Maulana Maududi, Religious Figures
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Maulana Maududi
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Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi (سيد أبو الأعلى المودودي, alternative spelling Syed Maudoodi; often referred to as Maulana Maududi) (1903-1979) was one of the most influential Muslim theologians of the 20th century and the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamic Party), an Islamic political party in Pakistan. Maulana Maududi's philosophy, literary productivity and tireless activism contributed immensely to the development of Islamic political and social movements around the world. Maulana Maududi's ideas profoundly influenced Sayyid Qutb of Egypt's Jamiat al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun ("Muslim Brotherhoodââ¬?) another leading Muslim philosopher of the 20th century. Together, Maududi and Qutb are considered the founding fathers of the global Islamic revival movement.
Ancestry
Maulana Maududi, born on Rajab 3, 1321 AH (September 25, 1903 AD) in Aurangabad city of Hyderabad (now Maharashtra) state, India. He was a sayyid, a purported descendent of the Prophet Muhammad. Among his ancestors were many other spiritual leaders, including a prominent cleric of the Chishti Sufi Order, Khawajah Qutb al-Din Maudud. Maulana Maududi's forefathers moved to South Asia from Chisht, near Herat in Afghanistan, near the end of the 15th century AD. Maulana Maududi's father, Ahmad Hasan, born in 1855 AD, was a lawyer. Maulana Maududi was the youngest of his three sons.
Early life
Maulana Maududi was home-schooled before attending Madrasah Furqaniyah, a famous high school in Hyderabad which is, despite being named "Madrassah", not an Islamic seminary. He attended college at Darul Uloom in Hyderabad but withdrew when his father became terminally ill. He knew enough Arabic, Persian, English, and his native tongue Urdu to continue his studies independently.
In 1918, at the age of 15, he began working as a journalist for a leading Urdu newspaper to support himself, and in 1920, he was appointed editor of Taj, published in Jabalpore city in what is now Madhya Pradesh state, India. By 1921, Maulana Maududi moved to Delhi to work as editor for the Muslim newspaper (1921-1923), and later for al-Jam'iyat (1925-1928), publications by the Jam'iyat-i 'Ulama-i Hind, a political organization of Muslim scholars mainly associated with Deoband. Under Maulana Maududi's editorial leadership, al-Jam'iyat became the leading newspaper for South Asian Muslims.
Maulana Maududi participated in the Khilafat Movement and Tahrik-e Hijrat, South Asian Muslims organizations opposed to British colonial occupation. He urged India's Muslims to migrate en masse to Afghanistan to escape the British rule. During this period, Maulana Maududi began translating books from Arabic and English to Urdu. He also authored his first major book, al-Jihad fi al-Islam ("Jihad in Islam") published serially in al-Jam'iyat in 1927 and as a book in 1930. al-Jihad fi al-Islam is still considered one of Maulana Maududi's literary masterpieces.
In 1933, Maulana Maududi became editor of the monthly Tarjuman al-Qur'an ("Interpreter of the Qur'an"). He wrote extensively about Islam and, in particular, the conflict between Islam and external forces of imperialism and modernization. He interpreted Islamic solutions and presented an Islamic perspective to the everyday problems faced by Muslims under British rule, on the problems of Western military domination over South Asia and on the corrupting influences of Western culture on Islamic society.
Together with the philosopher-poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Maududi established an academic center named Darul-Islam in Pathankot city of Punjab province. The goal of the academy was to train scholars in the political philosophy of Islam. Maulana Maududi developed a highly critical perspective of Western concepts, such as nationalism, pluralism and feminism, which he viewed as imperialist tools to undermine non-Western societies and enforce Western domination over the lives of Muslims. He proposed that the Muslim world should purge itself of foreign elements and wage jihad ("struggle") until all of humanity was united under Islamic rule. He translated the Qur'an into Urdu and wrote prolifically on numerous aspects of Islamic law and culture.
Political emergence
By 1941, Maulana Maududi founded Jamaat-e-Islami to promote an Islamist agenda in South Asia. Maulana Maududi was elected as the Jamaat's first Ameer (President) and he was re-elected every year until 1972 when he resigned for health reasons.
