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Syed Abul A'ala Maududi [2] (Urdu: سید ابو الاعلىٰ مودودی - alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi and Modudi) (September 25, 1903 - September 22, 1979), also known as Molana (Maulana) or Shaikh Syed Abul A'ala Mawdudi, was a Sunni Pakistani journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist Leader and political philosopher, and a major 20th century Islamist thinker.[3] He was also a prominent political figure in his home country (Pakistan). He was also the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami the Islamic revivalist party.[4]
[edit] Biography[edit] Timeline
[edit] Early lifeMawdudi was one of the descendants of Khwaja Qutb ad-din Mawdud al-Chishti, a notable of the Chishtiyya Tariqa. Hazrat Muinuddin al-Chishti of Ajmar (Rahmatullahi 'Alayh) was Qutb ad-din's caliph, one of those who were ordered and given permission by him to guide the people who wanted to learn.[citation needed] Syed Abul A'ala Maududi was born on September 25, 1903 (Rajab 3, 1321 AH) in Aurangabad, then part of the princely state of Hyderabad (presently Maharashtra), India. Syed Abul A'ala Maududi was born to Maulana Ahmad Hasan, a lawyer by profession. Syed Abul A'ala Maududi was the youngest of his three brothers.[7] His father was "descended from the Chishti line of saints; 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)[8] At an early age, Maududi was given home education, he "received religious nurture at the hands of his father and from a variety of teachers employed by him."[8] He soon moved on to formal education, however, and completed his secondary education from Madrasah Furqaniyah. For his undergraduate studies he joined Darul Uloom, Hyderabad (India). His undergraduate studies, however, were disrupted by the illness and death of his father, and he completed his studies outside of the regular educational institutions.[7] His instruction included very little of the subject matter of a modern school, such as European languages, like English.[8] He reportedly translated Qasim Amin's The New Woman into Urdu at the age of 14[9] and about 3500 pages from Asfar, a work of the mystical Persian thinker Mulla Sadra.[10]  [edit] Journalistic careerAfter the interruption of his formal education, Maududi turned to journalism in order to make his living. In 1918, he was already contributing to a leading Urdu newspaper, and in 1920, at the age of 17, he was appointed editor of Taj, which was being published from Jabalpore (now Madhya Pradesh). Late in 1920, Maududi went to Delhi and first assumed the editorship of the newspaper Muslim (1921-23), and later of al-Jam’iyat (1925-28), both of which were the organs of the Jam’iyat-i Ulama-i Hind, an organization of Muslim religious scholars.[11] According to Israr Ahmad he worked for sometime at Darul Islam an Islamic research academy established by Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.[12] [edit] Founding the Jamaat-e-IslamiMain article: Jamaat-e-Islami In 1941, Maududi founded Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in British India as a religious political movement to promote Islamic values and practices. After the Partition of India, JI was redefined in 1947 to support an Islamic State in Pakistan. JI is currently the oldest religious party in Pakistan.[13] With the Partition of India, JI split into several groups. The organisation headed by Maududi is now known as Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. Also existing are Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and autonomous groups in Indian Kashmir, also in Sri Lanka.[13] Maududi was elected Jamaat’s first Ameer (President) and remained so until 1972 when he withdrew from the responsibility for reasons of health.[13] [edit] Political StruggleIn the beginning of the struggle for the state of Pakistan, Maudidi and his party were against the idea of creating a separate state of Pakistan. He did criticize other leaders of the Muslim league for wanting Pakistan to be a state for Muslims and not an Islamic state. After realizing that India was going to be partitioned and Pakistan created, he began to support the idea. Maududi moved to Pakistan in 1947 and worked to turn it into an Islamic state, resulting in frequent arrests and long periods of incarceration. In 1953, he and the JI led a campaign against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan resulting in selective declaration of martial law.[13] He was arrested by the military deployment, which included Rahimuddin Khan, and sentenced to death on the charge of writing a seditious pamphlet about the Ahmadiyya issue. He turned down the opportunity to file a petition for mercy, expressing a preference for death rather than seeking clemency. Strong public pressure ultimately convinced the government to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment. Eventually, his sentence was annulled.[11] [edit] Last DaysIn 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, where his second son worked as a physician. During his hospitalization, he remained intellectually active. Following a few surgical operations, he died on September 22, 1979, at the age of 76. His funeral was held in Buffalo, but he was buried in an unmarked grave at his residence in Ichhra, Lahore after a very large funeral procession through the city.[11] [edit] Islamic beliefs and ideologyMaududi wrote over 120 books and pamphlets and made over a 1000 speeches and press statements. His magnum opus was the 30 years in progress translation (tafsir) in Urdu of the Qur’an, Tafhim al-Qur’an (The Meaning of the Qur'an), intended to give the Qur’an a practical contemporary interpretation. It became widely read throughout the subcontinent and has been translated into several languages.[11] [edit] JihadBecause Islam is all-encompassing, Maududi believed that the Islamic state should not be limited to just the "homeland of Islam". It is for all the world. 'Jihad' should be used to eliminate un-Islamic rule and establish this Islamic state:
He explained that jihad was not only combat for God but all effort that helped those waging combat (not undermining the importance of combat (Qita'al):
[edit] IslamMawdudi saw Muslims not as people who followed the religion of Islam, but as everything, "Everything in the universe is 'Muslim' for it obeys God by submission to His laws." The only exception to this universe of Muslims were human beings who failed to follow Islam. In regard to the non-Muslim:
[edit] ShariaMaududi believed that without Sharia law Muslim society could not be Islamic:
[edit] Islamic stateMaududi also believed that Islam required the establishment of an Islamic state. The state would be a "theo-democracy,"[18] and underlying it would be three principles: tawhid (oneness of God), risala (prophethood) and khilafa (caliphate).[19][20][21] The "sphere of activity" covered by the Islamic state would be "co-extensive with human life ... In such a state no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private."[22] The state would follow Sharia Islamic law, a complete system covering
Consequently, while this state has a legislature which the ruler must consult, its function "is really that of law-finding, not of law-making."[24] Mawdudi believed that the sovereignty of God (hakimiya) and the sovereignty of the people are mutually exclusive.[25] Therefore, he declared Islamic democracy to be the antithesis of secular Western democracy which transfers hakimiya (God's sovereignty) to the people.[26] [edit] Non-MuslimsThe 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.
