The Islamic Movement - Islamicstudies.info

1 The Islamic Movement dynamics ofValues, Power and Change MAlJLANA SA YYID ABUL A'LA MAliDUDI Edited by Khurram Murad MARKAZI MAKTABA ISLAMI PUBLISHERS NEWDELID-25 Human Welfare Trust Publication No. 508 Human Welfare Trust All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storetl in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the-copyright owner. Name of the Book The Islamic Movement dynamics of Values, Power and Change Pages: 144 Author MAULANA SA YYID ABUL A'LA MAUDUDI lSt Edition Edited by Khurram Murad Jan 2001 Price : Rs.

2 Published in India by: Markazi Maktaba Isl~mi Publishers D-307 Abul Fazl Enclave, lamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi -110025 Ph: 6911652, 6317858 Fax : 68209 E-Mail : mmipub@ Printed at: MackoffPrinters, Delhi -6 1000 Contents INTROI>UCTION .. Objective of the Islamic Movement .. 2 Power and Society The Main Objective of Islam .. 3 The Role of Moral Power. The Physical and the Moral in Man .. The Role of Moral Factors .. Two Categories of Moral Attributes .. Basic Human Morals .. Islamic Morals .. Orientation of Basic Morals .. Widening the Scope of Basic Morals.

3 A Higher Level of Morals .. Law of God Regarding the Leadership .. of Comparative Roles of Moral and Physical Powers .. Decisive Role of Morality .. Morality, the Real Power .. The Muslim Decline. 4 Islamic Morality Four Grades .. /man .. /slllm .. Taqwa .. 1/ysbn .. 3 5 71 77 79 93 93 94 95 95 97 97 98 99 99 101 103 104 105 ill Ill 112 115 116 119 5 Conclusion .. lndex ~The Qur'anic Verses .. 4 133 137 Human Welfare Trust Publication No. 508 Human Welfare Trust All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storetl in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the-copyright owner.

4 Name of the Book The Islamic Movement dynamics of Values, Power and Change Pages: 144 Author MAULANA SA YYID ABUL A'LA MAUDUDI lSt Edition Edited by Khurram Murad Jan 2001 Price : Rs. Published in India by: Markazi Maktaba Isl~mi Publishers D-307 Abul Fazl Enclave, lamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi -110025 Ph: 6911652, 6317858 Fax : 68209 E-Mail : mmipub@ Printed at: MackoffPrinters, Delhi -6 1000 Introduction I This book is a new and extended English version of an immensely important work by Sayyid Abu! A 'Ia Mawdudi (1903-1979) on the nature and dynamics of the Islamic Movement : TeiJrik Jsllonl kl Akhliiql Bunyiidain (Lahore, 1973).

5 The original text in Urdu was delivered on 8 Jamadi ai-Awwal, 1364/21 April, 1945 as the concluding address to the First All India Conference of the Jama'at Islami at Darul Islam, Pathankot (now in Punjab, India). Since then it has gone through innumerable prints, both as a separate booklet and as a part of two larger books: Rudiid Jama 'at lsliiml. Volume Three -The Proceedings of Jama'at Islami -(Lahort!, 1969, first published 1945), and Is/lim kQ Ni;;ltm Zindagl-The Way of Life in Islam-(Lahore, 1962). An English translation has also been appearing since 1976 under the title The Moral Foundations of the Islamic Movement (Lahore, 1976).

6 Why, then, is it being published again now? Because it is a basic work of lasting importance and value. It is essential reading for all those whose Islam, surrender to one Cod, is not confined to their individual selves, or privatised, but also encompasses their societies; put simply: all those whO have joined the contemporary Islamic Movement . Also for those who wish to understand the phenomenon of the Islamic resurgence. Yet the current translation is rather unsatisfactory. More importantly, I felt that the present needs of the Islamic Movement , many developments in ideas since its first 5 publication, and some responses to its main themes require its extension in certain directions.

7 A task which, as I shall explain, I have reluctantly but dutifully and joyously undertaken. ! 1 Four decades ago what Sayyid Mawdudi had to say needs to be said and heard now as greatly as then; rather more emphatically now than at the critical moment when it was said originally. Now, as then, the issues he raises and deals with are neither ephemeral nor peripheral, but fundamental in their nature and central to the proper understanding of islam and its role in history. The themes he dwells upon-like the importance of leadership and power, the moral nature of power, the primacy of values and moral authority in life and history, the inextricable link between faith (fmlm) and effort (Jihad), the need for organisational struggle -still remain alive and crucial.

8 The contradictions and misconceptions he exposes -like the half way house of Islam, distorted order of priorities, divided loyalties, outward religiosity -still reside in hearts and minds. The message he delivers-of fidelity and integrity, of effort and striving, of bringing aU power and aU powers under God, of breathing true life and meaning into outward religious life -still retains its vitality, need and force. Nothing has lost its relevance and urgency, nor its appeal and potency. In fact everything has increased in view of the increasing momentum of the world-wide Islamic resurgence.

9 Four decades ago he was addressing a Jama at Islami which was still in its infancy, in the fourth year of its life.* Today it has grown into a vast, powe_rful Movement . Its organisation is firmly rooted in four countries -Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, and its presence can be felt almost everywhere. Indeed Sayyid Mawdudi's thought wields an influence which extends far beyond the territorial boundaries of any one country, spanning across continents. But, more than that, emanating at the same time from many places in the Muslim world, the Islamic Movement has now *The Jama'at J~lami wa~ formed, as u result of Sayyid Mawdudi's call, in Lahore, now in Pakistan, on 2 Sha'ban 1360/26 August 1941, in a gathering of about 75 persons.

10 Sayyid Mawdudi was elected it> first Amir. 6 become a global phenomenon. And, more than ever, therefore, is the need for a clear and cogent discourse on the objectives and values that shape it, and the factors and forces that determine its outcome in this world. This is a desideratum of great importance for the men and women who are making their commitment to Islam in larger and larger numbers. This work by Sayyid Mawdudi should make a significant contribution to that end. Four decades have also been a period of great fermentation and change for the Islamic Movement .