Abul A'la Maududi
Syed Abul A'la Maududi Chishti (Urdu: ابو الاعلی مودودی; September 25, 1903 – September 22, 1979), also known as Abul A'la Maududi, was a journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher. He was the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the first recipient of the King Faisal International Award. He has been the second person in history whose absentee funeral was observed in the Kaaba.
Quotes
1960s
- Human relations are so integrated that no state can have complete freedom of action under its principles unless the same principles are not in force in a neighbouring country. Therefore, a, ‘Muslim Party’ will not be content with the establishment of Islam in just one area alone –both for its own safety and for general reform. It should try and expand in all directions. On one hand it will spread its ideology; on the other it will invite people of all nations to accept its creed, for salvation lies only therein. If this Islamic state has power and resources it will fight and destroy non-Islamic governments and establish Islamic states in their place.
- 1964, Haqiqat-i-Jihad, page 64, Taj Company Ltd, Lahore, Pakistan 1964.
- It [Jamaat-e-Islami] is not a missionary organisation or a body of preachers or evangelists, but an organisation of God’s troopers.
- 1964, Haqiqat-i-Jihad, page 58, Taj Company Ltd, Lahore, Pakistan.
- [Islam] leaves no room of human legislation in an Islamic state, because herein all legislative functions vest in God and the only function left for Muslims lies in their observance of the God-made law.
- 1967 Islamic Law and Constitution, Mawdudi's writings collected and translated into English by Khurshid Ahmad, p. 77; quoted in: Charles J. Adam, "Mawdudi and the Islamic State," in John L. Esposito, ed., Voices of Resurgent Islam, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983) on page 125.
1970s
- It must now be obvious that the objective of the Islamic jihad is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system, and establish in its place an Islamic system of state rule. Islam does not intend to confine his rule to a single state or a hand full of countries. The aim of Islam is to bring about a universal revolution. Although in the initial stages, it is incumbent upon members of the party of Islam to carry out a revolution in the state system of the countries to which they belong; their ultimate objective is none other than world revolution.
- 1970, Jihad in Islam' (Jihad Fi Sabillilah), Transl. Abdul Waheed Khan, page 20, Islamic Publications Ltd, Pakistan.
- German Nazism could not have succeeded in establishing itself except as a result of the theoretical contributions of Fichte, Goethe and Nietzsche, coupled with the ingenious and mighty leadership of Hitler and his comrades.
- 1977, Minhaj al-inqilab al-Islami. (The method of Islamic Revolution) p. 19.
- 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.
- 1978, Towards Understanding Islam, Chapter 7, Lahore, Pakistan.
- The Qur'an is not a book of abstract theories and cold ideas, which one can grasp while seated in a cozy armchair. Nor is it merely a religious book like other religious books, whose meanings can be grasped in seminaries and oratories. On the contrary, it 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 abandon his life of solitude and confront the world that was living in rebellion against Allah. It inspired him to raise his voice against falsehood, and pitted him in a grim struggle against the lords of disbelief, evil and iniquity. One after the other, from every home, 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.
- 1979, Tafhimul Qur'an, Vol. I, Lahore, pp. 334.
After 1970s
- In our domain we neither allow any Muslim to change his religion nor allow any other religion to propagate its faith.
- 1981, Murtad ki Saza Islami Qanun Mein, Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi, page 32, Lahore Islamic Publications Ltd, 8th edition.
- The real place of women is the house and she has been exempted from outdoor duties…She has however been allowed to go out of the house to fulfil her genuine needs, but whilst going out she must observe complete modesty. Neither should she wear glamorous clothes and attract attention, nor should she cherish the desire to display the charms of the face and the hand, nor should she walk in a manner which may attract attention of others. Moreover she should not speak to them without necessity, and if she has to speak she should not speak in a sweet and soft voice.
- Purdah and the status of Women in Islam, 1991, p. 140, Taj Company Ltd, Lahore, Pakistan.
About
- Take the case of those Muslims who opposed Jinnah and his communalist demand for partition. While Aligarh was a hotbed of Pakistani agitation, the Deoband school advocated the gradual Islamization of the entire united India. The godfather of modern Islamic fundamentalism, Maulana Maudoodi, was one of the staunchest opponents of Partition. He claimed that the Muslims had a right to rule all of India.
- Quoted from Elst, Koenraad (1991). Ayodhya and after: Issues before Hindu society.
- Among the scions of the Deoband school we find Maulana Maudoodi, the chief ideologue of modern fundamentalism. He opposed the Pakistan scheme and demanded the Islamization of all of British India. After independence, he settled in Pakistan and agitated for the full Islamization of the (still too British) polity. Shortly before his death in 1979, his demands were largely met when general Zia launched his Islamization policy.
- Elst, Koenraad. Negationism in India: concealing the record of Islam.