Non-Muslims would also have to pay a special tax known as jizya. This tax is applicable to all able adult Non-Muslims, except old and women, who do not render military service. Those who serve in military are exempted. It must be noted that all adult Muslim men are subject to compulsory military service, whenever required by the Islamic State. Jizya is thus seen as a protection tax payable to the Islamic State for protection of those those Non-Muslims adult men who do not render military service.[citation needed] Maududi believed that copying cultural practices of non-Muslims was forbidden in Islam, having
Maududi strongly opposed the Ahmadiyya sect and the idea that Ahmadiyya were Muslims. He preached against Ahmadiyya in his pamphlet The Qadiani Question and the book The Finality of Prophethood.[29] [edit] Criticism and controversy[edit] PoliticalA general complaint of one critic is that Maududi's theo-democracy is an
On a more conceptual level, journalist and author Abelwahab Meddeb questions the basis of Maududi's reasoning that the sovereignty of the truly Islamic state must be divine and not popular, saying "Mawdudi constructed a coherent political system, which follows wholly from a manipulation." The manipulation is of the Arabic word hukm, usually defined as to "exercise power as governing, to pronounce a sentence, to judge between two parties, to be knowledgeable (in medicine, in philosophy), to be wise, prudent, of a considered judgment." The Quran contains the phrase `Hukm is God's alone,` thus, according to Maududi, God - in the form of Sharia law - must govern. But Meddeb argues that a full reading of the ayah where the phrase appears reveals that it refers to God's superiority over pagan idols, not His role in government.
Quranic "commentators never forget to remind us that this verse is devoted to the powerlessness of the companion deities (pardras) that idolaters raise up next to God…"[31] Initially Maududi openly opposed Muhammed Ali Jinnah and his struggle for Pakistan. Critics consider this view of Maududi being prejudice and based on sectarian differences, as Maududi was a staunch Sunni Muslim while Jinnah was a Shia Muslim by Background. [edit] ClericalMaududi is said to have received "sustained hostility" from the ulema.[32] Muhammad Yusuf Banuri(d. 1397/1977) is quoted as saying
He has been criticised by some Deobandi scholars, such as Allamh Yusuf Ludhyanwi,[35] for what was seen as disrespect towards the Sahabah (Companions of the prophet Muhammad) and the Mahdi. Maududi has been criticised by salafist author Jamaal Ibn Fareehaan al-Haarithee for "rejection of the Dajjal", as Maududi is alleged to have claimed [36] that the prophet Muhammad "used to think that the Dajjaal (Anti-Christ) would come out in his time, or close to his time. However, 1350 years passed away and many long generations came and went, yet the Dajjaal did not come out. So it is confirmed that what the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) thought did not prove true!!” [37] Maududi's alleged believed in this theory was explained by its being an "opinion and analogical deduction" of Muhammad while al-Haarithee considers this shirk (polytheism) as the Quran says “And he does not speak from his own desire. It is revelation inspired to him.” [38] Other clerics who've criticizing Maududi are Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri - [39], Hammaad al-Ansaaree[40] and Al-Albaanee, Sanaullaah Amritsari [41] In an article entitled Fatwa about the Deviation of Mawdudi, Mawdudi is accused of being "CIA agent"; of attempting to solve "the main principles of Islam" using "his own reason," and departing from "Islamic knowledge"; and of preaching revolution when, "Islam would spread not through revolution but through knowledge, justice and morals."[34] [edit] Legacy Mawdudi's influence was widespread. According to historian Philip Jenkins, Egyptians Hassan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb read him. Qutb "borrowed and expanded" Mawdudi's concept for being a modern as well as pre-Muhammadan phenomenon, and of the need for an Islamist revolutionary vanguard movement. His ideas influenced Abdullah Azzam, the Palestinian Islamist jurist, who in turn influenced the young Osama bin Laden during the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan. The South Asian diaspora, including "significant numbers" in Britain, were "hugely influenced" by Mawdudi's work. Mawdudi even had a major impact on Shia Iran, where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is reputed to have met Mawdudi as early as 1963 and later translated his works into Farsi. "To the present day, Iran's revolutionary rhetoric often draws on his themes." [42] Mostly, however, Mawdudi influenced South Asia. In Pakistan, Jamaati party members joined Pakistan's military and intelligence establishments in large numbers, which were "rife with hard-line Islamist views" by the 1970s.[42] [edit] Documentary - Related Videos[edit] See also
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[edit] External links
Categories: 1903 births | 1979 deaths | Islamic studies scholars | Islamism | Muhajir (Pakistan) | Jamaat-e-Islami | Muslim scholars | Muslim scholars of Islam | Qur'an translators | Pakistani Muslims | Pakistani Sunni Muslims | Pakistani writers | Urdu nonfiction writers | Urdu-language writers | Hyderabad State | Pakistani theologians | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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