Maududi strongly opposed the idea of creating Pakistan, a separate Muslim country. But after the independence in 1947, Maulana Maududi migrated to Pakistan. He began working to build an Islamic state and society. He relentlessly criticized the secular policies of the nascent state and berated Pakistani leaders for failing to create an Islamic political order. Maulana Maududi was persecuted, arrested and imprisoned for advocating his political beliefs through his writing and speeches. In 1953, Maulana Maududi's pamphlet criticizing the Ahmadis as un-Islamic resulted in widespread rioting and violence in Pakistan. A military court sentenced Maulana Maududi to death for sedition. He refused to apologize for his actions or to request clemency from the government. He demanded his freedom to speak and accepted the punishment of death as the will of God. His fierce commitment to his ideals caused his supporters worldwide to rally for his release and the government acceded, commuting his death sentence to a term of life imprisonment. Eventually the military government pardoned Maulana Maududi completely.
Maulana Maududi's goal was to make his form of Islam the supreme organizing principle for the social and political life of the Muslims. The primary concept Maulana Maududi's propounded was Iqamat-i-Deen, literally "the establishment of religion." According to this principle, society and the state are totally subordinate to the authority of Islamic law as revealed in the Qur'an and practiced by Muhammad. This concept is one of the main reasons why he was against the partition of India and hence the creation of Pakistan. He believed that the creation of Pakistan would cause the citizens of Pakistan to put the interest of the state above the demands of religion ie Islam.
Maulana Maududi interpreted religion to be the central frame of reference for all human activity. He did not believe that religion was simply a private choice, as it is viewed in secular societies. He believed that religion must be manifest in all social, economic and political spheres of society. In Islamic societies, this meant that Shari'a should be the law of the land for all citizens, replacing non-Islamic civil and criminal law.
Maulana Maududi traveled extensively between 1956 and 1974 to spread his message to Muslims throughout the world. He delivered inspirational lectures to Muslim communities in Cairo, Damascus, Amman, Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Kuwait, Rabat, Istanbul, London, New York, Toronto and many other cities. He made a pilgrimage and research expedition through Saudi Arabia, Jordan (including Jerusalem), Syria and Egypt in 1959-1960 to the locales mentioned in the Qur'an. On September 22, 1979, Maulana Maududi died at age 76 in Buffalo, New York. His funeral was held in Buffalo, but he was buried in an unmarked grave at his residence (Ichra) in Lahore after a procession thronged by teeming multitudes of followers.
Philosophy
Maulana Maududi's goal was to make Islam the supreme organizing principle for the social and political life of the Muslim ummah. The primary concept Maulana Maududi's propounded was iqamat-i-deen, literally "the establishment of religion." According to this principle, society and the state are totally subordinate to the authority of Islamic law as revealed in the Qur'an and practiced by Muhammad.
Maulana Maududi believed that the entire course of Islamic history was a continuous struggle between Islam and different brands of ignorance. Islam was not guaranteed victory in every battle, but Maulana Maududi believed that if Muslims were true to their religion, Islam would eventually triumph over ignorance. In his incrementalist vision, the construction of an Islamic state originates from within pious individuals who transform society from within. First, Islam spurs individual transformation. Pious Muslims develop communities of faith. These communities, in turn, mass into ideological movements that generate peaceful social change. The end result is an Islamic society and true Islamic state based on the will of the people.
Achievements
Maulana Maududi wrote more than 120 books and pamphlets and gave over 1000 speeches (700 were recorded for wider distribution.). His main subject matter was Qur'anic exegesis (Tafsir), ethics, social studies and the problems facing the Islamic revival movement. His monumental Urdu analysis of the Qur'an, Tafhim al-Qur'an ("Chapter Introductions to the Qur'anâ�), took 30 years to complete. [1] The tome explicates the relevance of the Qur'an as a guide to solving the mundane problems in life at the level of the individual and society. The book has been translated into Arabic, English, Turkish, Persian, Hindi, French, German, Swahili, Tamil, and Bengali and is continuously being translated into a wider variety of languages.
Maulana Maududi raised a revolutionary clarion call for freedom and Islamic revival during a period of malaise and subjugation. The Ottoman Empire had imploded, self-serving European and American interpretations of civilization colonized and exploited the people and resources of the Muslim world. Maulana Maududi called on Muslims to look inward to find strength in Islam and to struggle for a more just society built on Islamic principles.
