by Muhammad corrected by God mentioned in the Quran should be thought of not as an indication of Muhammad's human frailty but of how God monitored his behavior and corrected even his smallest errors. Mawdudi concluded that in theory (''naẓarī'') the Prophet's prophetic and personal capacities are separate and distinct, but in practice (''ʿamalī'') it is "neither practical nor permissible" for mortals to decide for themselves which is which, and so Muslims should not disregard any aspect of the sunnah.

Women

According to Irfan Ahmad, while Maududi opposed all Western influence in Islam, "the greatest threat to morality" to him was "women's visibility" in the bazaar, colleges, theatres, restaurants. "Art, literature, music, film, dance, use of makeup by women: all were shrieking signs of immorality". Maududi preached that the duty of women is to manage the household, bring up children and provide them and her husband with "the greatest possible comfort and contentment". Maududi supported the complete veiling and segregation of women as practiced in most of Muslim India of his time. Women, he believed, should remain in their homes except when absolutely necessary. The only room for argument he saw in the matter of veiling/ hijab was "whether the hands and the face" of women "were to be covered or left uncovered." On this question Maududi came down on the side of the complete covering of women's faces whenever they left their homes. Concerning the separation of the genders, he preached that men should avoid looking at women other than their wives, mothers, sisters, etc. (''

mahram In Islam, a ''mahram'' is a family member with whom marriage would be considered permanently unlawful (''haram''). One's spouse is also a mahram. A woman does not need to wear hijab around her mahram, and an adult male mahram may escort a woman ...

''), much less trying to make their acquaintance. He opposed birth control and family planning as a "rebellion against the laws of nature", and a reflection of loss of faith in God—who is the planner of human population—and unnecessary because population growth leads to economic development. Mohammad Najatuallah Siddiqui writes,

As to the argument that family planning enables better nourishment and education of children, Mawdudi refers to the beneficial effects of adversity and want on human character.

Maududi opposed allowing women to be either a head of state or a legislator, since "according to Islam, active politics and administration are not the field of activity of the womenfolk." They would be allowed to elect their own all-woman legislature which the men's legislature should consult on all matters concerning women's welfare. Their legislature would also have "the full right to criticize matters relating to the general welfare of the country," though not to vote on them. Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: p. 308

Music

Maududi saw music and dancing as social evils. In describing the wickedness that comes of ignoring Islamic law he included not only leaving the poor to "starvation and destitution" while wallowing in luxury, liquor and drugs, but having "a regular need" for music, satisfied with "musicians, dancing girls, drum-beaters and manufacturers of musical instruments".

Economics

His 1941 lecture "The economic problem of man and its Islamic solution" is "generally considered to be "one of the founding document of modern Islamic economics. Kuran, ''Islam and Mammon'', 2004: pp. 84-6 Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: p. 57 Maududi has been called the leader of the "vanguard of contemporary Islamic orthodoxy" in "''

riba The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

'' and finance." Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: p. 2 and credited with laying "down the foundations for development" of Islamic economics. However, Maududi believed Islam "does not concern itself with the modes of production and circulation of wealth", Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 1 and was primarily interested in cultural issues rather than socioeconomic ones. Maududi dismissed the need for a "new science of economics, embodied in voluminous books, with high-sounding terminology and large organisation", Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p.8-9 or other "experts and specialists" which he believed to be "one of the many calamities of modern age". Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 10 One of the major fallacies of economics was that it regarded "as foolish and morally reprehensible" spending "all that one earns, and everyone is told that he should save something out of his income and have his savings deposited in the bank or purchase an insurance policy or invest it in stocks and shares of joint-stock companies." In fact, the practice of saving and not spending some income is "ruinous for humanity". Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 24 But since Islam was a complete system, it included (a shariah-based) economic program, comparable and (of course) superior to other economic systems. Capitalism was a "satanic economic system" starting with the fact that it called for the postponement of some consumption in favor of investment. This led to

overproduction In economics, overproduction, oversupply, excess of supply or glut refers to excess of supply over demand of products being offered to the market. This leads to lower prices and/or unsold goods along with the possibility of unemployment. The d ...

and a downward spiral of lower wages, protectionism, trade wars and desperate attempts to export surplus production and capital through imperialist invasions of other countries, Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p.21-3 finally ending in "the destruction of the whole society as every learned economist knows". On the other hand,

— by putting control of the means and distribution of production in the hands of the government – concentrates power to such an extent it inevitably leads to enslavement of the masses. Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p.25-8 Socialists sought to end economic exploitation and poverty by structural changes and putting an end to private ownership of production and property. But in fact poverty and exploitation is caused not by the profit motive but by the lack of "virtue and public welfare" among the wealthy, which in turn comes from a lack of adherence to ''sharia'' law. In an Islamic society, greed, selfishness and dishonesty would be replaced by virtue, eliminating the need for the state to make any significant intervention in the economy. According to Maududi, this system would strike a "golden mean" between the two extremes of ''laisse faire'' capitalism and a regimented socialist/communist society, Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 5 embodying all of the virtues and none of the vices of the two inferior systems. It would not be some kind of

mixed economy A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...

/ social democratic compromise, because by following Islamic law and banning alcohol, pork, adultery, music, dancing, interest on loans, gambling, speculation, fraud, and "other similar things", Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 30 it would be distinct and superior to all other systems. Before the economy (like the government, and other parts of society) could be Islamized, an Islamic revolution-through-education would have to take place to develop this virtue and create support for total ''sharia'' law. This put Maududi at a political disadvantage with

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

programs because his solution was "neither immediate nor tangible".

Banning interest

Of all the elements of Islamic laws dealing with property and money (payment of

zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ...

and other

Islamic taxes Islamic taxes are taxes sanctioned by Islamic law. They are based on both "the legal status of taxable land" and on "the communal or religious status of the taxpayer". Islamic taxes include *''zakat'' - one of the five pillars of Islam. Only imp ...

