The family had a long-standing
tradition of spiritual leadership and a number of Maududi’s ancestors were
outstanding leaders of Sufi Orders. One of the luminaries among them, the
one from whom he derived his family name, was Khawajah Qutb al-Din Maudud
(d. 527 AH), a renowned leader of the Chishti Sufi Order. Maududi’s
forefathers had moved to the Subcontinent from Chisht towards the end of
the 9th century of the Islamic calendar (15th
century of the Christian calendar). The first one to arrive was Maududi’s
namesake, Abul A’la Maududi (d. 935 AH).Maududi’s father, Ahmad Hasan,
born in 1855 AD, a lawyer by profession, was a highly religious and devout
person. Abul A’la was the youngest of his three sons.
Educational &
Intellectual Growth:
After acquiring early education at
home, Abul A’la was admitted in Madrasah Furqaniyah, a high school which
attempted to combine the modern Western with the traditional Islamic
education. After successfully completing his secondary education, young
Abul A’la was at the stage of undergraduate studies at Darul Uloom,
Hyderabad, when his formal education was disrupted by the illness and
eventual death of his father. This did not deter Maududi from continuing
his studies though these had to be outside of the regular educational
institutions. By the early 1920s, Abul A’la knew enough Arabic, Persian
and English, besides his mother-tongue, Urdu, to study the subjects of his
interest independently. Thus, most of what he learned was self-acquired
though for short spells of time he also received systematic instruction
and guidance from some competent scholars. Thus, Maududi’s intellectual
growth was largely a result of his own effort and the stimulation he
received from his teachers. Moreover, his uprightness, his profound regard
for propriety and righteousness largely reflect the religious piety of his
parents and their concern for his proper moral upbringing.
Involvement in
Journalism:
After 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, a city in the province now called Madhya
Pradesh, India. Late in 1920, Maududi came 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 organisation of Muslim religious scholars. Under his
editorship, al-Jam’iyat became the leading newspaper of the Muslims
of India.
Interest in
Politics:
Around the year 1920, Maududi also
began to take some interest in politics. He participated in the Khilafat
Movement, and became associated with the Tahrik-e Hijrat, which was
a movement in opposition to the British rule over India and urged the
Muslims of that country to migrate en masse to Afghanistan.
However, he fell foul of the leadership of the movement because of his
insistence that the aims and strategy of the movement should be realistic
and well-planned. Maududi withdrew more and more into academic and
journalistic pursuits.
First Book:
During 1920-28, Maulana Maududi also
translated four different books, one from Arabic and the rest from
English. He also made his mark on the academic life of the Subcontinent by
writing his first major book, al-Jihad fi al-Islam. This is a
masterly treatise on the Islamic law of war and peace. It was first
serialised in al-Jam’iyat in 1927 and was formally published in
1930. It was highly acclaimed both by the famous poet-philosopher Muhammad
Iqbal (d. 1938) and Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar (d. 1931), the famous
leader of the Khilafat Movement. Though written during his ’20s, it is one
of his major and most highly regarded works.
Research &
Writings:
After his resignation from al-Jam’iyat
in 1928, Maududi moved to Hyderabad and devoted himself to research and
writing. It was in this connection that he took up the editorship of the
monthly Tarjuman al-Qur’an in 1933, which since then has been the
main vehicle for the dissemination of Maududi’s ideas. He proved to be a
highly prolific writer, turning out several scores of pages every month.
Initially, he concentrated on the exposition of ideas, values and basic
principles of Islam. He paid special attention to the questions arising
out of the conflict between the Islamic and the contemporary Western
whorl. He also attempted to discuss some of the major problems of the
modern age and sought to present Islamic solutions to those problems. He
also developed a new methodology to study those problems in the context of
the experience of the West and the Muslim world, judging them on the
theoretical criterion of their intrinsic soundness and viability and
conformity with the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. His writings
revealed his erudition and scholarship, a deep perception of the
significance of the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah and a critical
awareness of the mainstream of Western thought and history. All this
brought a freshness to Muslim approach to these problems and lent a wider
appeal to his message.
In the mid ’30s, Maududi started
writing on major political and cultural issues confronting the Muslims of
India at that time and tried to examine them from the Islamic perspective
rather than merely from the viewpoint of short-term political and economic
interests. He relentlessly criticised the newfangled ideologies which had
begun to cast a spell over the minds and hearts of his brethren-in-faith
and attempted to show the hollowness of those ideologies. In this
connection, the idea of nationalism received concerted attention from
Maududi when he forcefully explained its dangerous potentialities as well
as its incompatibility with the teachings of Islam. Maududi also
emphasised that nationalism in the context of India meant the utter
destruction of the separate identity of Muslims. In the meantime, an
invitation from the philosopher-poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal persuaded him
to leave Hyderabad and settle down at a place in the Eastern part of
Punjab, in the district of Pathankot. Maududi established what was
essentially an academic and research centre called Darul-Islam
where, in collaboration with Allama Iqbal, he planned to train competent
scholars in Islamics to produce works of outstanding quality on Islam, and
above all, to carry out the reconstruction of Islamic Thought.
Founding the Party:
Around the year 1940, Maududi
developed ideas regarding the founding of a more comprehensive and
ambitious movement and this led him to launch a new organisation under the
name of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Maududi was elected Jamaat’s
first Ameer and remained so till 1972 when he withdrew from the
responsibility for reasons of health.