Maulana Maududi invigorated the Muslim world with his interpretation of Islam's potential to change individuals and society. His prolific writings, life of piety and absolute belief in the righteousness of Islamic society catalyzed social and political change through national and global Islamic movements. The impact of Maulana Maududi's life work continues to be felt throughout the Islamic and non-Islamic world today.
Criticisms
- Maududi has been an intensely controversial figure. Criticism has come both from secularists and from within the Islamic religious establishment. Many of the ulama who were involved in the founding of the Jama`at-e Islami left shortly afterwards in protest against Maududi's policies and leadership style. Both Barelwi and Deobandi ulama have accused Maududi of having turned Islam upside down.
- From the Barelvii side, a representative critique is that offered by Shaikh al-Islam Sayyid Muhammad Madani Ashrafi who authored a series of books on Maududi's misunderstanding and abuse of traditional Islamic terminology. Foremost amongst Deobandi scholars who have written formal refutations of Maududi is Shaikh Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhalwi, the late hadith scholar and influential figure in the Tablighi Jama`at. Kandhalwi's book "Fitna-e Mawdudiyyat" begins with a mention of how Maududi was expelled from his madrassah studies for insubordination. Both authors concur that Maududi's self-education led him to develop a distorted understanding of Islam. They claim Maududi and his movement urge Muslims to take up religious rituals (prayer, etc.) in order to prepare for acquiring state power, whereas some other Aalim's (professor) understanding is that the rituals of Islam are the purpose of life, and state power is a means to establishing the worship of Allah. The critics also point out that Maududi seemed to have no control over his pen and an unlimited sense of his own importance. He repeatedly denigrated the traditional ulama and the sufis, and, more grievously, defamed the prophets of Allah in his "Tafhim al-Quran" and elsewhere, and the Companions of the Prophet in "Khilafat wa Mulukiyyat."
- Secular and Muslim critics say that Maududi's political theory, like that of Sayyid Qutb in Egypt, is more influenced by Stalin or Mussolini than by the Qur'an and Hadith and the example of seventh-century Madina, while the majority of Muslims regard this view as completely borne out of ignorance and a hatred of Islam.
- Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, the Amir (Head) of Jamaati Islami, devoted himself to the study of theology in 1927. Despite his great learning, immense knowledge and forceful style of Urdu, his critics ââ¬â especially ulema of the Deoband and Lucknow schools ââ¬â say that his lack of training in theological discipline was his great weakness. He criticized the Jamiyat Ulamai Hind for its composite nationalist theory which exposed Muslim India to the serious dangers of religio-cultural absorption into Hinduism, yet simultaneously attacked Muhammad Ali Jinnah's Muslim nationalism as no less dangerous than Congress nationalism. There was no difference to him whether the irreligious Muslims of India survived in the form of Pakistan or not (Musalman or Mau Judah Siyasi Kashmakash (Muslims and present political tussle) , Pathankot, 1946, 6-7). It is in the tradition of medieval Christianity, and not of Islam, that Maulana Maudoodi developed the original ideals of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and the Khairi brothers' Hukumati Ilahiyya. St Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes provided him with the non-Islamic concepts of orthodoxy, dogma and heresy ââ¬â and also with the rhetoric of intolerance age.
Dr. Haider Maudoodi, the son of Maulana Maudoodi, has openly denounced the actions of Jamaati Islami, the very same Jamaat his father formed and a Jamaat that is following his example to the letter. He stated in The Nation on 1/27/99 that his father would not allow his children to go near Jihad, but would sell this idea to millions of others; he would never allow any of his children to read any of his 80 books. While Jamaati Islami was encouraging an uprising by Kashmiri's against the Indian occupation, Haider Maudoodi stated, "Islam does not allow them taking up arms against the Stateâ� and praised Pakistani's for not allowing religious extremists like Jamaati Islami members from attaining many seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan. "My father though he could only use the people who came to him. But in his old age, he did get a taste of his medicine. When he was on his deathbed, these Maulana's treated him as dirt.â�
- Maududi also has been accused by secularists and some Western thinkers of being a key source of the extremism which caused the issue of Ahmadis in Pakistan, and the passage of highly problematic "blasphemy" and "Hudood" laws that have led to many human-rights violations being committed against religious minorities and women. However, his followers, known as the Jamatis, deny the accusations and call it unfair, seeing as Maududi and his party Jamaat-e-Islami have always emphasised the illegitimacy of violent acts of terrorism, which the party has condemned.