, etc.), Maududi emphasized the elimination of interest on loans (''

''). (According to one scholar, this was because in British India

s dominated the money lending trade.) Maududi opposed any and all interest on loans as unIslamic ''riba''. He taught that there

is hardly a country of the world in which moneylenders and banks are not sucking the blood of poor labouring classes, farmers and low income groups ... A major portion of the earning of a working man is expropriated by the moneylenders, leaving the poor man with hardly enough money to feed himself and his family. Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 192

While the Quran forbid many sins, it saved its "severest terms" of punishment – according to Maududi – for use of interest. He believed there was no such thing as a low "reasonable rate of interest" Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: pp. 178–9 and that even "the smallest and apparently harmless form" Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 166 of interest was intolerable in Islam as rates would inevitably increased over time when the "capitalists" (moneylenders) squeezed the entrepreneurs (borrowers) eliminating any entrepreneurial profit. Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 181 Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: p. 63 To replace interest-based finance he proposed "direct equity investment" (aka

Profit and loss sharing Profit and Loss Sharing (also called PLS or participatory banking) refers to Sharia-compliant forms of equity financing such as mudarabah and musharakah. These mechanisms comply with the religious prohibition on interest on loans that most Musli ...

), which he asserted would favor "societally profitable" ventures such as low-income housing that conventional finance ignores in favour of commercially profitable ones. Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 188 To eliminate the charging of interest he proposed penal punishment with the death penalty for repeat offenders. Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 199 Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: p. 65 Feisal Khan says that Maududi had no training as an economist and his description of interest-based finance resembles that of the dynamic between South Asian peasant and village moneylender rather than between modern bank lender and borrower; nor did Maududi give any explanation why direct equity finance would lead to any more investment in what is good for society but not commercially profitable for financiers than interest-based lending has. Khan, ''Islamic Banking in Pakistan'', 2015: p. 64

Socialism and populism

Unlike Islamists such as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Maududi had a visceral antipathy to

, which he spent much time denouncing as "godless" as well as being unnecessary and redundant in the face of the Islamic state. A staunch defender of the rights of property, he warned workers and peasants that "you must never take the exaggerated view of your rights which the protagonists of class war present before you." He also did not believe in intervention in the economy to provide universal employment.

Islam does not make it binding on society to provide employment for each and every one of its citizens, since this responsibility cannot be accepted without thorough nationalisation of the country's resources.

Maududi held to this position despite: his florid denunciations of how the rich were "sucking the blood" and enslaving the poor; Maududi, ''Economic System of Islam'', n.d.: p. 23 the popularity of populism among many Pakistanis,; and the poverty and vast gap between rich and poor in Pakistan (a situation often described a " feudal" (''jagirdari'') in its large landholdings and rural poverty). He openly opposed land reform proposals for

by Prime Minister

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

in the 1950s, going so far as to justify feudalism by pointing to Islam's protection of property rights. He later softened his views, extolling economic justice and equity (but not egalitarianism), but cautioned the government against tampering with "lawful ''Jagirdari''", and continuing to emphasize the sanctity of private property.

Islamic Modernism

Maududi believed that Islam supported modernization but not

Westernization Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, econo ...

.: "

slam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

says "yes" to modernization but "no" to blind Westernisation." He agreed with Islamic Modernists that Islam contained nothing contrary to reason, and that it was superior in rational terms to all other religious systems. He disagreed with their practice of examining the Quran and the Sunnah using reason as the standard, instead of starting from the proposition that "true reason is Islamic" and accepting the Book and the Sunnah, rather than reason, as the final authority. He also took a narrow view of '' ijtihad'', limiting the authority to use it to those with thorough grounding in Islamic sciences, faith in the ''sharia'', and then only to serve the needs of his vision of an Islamic state. At the same time, one scholar,

Maryam Jameelah Maryam Jameelah (May 23, 1931 – October 31, 2012) was an American-Pakistani author of over thirty books on Islamic culture and history and a female voice for conservative Islam, known for her writings about the West. Born Margret Marcus in New ...

, has noted the extensive use of modern, non-traditionally Islamic ideas and "Western idioms and concepts" in Maududi's thought.

Islam was a "revolutionary ideology" and a "dynamic movement", the ''Jama'at-e-Islami'', was a "party", the ''Shari'ah'' a complete "code" in Islam's "total scheme of life." His enthusiasm for estern idioms and conceptswas infectious among those who admired him, encouraging them to implement in Pakistan all his "manifestos", "programmes" and "schemes'", to usher in a true Islamic "renaissance".

Mughal Empire

Abul A'la Maududi, condemned

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Akbar's belief in an individual's common spirituality (controversially known as the

Din-e Ilahi The Dīn-i-Ilāhī ( fa, , ), known during its time as Tawḥīd-i-Ilāhī ("Divine Monotheism", ) or Divine Faith, was a new syncretic religion or spiritual leadership program propounded by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582, intending to merg ...

, or "Religion of God") as a form of

. (Contemporary scholars such as S. M. Ikram argue that Akbar's true intentions were to create an ''iradat'' or ''muridi'' (discipleship) and not a new religion.) Maududi appears to be a critic of not only

Western Civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

but also of the Mughal Empire, many of whose achievements he deemed "Unislamic".

Secularism

Maududi did not see

as a way for the state/government to dampen tensions and divisions in multi-religious societies by remaining religiously neutral and avoid choosing sides. Rather, he believed, it removed religion from society (he translated secularism into Urdu as ''la din'', literally "religionless"). Since (he believed) all morality came from religion, this would necessarily mean "the exclusion of all morality, ethics, or human decency from the controlling mechanisms of society." It was to avoid the "restraints of morality and divine guidance", and not out of pragmatism or some higher motive, that some espoused secularism.

Science

Maududi believed "modern science was a 'body' that could accommodate any 'spirit'—philosophy or value system—just as radio could broadcast Islamic or Western messages with equal facility.": "modern science was a 'body' that could accommodate any 'spirit' – philosophy or value system – just as radio could broadcast Islami or Western messages with equal facility."

Nationalism

Maududi strongly opposed the concept of

, believing it to be '' shirk'' (polytheism), and "a Western concept which divided the Muslim world and thus prolonged the supremacy of Western imperialist powers".Political Islam in the Indian Subcontinent
by Frederic Grare , BOOK REVIEW , Anatomy of Islamism , South Asia , Asia Times After Pakistan was formed, Maududi and the JI forbade Pakistanis to take an oath of allegiance to the state until it became Islamic, arguing that a Muslim could in clear conscience render allegiance only to God.