Struggle &
Persecution:
After migrating to Pakistan in
August 1947, Maududi concentrated his efforts on establishing a truly
Islamic state and society in the country. Consistent with this objective,
he wrote profusely to explain the different aspects of the Islamic way of
life, especially the socio-political aspects. This concern for the
implementation of the Islamic way of life led Maududi to criticise and
oppose the policies pursued by the successive governments of Pakistan and
to blame those in power for failing to transform Pakistan into a truly
Islamic state. The rulers reacted with severe reprisal measures. Maududi
was often arrested and had to face long spells in prison.
During these years of struggle and
persecution, Maududi impressed all, including his critics and opponents,
by the firmness and tenacity of his will and other outstanding qualities.
In 1953, when he was sentenced to death by the martial law authorities on
the charge of writing a seditious pamphlet on the Qadyani problem, he
resolutely turned down the opportunity to file a petition for mercy. He
cheerfully expressed his preference for death to seeking clemency from
those who wanted, altogether unjustly, to hang him for upholding the
right. With unshakeable faith that life and death lie solely in the hands
of Allah, he told his son as well as his colleagues: "If the time of my
death has come, no one can keep me from it; and if it has not come, they
cannot send me to the gallows even if they hang themselves upside down in
trying to do so." His family also declined to make any appeal for mercy.
His firmness astonished the government which was forced, under strong
public pressure both from within and without, to commute the death
sentence to life imprisonment and then to cancel it.
Intellectual
Contribution:
Maulana Maududi has written over 120
books and pamphlets and made over a 1000 speeches and press statements of
which about 700 are available on record.
Maududi’s pen was simultaneously
prolific, forceful and versatile. The range of subjects he covered is
unusually wide. Disciplines such as Tafsir, Hadith, law,
philosophy and history, all have received the due share of his attention.
He discussed a wide variety of problems C political, economic, cultural,
social, theological etc. C and attempted to state how the teachings of
Islam were related to those problems. Maududi has not delved into the
technical world of the specialist, but has expounded the essentials of the
Islamic approach in most of the fields of learning and inquiry. His main
contribution, however, has been in the fields of the Qur’anic exegesis (Tafsir),
ethics, social studies and the problems facing the movement of Islamic
revival. His greatest work is his monumental tafsir in Urdu of the
Qur’an, Tafhim al-Qur’an, a work he took 30 years to complete. Its
chief characteristic lies in presenting the meaning and message of the
Qur’an in a language and style that penetrates the hearts and minds of the
men and women of today and shows the relevance of the Qur’an to their
everyday problems, both on the individual and societal planes. He
translated the Qur’an in direct and forceful modern Urdu idiom. His
translation is much more readable and eloquent than ordinary literal
translations of the Qur’an. He presented the Qur’an as a book of guidance
for human life and as a guide-book for the movement to implement and
enforce that guidance in human life. He attempted to explain the verses of
the Qur’an in the context of its total message. This tafsir has
made a far-reaching impact on contemporary Islamic thinking in the
Subcontinent, and through its translations, even abroad.
The influence of Maulana Maududi is
not confined to those associated with the Jamaat-e-Islami. His
influence transcends the boundaries of parties and organisations. Maududi
is very much like a father-figure for Muslims all over the world. As a
scholar and writer, he is the most widely read Muslim writer of our time.
His books have been translated into most of the major languages of the
world C Arabic, English, Turkish, Persian, Hindi, French, German, Swahili,
Tamil, Bengali, etc. C and are now increasingly becoming available in many
more of the Asian, African and European languages.
Travels & Journeys
Abroad:
The several journeys which Maududi
undertook during the years 1956-74 enabled Muslims in many parts of the
world to become acquainted with him personally and appreciate many of his
qualities. At the same time, these journeys were educative for Maududi
himself as well as they provided to him the opportunity to gain a great
deal of first-hand knowledge of the facts of life and to get acquainted
with a large number of persons in different parts of the world. During
these numerous tours, he lectured in Cairo, Damascus, Amman, Makkah,
Madinah, Jeddah, Kuwait, Rabat, Istanbul, London, New York, Toronto and at
a host of international centres. During these years, he also participated
in some 10 international conferences. He also made a study tour of Saudi
Arabia, Jordan (including Jerusalem), Syria and Egypt in 1959-60 in order
to study the geographical aspects of the places mentioned in the Qur’an.
He was also invited to serve on the Advisory Committee which prepared the
scheme for the establishment of the Islamic University of Madinah and was
on its Academic Council ever since the inception of the University in
1962.
He was also a member of the
Foundation Committee of the Rabitah al-Alam al-Islami, Makkah, and
of the Academy of Research on Islamic Law, Madinah. In short, he was a
tower of inspiration for Muslims the world over and influenced the climate
and pattern of thought of Muslims, as the Himalayas or the Alps influence
the climate in Asia or Europe without themselves moving about.
His Last Days:
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 hospitalised in Buffalo, New York,
where his second son worked as a physician. Even at Buffalo, his time was
intellectually productive. He spent many hours reviewing Western works on
the life of the Prophet and meeting with Muslim leaders, their followers
and well-wishers.
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 (Ichra)
in Lahore after a very large funeral procession through the city.
May Allah bless him with His mercy
for his efforts and reward him amply for the good that he has rendered for
the nation of Islam (Ummah).