Ulama

Maududi also criticized traditionalist clergy or

for their "moribund" scholastic style, "servile" political attitudes, and "ignorance" of the modern world". He believed traditional scholars were unable to distinguish the fundamentals of Islam from the details of its application, built up in elaborate structures of medieval legal schools of

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

(Islamic jurisprudence). To rid Islam of these obscure laws Muslims should return to the Quran and Sunna, ignoring judgments made after the reign of the first four "rightfully guided" caliphs ('' al-Khulafāʾu ar-Rāshidūn'') of Islam. Maududi also believed there would be little need for the traditional roll of ulama as "leaders, judges, and guardians of the community", in a "reformed and rationalized Islamic order" where those trained in modern as well as traditional subjects would practice ijtihad and where Muslims were educated properly in Arabic, the Quran, Hadith, etc. However, over time Maududi became more orthodox in his attitudes, including toward the ulama, and at times allied himself and his party with them after the formation of Pakistan.

Sufism and popular Islam

Like other contemporary

revivalists Revivalist may refer to: * A person involved in language revitalization * Revivalist (person) involved in a movement of Christian revival * Islamic revivalist * Revivalism (architecture) * Revivalist artist, a performer dedicated to reviving a ...

, Maududi was critical of Sufism and its historical influence in the early part of his life.: "... he held Sufism accountable for causing the decline of Islam throughout history, referring to it as ''chuniya begum'' (lady opium). He believed that Sufism had misled Mughal rulers like Emperor Akbar and his son Dara Shukuh into gravitating toward syncretic experiments." However, as he got older, his views on Sufism changed and focused his criticism mainly on unorthodox and popular practices of Sufism that was not based on the Sharia In his youth, Maududi studied various sciences of ''

Tasawwuf Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

'' under the Deobandi seminary in Fatihpuri Mosque; from where he obtained an ''Ijazat'' (certificate) on the subject "gradations of mystical ecstasy" in 1926. Influenced by the Deobandi reformist doctrines and writings of past scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab; Mawdudi opposed folkish forms of excessive Sufism. Maududi's conception of ''Tasawwuf'' was based on strict adherence to ''

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

'' and Sunnah like those of the earlier Sufis. He was heavily critical of the cult of saints that developed during the medieval period of Islam, and believed that abiding by the '' sharia'' (Islamic law) was essential to achieve ''

Zuhd Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

'' and '' Ihsan''. Most significantly, Maududi asserts that the very highest stage of '' Ihsan'' was to be reached through collective societal efforts that establishes a just

as what occurred during the early period of Islam in the Rashidun Calpihate. Maududi would later clarify that he did not have any antagonism towards Sufism as a whole; by himself or the Jama'at. (According to at least one biographer, this change in position was a result of the importance of Sufism in Pakistan not only among the Muslim masses but the ulama as well.): "... Sufism was of great importance to the major ulama groups in Pakistan, the Deobandis and the

Barelvi The Barelvi movement ( ur, بَریلوِی, , ), also known as Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaah (People of the Prophet's Way and the Community) is a Sunni revivalist movement following the Hanafi and Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, with strong Suf ...

s, and they found Mawdudi's attacks on Sufism just as contentious as his exegeses on juridical and theological matters.. In

and

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, Sufism played an important role in the popular culture of the masses and eventually in their politics." Maududi distinguished between the Orthodox Sufism of Shaikhs like 'Alau'ddin Shah which were bounded in the Sharia (which he approved of), and the shrines, festivals, and rituals of unorthodox popular Sufism (which he did not). While praising Tasawwuf that strictly abides by the

and Sunnah, Mawdudi condemned later manifestations of Sufism, writing in ''Risala-i diniyya'' (Treatise on Religion):

"They polluted the pure spring of Islamic Tasawwuf with absurdities that could not be justified by any stretch of imagination on the basis of the Qur'an and the Hadith. Gradually a section of Muslims appeared who thought and proclaimed themselves immune to and above the requirements of the Shari'ah. These people are totally ignorant of Islam, for Islam cannot admit of Tasawwuf that loosens itself out of the Shariah and takes liberties with it. No Sufi has the right to transgress the limits of the Shariah or treat lightly the primary obligations such as daily prayers, fasting, zakat and the Hajj"

He "redefined" Sufism, describing it not in the modern sense as the form and spirit of an "esoteric dimension" of Islam, but as the way to measure "concentration" and "morals" in religion, saying: "For example, when we say our prayers, ''

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

'' will judge us only by fulfillment of the outward requirements such as ablution, facing toward the

Ka'ba The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...

... while ''Tasawwuf'' (Sufism) will judge our prayers by our concentration ... the effect of our prayers on our morals and manners." In his Mabadi’ al-Islam, published in 1961, Maududi wrote: ''Sufism is a reality whose signs are the love of Allah and the love of the Prophet (s), where one absents oneself for their sake, and one is annihilated from anything other than them, and it is to know how to follow the footsteps of the Prophet (s). ..Tasawwuf searched for the sincerity in the heart and the purity in the intention and the trustworthiness in obedience in an individual's actions.” “The Divine Law and Sufism: “Sufism and Shariah: what is the similitude of the two? They are like the body and the soul. The body is the external knowledge, the Divine Law, and the spirit is the internal knowledge.” abadi’ al-Islam, p. 17' In many ways, Maududi wanted to reform Sufism like the Sufis of the past by bringing it back to its earlier roots and thus from the mid-1960s onward, his "redefinition" of ''Tasawwuf'' "increasingly gave way to outright recognition of Sufism in Pakistan". After Maududi's death the JI amir

Qazi Hussain Ahmad Qazi Hussain Ahmad ( ur, قاضی حسین احمد ; born 12 January 1938 – 5 January 2013) was an Islamic scholar, democracy activist, and former Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami, the socially conservative Islamist political party in Pakistan. He o ...

went so far as to visit the Sufi Data Durbar shrine in Lahore in 1987 as part of a tour to generate mass support for the party. However, as of 2000s,

Jamaat-e Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...

has grown more critical of certain Sufi trends.

Sharia

Maududi believed that sharia was not just a crucial command that helped define what it meant to be a Muslim, but something without which a Muslim society could not be Islamic:

That if an Islamic society consciously resolves not to accept the sharia, and decides to enact its own constitution and laws or borrow them from any other source in disregard of the sharia, such a society breaks its contract with God and forfeits its right to be called 'Islamic.'"

Many unbelievers agreed that God was the creator, what made them unbelievers was their failure to submit to his will, i.e. to God's law. Obedience to God's law or will was "the historical controversy that Islam has awakened" throughout the world. It brought not only heavenly reward, but earthly blessing. Failure to obey, or "rebellion" against it, brought not only eternal punishment, but evil and misery here on earth. The source of sharia, was to be found not only in the Quran but also in the Sunnah (the doings and sayings of the Islamic prophet

), since the Quran proclaimed "Whoever obeys the messenger .e. Muhammadobeys Allah." Sharia was perhaps most famous for calling for the abolition of interest-bearing banks, hadd penalties such as flogging and amputation for alcohol consumption, theft, fornication, adultery and other crimes. Hadd penalties have been criticized by Westernized Muslims as cruel and in violation of

international human rights International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

but Maududi argued that any cruelty was far outweighed by the cruelty in the West that resulted from the absence of these punishments, and in any case would not be applied until Muslims fully understood the teachings of their faith and lived in an Islamic state. But in fact ''sharia'' was much more than these laws. It recognizes no division between religion and other aspects of life, in Maududi's view, and there was no area of human activity or concern which the ''sharia'' did not address with specific divine guidance.

Family relationships, social and economic affairs, administration, rights and duties of citizens, judicial system, laws of war and peace and international relations. In short it embraces all the various departments of life ... The ''sharia'' is a complete scheme of life and an all-embracing social order where nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking.

A "very large part" of sharia required "the coercive power and authority of the state" for its enforcement. Consequently, while a state based on Islam has a legislature which the ruler must consult, its function "is really that of law-finding, not of law-making." At the same time, Maududi states ("somewhat astonishingly" according to one scholar) "there is yet another vast range of human affairs about which ''sharia'' is totally silent" and which an Islamic state may write "independent" legislation. According to scholar

, Maududi believed that the ''sharia'' needed to be "streamlined, reinterpreted, and expanded" to "address questions of governance to the extent required for a state to function." For example, ''sharia'' needed to "make clear the relation between the various branches of government".

Islamic Revolution

Though the phrase "Islamic Revolution" is commonly associated with the 1979

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

, (or General Zia's Islamisation), Maududi coined and popularized it in the 1940s. The process Maududi envisioned—changing the hearts and minds of individuals from the top of society downward through an educational process or ''da'wah''—was very different than what happened in Iran, or under Zia ul-Haq. Maududi talked of Islam being "a revolutionary ideology and a revolutionary practice which aims at destroying the social order of the world totally and rebuilding it from scratch", but opposed sudden change, violent or unconstitutional action, and was uninterested in grassroots organizing or socio-economic changes. His "revolution" would be achieved "step-by-step" with "patience", since "the more sudden a change, the more short-lived it is." He warned against the emotionalism of "demonstrations or agitations, ... flag waving, slogans ... impassioned speeches ... or the like", He believed that "societies are built, structured, and controlled from the top down by conscious manipulation of those in power," not by grassroots movements. The revolution would be carried out by training a cadre of pious and dedicated men who would lead and then protect the Islamic revolutionary process. To facilitate this far-reaching program of cultural change, his party "invested heavily" in producing and disseminating publications. Maududi was committed to non-violent legal politics "even if the current methods of struggle takes a century to bear fruit." In 1957 he outlined a new Jama'at policy declaring that "transformation of the political order through unconstitutional means" was against ''sharia'' law. Even when he and his party were repressed by the Ayub Khan or People's Party (in 1972) governments, Maududi kept his party from clandestine activity. It was not until he retired as emir of JI that JI and Jam'iat-e Tulabah "became more routinely involved in violence." The objective of the revolution was to be justice (adl'') and benevolence (''ihsan''), but the injustice and wrong to be overcome that he focused on was immorality (''fahsha) and forbidden behavior (''munkarat''). Maududi was interested in ethical changes, rather than socio-economic changes of the sort that drive most historical revolutions and revolutionary movements. He did not support these (for example, opposing land reform in the 1950s as an encroachment on property rights) and believed the problems they addressed would be solved by the Islamic state established by the revolution. : "In Mawdudi's conception, revolution and its corollary, ideology, had no class reference. They simply permitted Mawdudi to equip the Jama'at with a repertoire of terms that allowed the party to stand its ground in debates over what constituted progress, justice, and political idealism."

Islamic state

The modern conceptualization of the "

" is also attributed to Maududi. This term was coined and popularized in his book, ''The Islamic Law and Constitution'' (1941), Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: p. v and in subsequent writings. Maududi's Islamic state is both ideological and all-embracing, based on "

Islamic Democracy There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democra ...

," and will eventually "rule the earth". In 1955 he described it as a "God-worshipping democratic Caliphate, founded on the guidance vouchsafed to us through Muhammad."(Nasr speaking) Ultimately though, Islam was more important and the state would be judged by its adherence to ''din'' (religion and the Islamic system) and not democracy. Unlike the Islamic state of Ayatollah

Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

, it would not establish and enforce Islamisation, but ''follow'' the Islamisation of society. As Maududi became involved in politics, this vision was "relegated to a distant utopia". Three principles underlying it: ''

tawhid Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam (Allāh)"; also romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion's central and single m ...

'' (oneness of God), ''risala'' (prophethood) and ''

khilafa A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

'' (caliphate). The "sphere of activity" covered by the

would be "co-extensive with human life ... In such a state no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private."Mawdudi, ''Islamic Law'', p. 154 The Islamic state recognizes the sovereignty of God, which meant God was the source of all law. The Islamic state acts as the

vicegerent Vicegerent is the official administrative deputy of a ruler or head of state: ''vice'' (Latin for "in place of") and ''gerere'' (Latin for "to carry on, conduct"). In Oxford colleges, a vicegerent is often someone appointed by the Master of a ...

or agent of God on earth and enforces Islamic law, which as mentioned above is both all-embracing and "totally silent" on a "vast range of human affairs". While the government follows the ''sharia'' law, when it comes to a question about which no explicit injunction is to be found in the ''sharia'', the matter is "settled by consensus among the Muslims." Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: p. 148 The state can be called a

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, but the "caliph" would not be the traditional descendant of the

Quraysh tribe The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qu ...

but (Maududi believed) the entire Muslim community, a "popular vicegerency". (Although there would also be an individual leader chosen by the Muslim community.) Thus the state would be not a "theocracy", but a "theodemocracy". Maududi believed that the sovereignty of God (''hakimiya'') and the sovereignty of the people are mutually exclusive. Sovereignty of human beings is simply the domination of man by man, the source of most human misery and calamity. Governance based on sovereignty other than that of God's does not just lead to inferior governance and "injustice and maladministration", but "evil." Therefore, while Maududi used the term democracy to describe his state, (in part to appeal to Westernized Muslim intellectuals), his "

Islamic democracy There exist a number of perspectives on the relationship of Islam and democracy among Islamic political theorists, the general Muslim public, and Western authors. In 2021, a number of Muslim majority countries are Islamic and secular democra ...

" was to be the antithesis of secular Western democracy which transfers ''hakimiya'' (God's sovereignty) to the people, who may pass laws without regard for God's commands. The Islamic state would conduct its affairs by mutual consultation (''shura'') among all Muslims. The means of consultation should suit the conditions of the particular time and place but must be free and impartial. While the government follows the ''sharia'' law, when it comes to a question about which no explicit injunction is to be found in the ''sharia'', the matter is "settled by consensus among the Muslims." Maududi favored giving the state exclusive right to the power of declaring '' jihad'' and '' ijtihad'' (establishing an Islamic law through "independent reasoning"), traditionally the domain of the ''ulama''. ;Rights While no aspect of life was to be considered "personal and private" and the danger of foreign influence and conspiracies was ever present, (nationalism, for example, was "a Western concept which divided the Muslim world and thus prolonged the supremacy of Western imperialist powers"), there would also be personal freedom and no suspicion of government. Maududi's time spent in jail as a political prisoner led him to have a personal interest in individual rights, due process of law, and freedom of political expression. Maududi stated:

This espionage on the life of the individual cannot be justified on moral grounds by the government saying that it is necessary to know the secrets of the dangerous persons.... This is exactly what Islam has called as the root cause of mischief in politics. The injunction of the Prophet is: "When the ruler begins to search for the causes of dissatisfaction amongst his people, he spoils them" (Abu Dawud).

However, the basic human right in Islamic law was to demand an Islamic order and to live in it. Not included were any rights to differ with its rulers and defy its authority. ;Islamic Constitution According to Maududi, Islam had an "

unwritten constitution An uncodified constitution is a type of constitution where the fundamental rules often take the form of customs, usage, precedent and a variety of statutes and legal instruments.Johari, J. C. (2006) ''New Comparative Government'', Lotus Press, N ...

" that needed "to be transformed into a written one". The constitution would not be the ''sharia'' (or the Quran, as Saudi Arabia's constitution is alleged to be) but a religious document based on "conventions" of the "

rightly guided caliphs The Rashidun Caliphs ( ar, الخلفاء الراشدون, translit=al-Khulafāʾ al-Rāshidūn, ), often simply called the Rashidun, are the first four caliphs (lit.: 'successors') who led the Muslim community following the death of the Islam ...

", and the "canonized verdicts of recognized jurists" (i.e. the ''sharia'') as well as the Quran and hadith. ;Model of government In expanding on what the government of an Islamic state should look like in his book ''The Islamic Law and Constitution'', Maududi took as his model the government of Muhammad and the first four caliphs ('' al-Khulafāʾu ar-Rāshidūn''). The head of state should be the supreme head of legislature, executive and judiciary alike, but under him these three organs should function "separately and independently of one another." This head of state should be elected and must enjoy the country's confidence, but he is not limited to terms in office. Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: p. 211 No one is allowed to nominate him for the office, nor to engage in electioneering or run for office, according to another source. Because "more than one correct position" could not exist, "pluralism", i.e. competition between political views/parties, would not be allowed,cited in ''Jasarat'', 28 October 1978, pp. 1, 9, Muhammad Mujeed characterized Mawdudi's program as naive: see Mujeeb, Muhammad, ''The Indian Muslims'', (London, 1967), p. 403 and there would be only one party. On the other hand, Maududi believed the state had no need to govern in the Western sense of the term, since the government and citizenry would abide by the same "infallible and inviolable divine law", power would not corrupt and no one would feel oppressed. Power and resources would be distributed fairly. There would be no grievances, no mass mobilizations, demands for political participation, or any other of the turmoil of non-Islamic governance. Since the prophet had told early Muslims "My community will never agree on an error", there was no need for establishing concrete procedures and mechanisms for popular consultation. Since the state would be defined by its ideology—not by boundaries or ethnicity—its ''raison d'etre'' and protector would be ideology, the purity of which must be protected against any efforts to subvert it. Naturally it must be controlled and run exclusively by Muslims, and not just any Muslims but only "those who believe in the ideology on which it is based and in the Divine Law which it is assigned to administer".Mawdudi, ''Islamic Law'', p. 155 The state's legislature "should consist of a body of such learned men who have the ability and the capacity to interpret Quranic injunctions and who in giving decisions, would not take liberties with the spirit or the letter of the ''sharia''". Their legislation would be based on the practice of '' ijtihad'' (a source of Islamic law, relying on careful analogical reasoning, using both the Qu'ran and Hadith, to find a solution to a legal problem), making it more a legal organ than a political one. They must also be "persons who enjoy the confidence of the masses". They may be chosen by "the modern system of elections", or by some other method which is appropriate to "the circumstances and needs of modern times." Since upright character is essential for office holders and desire for office represents greed and ambition, anyone actively seeking an office of leadership would be automatically disqualified. Non-Muslims or women may not be a head of state but could vote for separate legislators. Originally Maududi envisioned a legislature only as a consultative body, but later proposed using a referendum to deal with possible conflicts between the head of state and the legislature, with the loser of the referendum resigning. Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: p.211-32 Another later rule was allowing the formation of parties and factions during elections of representatives but not within the legislature. In the judiciary, Maududi originally proposed the inquisitional system where judges implement law without discussion or interference by lawyers, which he saw as un-Islamic. After his party was "rescued" from government repression by the Pakistani judiciary he changed his mind, supporting autonomy of the judiciary and accepting the adversarial system and right of appeal.

Failure of Western democracy

Secular Western representative democracy—despite its free elections and civil rights—is a failure for two reasons. Because secular society has "divorced" politics and religion, its leaders have "ceased to attach much or any importance to morality and ethics" and so ignore their constituents' interests and the common good. Furthermore, without Islam "the common people are incapable of perceiving their own true interests". An example being the Prohibition law in the United States, where despite the fact that (Maududi states) "it had been rationally and logically established that drinking is injurious to health, produces deleterious disorder in human society", the law banning alcohol consumption was repealed by the American Congress.

Non-Muslims

Maududi believed that copying cultural practices of non-Muslims was forbidden in Islam, having

very disastrous consequences upon a nation; it destroys its inner vitality, blurs its vision, befogs its critical faculties, breeds inferiority complexes, and gradually but assuredly saps all the springs of culture and sounds its death-knell. That is why the Holy Prophet has positively and forcefully forbidden the Muslims to assume the culture and mode of life of the non-Muslims.

In his commentary on Surah An-Nisa Ayat 160 he wrote

The Jews, on the whole, are not satisfied with their own deviation from the path of God. They have become such inherent criminals that their brains and resources seem to be behind almost every movement which arises for the purpose of misleading and corrupting human beings. And whenever there arises a movement to call people to the Truth, the Jews are inclined to oppose it even though they are the bearers of the Scripture and inheritors of the message of the Prophets. Their latest contribution is Communism – an ideology which is the product of a Jewish brain and which has developed under Jewish leadership. It seems ironical that the professed followers of Moses and other Prophets should be prominent as the founders and promoters of an ideology which, for the first time in human history, is professedly based on a categorical denial of, and an undying hostility to God, and which openly strives to obliterate every form of godliness. The other movement which in modern times is second only to Communism in misleading people is the philosophy of Freud. It is a strange coincidence that Freud too was a Jew.

He was appalled at (what he saw as) the

satanic flood of female liberty and licence which threatens to destroy human civilisation in the West.

Maududi strongly opposed the

sect, a sect which Maududi and many other Muslims do not consider as Muslim. He preached against Ahmadiyya in his pamphlet ''The Qadiani Problem'' and the book ''The Finality of Prophethood''. ;Under the Islamic state The rights of non-Muslims are limited under Islamic state as laid out in Maududi's writings. Although non-Muslim "faith, ideology, rituals of worship or social customs" would not be interfered with, non-Muslims would have to accept Muslim rule.

Islamic 'jihad' does not recognize their right to administer state affairs according to a system which, in the view of Islam, is evil. Furthermore, Islamic 'jihad' also refuses to admit their right to continue with such practices under an Islamic government which fatally affect the public interest from the viewpoint of Islam."

Non-Muslims would be eligible for "all kinds of employment", but must be "rigorously excluded from influencing policy decisions" and so not hold "key posts" in government and elsewhere. Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: p. 237 They would not have the right to vote in presidential elections or in elections of Muslim representatives. This is to ensure that "the basic policy of this ideological state remains in conformity with the fundamentals of Islam." An Islamic Republic may however allow non-Muslims to elect their own representatives to parliament, voting as separate electorates (as in the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

). Maududi, ''Islamic Law and Constitution'', 1977: pp.236, 282, 288–97 While some might see this as discrimination, Islam has been the most just, the most tolerant and the most generous of all political systems in its treatment of minorities, according to Maududi. Non-Muslims would also have to pay a traditional special tax known as jizya. Under Maududi's Islamic state, this tax would be applicable to all able-bodied non-Muslim men—elderly, children and women being exempt—in return from their exemption from military service, (which all adult Muslim men would be subject to). Those who serve in the military are exempted. Non-Muslims would also be barred from holding certain high level offices in the Islamic state. Jizya is thus seen as a tax paid in return for protection from foreign invasion, but also as a symbol of Islamic sovereignty.

... Jews and the Christians ... should be forced to pay Jizya in order to put an end to their independence and supremacy so that they should not remain rulers and sovereigns in the land. These powers should be wrested from them by the followers of the true Faith, who should assume the sovereignty and lead others towards the Right Way.

Jihad

Maududi's first work to come to public attention was ''Al Jihad fil-Islam'' ("Jihad in Islam"), which was serialized in a newspaper in 1927, when he was only twenty-four. In it he maintained that because Islam is all-encompassing, the Islamic state was for all the world and should not be limited to just the "homeland of Islam" where Muslims predominate. '' Jihad'' should be used to eliminate un-Islamic rule everywhere and establish a worldwide Islamic state:

Islam wishes to destroy all states and governments anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and programme of Islam, regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a state on the basis of its own ideology and programme, regardless of which nation assumes the role of the standard-bearer of Islam or the rule of which nation is undermined in the process of the establishment of an ideological Islamic State. Islam requires the earth—not just a portion, but the whole planet.... because the entire mankind should benefit from the ideology and welfare programme f Islam... Towards this end, Islam wishes to press into service all forces which can bring about a revolution and a composite term for the use of all these forces is ' Jihad'.... the objective of the Islamic 'jihād' is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system and establish in its stead an Islamic system of state rule.

Maududi taught that the destruction of the lives and property of others was lamentable (part of the great sacrifice of jihad), but that Muslims must follow the Islamic principle that it is better to "suffer a lesser loss to save ourselves from a greater loss". Though in jihad "thousands" of lives may be lost, this cannot compare "to the calamity that may befall mankind as a result of the victory of evil over good and of aggressive atheism over the religion of God." He explained that jihad was not only combat for God but activity by the rear echelon in support those waging combat (''qitaal''), including non-violent work:

In the jihad in the way of Allah, active combat is not always the role on the battlefield, nor can everyone fight in the front line. Just for one single battle preparations have often to be made for decades on end and the plans deeply laid, and while only some thousands fight in the front line there are behind them millions engaged in various tasks which, though small themselves, contribute directly to the supreme effort.Vol 2. No1. of ''The Faithful Struggle'' in the section entitled "Permanent Jihad."

At the same time he took a more conservative line on jihad than other revivalist thinkers (such as Ayatollah

and

Sayyid Qutb Sayyid 'Ibrāhīm Ḥusayn Quṭb ( or ; , ; ar, سيد قطب إبراهيم حسين ''Sayyid Quṭb''; 9 October 1906 – 29 August 1966), known popularly as Sayyid Qutb ( ar, سيد قطب), was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamic ...

), distinguishing between jihad properly understood and "a crazed faith ... blood-shot eyes, shouting ''Allahu akbar'', decapitating an unbeliever wherever they see one, cutting off heads while invoking ''La ilaha illa-llah'' here is no god but God. During a cease-fire with India (in 1948), he opposed the waging of jihad in Kashmir, stating that Jihad could be proclaimed only by Muslim governments, not by religious leaders.

Mystique, personality, personal life

As the ''

Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

'' (Guide) of Jama'at e-Islami (JI), Mawdudi remained in close contact with JI members, conducting informal discussions every day in his house between

Asr The Asr prayer ( ar, صلاة العصر ', "afternoon prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Asr prayer is technically the fifth prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is ...

and

Maghrib The Maghrib Prayer ( ar, صلاة المغرب ', "sunset prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Maghrib prayer is technically the first prayer of the day. If counted from midni ...

salat prayers, although according to some, in later years discussion was replaced by answers to members' questions with any rebuttals ignored. For his votaries in the Jama'at, Maududi was not only a "revered scholar, politician, and thinker, but a hallowed ''

Mujaddid A ''mujaddid'' ( ar, مجدد), is an Islamic term for one who brings "renewal" ( ar, تجديد, translit=tajdid, label=none) to the religion. According to the popular Muslim tradition, it refers to a person who appears at the turn of every ...

''." Adding to his mystic was his survival of assassination attempts, while the Jama'at's enemies (

, Ghulam Muhammad,

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...

, Ayub Khan,

) "fell from grace" or were killed. He had a powerful command of ''

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' In private he has been described as "strict but not rigid", taciturn, poised, composed, uncompromising and unyielding. His biographers have talked of his ''

karamat In Sunni Islam, ''karamat'' ( ar, کرامات ''karāmāt'', pl. of ''karāmah'', lit. generosity, high-mindedness) refers to supernatural wonders performed by Muslim saints. In the technical vocabulary of Islamic religious sciences, the sin ...

'' (special gifts) and ''haybah'' (great presence)." His public speaking style has been described as having "great authority". Maududi would make his argument step-by-step with Islamic edicts, rather than attempting to excite his audience with oratory. Although he did not publicize the fact, Maududi was a practitioner of traditional medicine or ''unani tibb''.

Family and health

Maududi has been described as close to his wife, but not able to spend much time with his six sons and three daughters due to his commitments to religious

dawah Dawah ( ar, دعوة, lit=invitation, ) is the act of inviting or calling people to embrace Islam. The plural is ''da‘wāt'' (دَعْوات) or ''da‘awāt'' (دَعَوات). Etymology The English term ''Dawah'' derives from the Arabic ...

and political action. Only one of his offspring, ever joined the JI. And only his second daughter Asma, showed "any scholarly promise". Maududi suffered from a kidney ailment most of his life. He was often bedridden in 1945 and 1946, and in 1969 was forced to travel to England for treatment.

Late life

In April 1979, Maududi's long-time kidney ailment worsened and by then he also had heart problems. He went to the United States for treatment and was hospitalized in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, where his second son worked as a physician. Following a few surgical operations, he died on 22 September 1979, at the age of 75. His funeral was held in Buffalo, but he was buried in an unmarked grave at his residence in

Ichhra Ichhra ( Punjabi, ur, ) is a commercial and residential area in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is predominantly a residential and commercial area. Being a very old locality, some very old buildings can be seen in Ichhra. It is noted for its Ic ...

after a very large funeral procession through the city.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi ( ar, يوسف القرضاوي, translit=Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of ...

led the funeral prayer for him.

Legacy

In Pakistan, (where the JI claims to be the oldest religious partyJamaat-e-Islami

GlobalSecurity.org
. Retrieved 1 July 2007.) it is "hard to exaggerate the importance" of that country's "current drift" toward Maududi's "version of Islam", according to scholar Eran Lerman. His background as a journalist, thinker, scholar and political leader has been compared to Indian independence leader

Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following In ...

by admiring biographers. He and his party are thought to have been the most important factors in Pakistan working to generate support for an

. They are thought to have helped inspire General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

to introduce " Sharization" to Pakistan, (''Sharia'' laws decreed by Zia included bans on interest on loans (

), deduction by the government of 2.5% annual

Zakat Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ...

tax from bank accounts, the introduction of Islamic punishments such as stoning and amputation with the 1979

Hudood Ordinances The Hudood Ordinances (Urdu ; also Romanized Hadood, Hadud, Hudud; singular form is ''Hadh'' or ''hadd'') are laws in Pakistan that were enacted in 1979 as part of then military ruler Zia-ul-Haq's "Islamisation" process. It replaced parts of the ...

. One policy of Zia's that was originally proposed by Maududi, and not found in classic Islamic jurisprudence (

), was the introduction of separate electorates for non-Muslims (Hindus and Christians) in 1985.) In return, Maududi's party was greatly strengthened by Zia with 10,000s of members and sympathizers gave jobs in the judiciary and civil service early in Zia's rule. Outside of South Asia, Muslim Brotherhood founder

Hassan al-Banna Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna ( ar, حسن أحمد عبد الرحمن محمد البنا; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna ( ar, حسن البنا), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and imam, b ...

and

read him, according to historian Philip Jenkins. Qutb "borrowed and expanded" Maududi's concept of Islam being modern, Muslims have fallen into pre- Islamic ignorance (''Jahiliyya''), and of the need for an Islamist revolutionary vanguard movement. His ideas influenced

Abdullah Azzam Abdullah Yusuf Azzam ( ar, عبد الله يوسف عزام, translit=‘Abdu’llāh Yūsuf ‘Azzām; ) was a Salafi jihadist, a Palestinian scholar, and theologian of Sunni Islam. During the Soviet–Afghan War of the 1980s, he advocated " d ...

, the Palestinian Islamist jurist and renewer of jihad in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The South Asian diaspora, including "significant numbers" in Britain, was "hugely influenced" by Maududi's work. Maududi even had a major impact on Shia

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is reputed to have met Maududi as early as 1963 and later translated his works into

. "To the present day, Iran's revolutionary rhetoric often draws on his themes." Mawdudi is regarded by many as "the most influential" of the contemporary Islamic revivalist scholars; whose efforts influenced revivalism across the Islamic World. His doctrines would also inspire the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

and shape the ideological foundations of Al-Qaeda. Mawdudi is considered as “second to Qutb" among the intellectual fathers of contemporary militant Islamist movements. According to Youssef M. Choueiri, "all the major contemporary radicalise" Islamist movements (the Tunisian Islamic Tendency, the

Egyptian Islamic Jihad The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...

organization, and the

Muslim Brotherhood of Syria The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria ( ar, الإخوان المسلمون في سوريا, translit=al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn fī Sūrīya) is a Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformatio ...

), "derive their ideological and political programmes" from the writings of Maududi and

. His works have also influenced the leadership of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

in their ideology.

Timeline of Abul A'la Maududi's life

* 1903 – Born in

, Hyderabad State, colonial India * 1918 – Started career as journalist in ''

Bijnore Bijnor is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India Jabalpur Jabalpur is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. According to the 2011 census, it is the third-largest urban agglomeration in Madhya Pradesh and the country's 38th-largest urban agglomeration. J ...

* 1921 – Learned Arabic from Maulana Abdul Salam Niazi in Delhi * 1921 – Appointed as editor daily ''Muslim'' newspaper * 1926 – Took the Sanad of Uloom e Aqaliya wa Naqalia from

Fatehpuri, Delhi * 1928 – Took the Sanad in Jamay Al-Tirmidhi and Muatta Imam Malik Form same Teacher * 1925 – Appointed as editor ''Al-jameeah'', Delhi * 1927 – Wrote '' Al Jihad fil Islam'' * 1933 – Started ''Tarjuman-ul-Qur'an'' from

* 1937 – aged 34, introduced to South Asia's premier Muslim poet-philosopher, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan at

Azam, K.M., ''Hayat-e-Sadeed: Bani-e-Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan (A Righteous Life: Founder of Dar ul Islam Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan)'', Lahore: Nashriyat, 2010 (583 pp., Urdu) * 1938 – Aged 35, moved to

Pathankot Pathankot is a city and the district headquarters of the Pathankot district in Punjab, India. Pathankot is the 6th most populous city of Punjab, after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda. Its local government is a municipal co ...

from Hyderabad Deccan and joined the Dar ul Islam Trust Institute, which was established in 1936 by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan on the advice of Allama Muhammad Iqbal for which Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan donated of land from his vast estate in Jamalpur, 5 km west of Pathankot * 1941 – Founded

, British India; appointed as Amir * 1942 – Jamaat's headquarters moved to

* 1942 – Started writing a commentary of the Qur'an called ''

Tafhim-ul-Quran ''Tafhim-ul-Quran'' ( ur, تفہيم القرآن, lit=Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Tafheem-ul-Quran) is a 6-volume translation and commentary of the Qur'an by the Pakistani Islamist ideologue and activist Syed Abul Ala Maududi. Maududi beg ...

'' * 1947 –

Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami (JI; Urdu: , "Islamic Congress"), or Jamaat as it is simply known, is an Islamist political party which is based in Pakistan and it is the Pakistani successor to Jamaat-e-Islami, which was founded in colonial India in 1941. It ...

headquarters moved to

, Pakistan * 1948 – Campaign for Islamic constitution and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

* 1948 – Thrown in jail by the Pakistani government for fatwa on jihad in Kashmir * 1949 – Pakistani government accepted Jamaat's resolution for Islamic constitution * 1950 – Released from jail * 1953 – Sentenced to death for his historical part in the agitation against Ahmadiyya to write a booklet '' Qadiani Problem''. He was sentenced to death by a military court, but it was never carried out; * 1953 – Death sentence commuted to life imprisonment and later canceled. * 1958 – Jamaat-e-Islami banned by Martial Law Administrator Field Martial Ayub Khan * 1964 – Sentenced to jail * 1964 – Released from jail * 1971 – In the question of united Pakistan or separation of the

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

(later

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

) he relinquished his authority to East Pakistan Shura (consultative body of Jamaat) * 1972 – Completed ''

'' * 1972 – Resigned as Ameer-e-Jamaat * 1978 – Published his last book "Seerat-e-Sarwar-e-Aalam" in two volumes. * 1979- Received

King Faisal International Prize The King Faisal Prize ( ar, جائزة الملك فيصل, formerly King Faisal International Prize), is an annual award sponsored by King Faisal Foundation presented to "dedicated men and women whose contributions make a positive difference". T ...

* 1979 – Left for the United States for a medical treatment * 1979 – Died in Buffalo, United States * 1979 – Buried in

, Lahore

Selected bibliography

Maududi wrote 73 books, 120 booklets and pamphlets, and made more than 1000 speeches and press statements. His magnum opus was the 30 years in progress translation (

tafsir Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

) in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Qur’an, ''Tafhim ul-Qur’an'' ('' The Meaning of the Qur'an''), intended to give the Qur’an a self-claim interpretation. It became widely read throughout the South Asia and has been translated into several languages. Some of his books translated into English. * '' Al Jihad fil Islam''. Written in 1927, it was Mawdudi's first book, at the age of 24, comprising some 600 pages and hailed by

"as the best explication of the concept of jihad in any language." * '' Towards Understanding Islam'' * ''Purdah & the Status of Women in Islam'' * ''The Islamic Law and Constitution'' * '' Let us be Muslims '' * '' The Islamic Way of Life '' * '' The Meaning of the Qur'an '' * ''A Short History of the Revivalist Movement in Islam'' * ''

Human Rights in Islam Human rights in Islam may refer to: * ''Human Rights in Islam'' (book), a 1976 book by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami * Human rights in Islam (speech), a 1987 speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei See also * Human rights in I ...

'' * ''Four basic Qur'anic terms'' * ''The process of Islamic revolution'' * ''Unity of the Muslim world'' * ''The moral foundations of the Islamic movement'' * '' Economic System of Islam'' * ''The road to peace and salvation'' * '' The Qadiani Problem'' * ''The Question of Dress'' * '' The Rights of Non-Muslims in Islamic State'' * '' Caliphate and Kingship (Khilafat o Malookiat)'' Also some famous book by Albul Ala Maududi. * '' Islamic Law and its Introduction in Pakistan'' * '' Khutabat: Fundamentals of Islam'' * '' System of Government Under the Holy Prophet''

References

Notes

Citations

Books and articles

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Website dedicated to Maududi

Al-Quran
project includes Abul Ala Maudidi's translation with
Maududi's Tafhim al-Qur'an in English

Towards Understanding the Qur'an
– Official Site
Towards Understanding the Qur'an

Download Maududi's works

Download English translations of many books by Maududi

Download Bengali translations of many books by Maududi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maududi, Abul Ala Abul Ala Maududi 1903 births 1979 deaths People from Aurangabad, Maharashtra Jamaat-e-Islami politicians Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam Pakistani Islamists Islamic democracy activists Translators of the Quran into Urdu Pakistani journalists Urdu-language non-fiction writers Pakistani theologians Pakistani scholars of Islam Pakistani Islamic religious leaders Quranic exegesis scholars Hanafi fiqh scholars 20th-century Pakistani philosophers 20th-century translators People from Marathwada Pakistani people of Hyderabadi descent Pakistani prisoners and detainees Muhajir people Muslim reformers Critics of Ahmadiyya Anti-capitalists Pakistani religious writers Pakistani educators Islamic philosophers Mujaddid Shaykh al-Islāms Islamists Pakistani prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment 20th-century journalists Emirs of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan