Mawdudi’s Affirmation and Denial of Islamic Change as A Systemic Process
1. Islamic Change as a Change in the Leadership of the Human World
What is Sayyid Abdul A’ la Mawdudi’s view of ” Islamic Change”? What is, in his view, the nature of transformation brought about by Islam in the individual as well as in the society? These and such other questions will be discussed in the following pages. In view of the radical nature of transformation, Mawdudi sometimes calls it “Islami inqilab” 1 or “The Islamic revolution”. But he holds that this revolution is altogether different from all other revolutions.2 Challenging the misunderstanding of those who viewed the formation of an Islamic State as predominantly a political change, Mawdudi emphasized repeatedly that Islamic change is much deeper than mere political change.3 He always underlined the significance of political power 4- as will be clear from the following discussion. Still according to him, in its own nature, a political change as such, remains a superficial change5. Likewise, Islamic revolution is in no way similar to a political revolution.6 Just as blood revolution can never be a way of bringing about the Islamic change. In fact, Mawdudi uses the word “inqalab” (”revolution”) in this context, only to underline that a whole new world is born out of this radical change.7
However, as the founding President of Jamaate-e-Islami, Mawdudi made it repeatedly clear that the ultimate goal of the strivings of his party was “Change of Leadership in Today’s World.8″ The human world is full of corruption and oppression because corrupt and unjust people run its affairs. People who do not fear God and thereby have no sense of responsibility concerning their moral obligations in human affairs have the leadership of the world in their hands. The remedy lies in bringing about the leadership of conscientious and responsible people9. Mawdudi, therefore, stands for the leadership of the pious or salihin.10 This change in leadership however is not a mere change of hands.11 Mawdudi’s interest lies mainly in the change of hearts and minds. In fact, he aims at a change in the affairs of the world, and a change of social reality as a whole, which is brought about through a revolution in people’s ways of thinking and behaving.12 Even before the formation of Jamaat-e-Islami, Mawdudi had been emphasized “Islam is, in fact, a revolutionary ideology and way of life. This revolutionary ideology wants to change the prevalent social order of the world. Muslims are, in principle, that revolutionary party which Islam organizes to attain its desired revolutionary program.”13 However, Muslims will have to change themselves in order to be able to change the world. This revolution must first come in the lives of the Muslim people themselves.
2. Total Change in Outlook and Behavior
According to Mawdudi, religious transformations are attitudinal changes, which emerge from changes in one’s outlook in life.14 He repeatedly emphasizes that one can not avoid answering the fundamental questions the Religion (al-Din) raises concerning the purpose and destiny of human life. Intentionally or unintentionally, one has to decide for oneself: “What is the purpose of my life?15 ‘’Am I responsible to someone or am I free to enjoy
life my own way?” “Where do I go after my death? ‘’ Or “Is death the end of everything for me?'’
Three Basic Attitudes Based on Three Worldviews*
According to Mawdudi there are basically three attitudes in this regard, which are based upon three worldviews. He also discusses three epistemic approaches leading to these different worldviews.
(i) The mistake of treating our sense-perception as the only source of knowledge and thereby rejecting any reality which lies beyond our observation in this life necessarily leads to the misunderstanding that there is no life after death and that humans are not responsible for their actions to God. One may even believe that God does not guide human life or that He does not even exist. Mawdudi calls this way of life the way of pure ignorance (Jahiliyat) because it is devoid of Divine Guidance, which is the only source of knowledge concerning the Hidden Part of Reality or Ghayb. Mawdudi explains that this worldview necessarily leads to irresponsible behavior, which causes corruption, mutual exploitation, and arrogance. It fills the world with oppression and injustice in social and economic life and causes extravagance and misuse of the earth’s resources.16
(ii) While corrupt people with the Jahili (devoid of Divine guidance) outlook, thus control worldly affairs, people of good nature develop another extreme attitude, which is again based on mere whim or conjecture and not on knowledge.
*In fact, Mawdudi counts four worldviews. But he says that in practical life and social dealings there is not much of a difference between. polytheists (holders of mushrikana jahilyat) and materialists who believe in atheism. According to him polytheism is the doctrine of the weak-minded people who are otherwise materialistic in their approach.
These people would retire from social life and consider worldly pleasures as illusions, which take us away from higher and more valuable spiritual pursuits. They consider wordly life is a prison for the human soul. Therefore, such persons follow ascetic ways of life, suppressing their bodily needs and comforts and looking for spiritual progress.17
(iii) According to Mawdudi, the above mentioned questions are related to the Hidden Part of Reality (or Ghayb) where the only scientific (or knowledge-based) approach is that of the prophets of God.18 Mawdudi brings the following reasoning in support of his assertion that the prophetic approach alone is scientific in this context:19
The prophets of God who are honest and sensible persons claim a special relationship with Ghayb. Whatever they say makes sense. They pass the pragmatic test when their approach is put into practice by a community of believers; it works very well in human life and bears good fruits.
The approach of the prophets of God leads to a responsible attitude in human life. According to the prophets of God the earth’s resources are for the benefit of all servants of God and those who possess or manipulate these resources have to account to Him on the Day of Judgement.20 Ultimately, we all return to God. Likewise we have to account for the use of our abilities and skills. By giving us the freedom to act the way we choose, God is only testing us.21 He wants to see how we conduct ourselves in this life and how we do our duty to Him and his creations. He has given us reason (’aql), the ability to think and make moral judgments. He has revealed His guidance to His prophets and messengers. To thank God for both of these blessings, we must act wisely _ following the Divine Guidance and trying to make this world a better place.
This clearly suggests the kind of change involved in following the path of the prophets of God. Enjoyment of worldly pleasures is no more the sole concern of the people. Their most important concern, of course, is the pleasure of their Lord. To be able to do their duty, believers have to involve themselves in worldly affairs. They share the world’s pleasures and pains with other servants of God. At the same time they look forward to the everlasting pleasures of the Hereafter, which their sincere efforts are is expected to bring. When they undergo any hardship, e.g., in the fulfillment of their duty to their fellow human beings, they are sure that God, who knows their intentions and who is fully aware of their situation, will fully appreciate their efforts and that they will be doubly rewarded.
3. The Prophets of God: Their Mission and Their Tawhidic Message
The above description should give some idea of the nature of revolution brought about by the prophets and messengers of God. The prophets of God liberate their people22 from slavery to what is other than God and from the domination of Man over Man. They call humans to become servants of One God, Who alone is the Lord of all human beings. The prophetic movement is, in fact, a striving against shirk (the lordship of Man over Man) and thereby against all corruption, exploitation, and the social, economic and political injustice that is deep-rooted in a shirk-based system. Thus, the efforts of the prophets of God are directed toward making their people One Community23 (what the Quran calls Ummah Wahidah as opposed to an ummah mutafarriqah or divided community) of the fellow-servants (or co-’ibad) of One God. When people thus truly become one family, the class struggle is replaced by mutual concern and cooperation. Those who are well-off are concerned with the downtrodden and share their resources with them. This is unlike a shirk-based system in which the wealthy use their wealth exploit the poor and where ‘might is right’. According to the tawhidic approach, on the other hand, it is the duty of the strong to protect and support the weak and the strong feel this responsibility. In a system based upon the lordship of Man over Man, even the priests and religious leaders, instead of educating the illiterate masses and thus making them free, which is the main purpose of Religion-teach them to be blind followers so that they can exploit them.24
The prophets of God invite their people to the tawhidic message and organize those who say “yes” to their call. They take care of believers’ spiritual and moral training and their self-purification25. Mawdudi repeatedly emphasizes that the routine program of prayer and worship and other religious customs and rites aim at preparing the believers individually as well as collectively, to carry on the tawhidic mission in a world which fails to be truly tawhidic and in which zulm (injustice and oppression) operates.26
The tawhidic movement of the prophets of God is a threat to the unjust shirk-based system.27 Quite naturally, unjust people, whose vested interests are threatened by the tawhidic call to economic and social justice, rise against the tawhidic movement.28 The prophets of God and their followers are advised to be tolerant and, preferably to, return good for evil.29 In short, the patience, steadfastness, wisdom, forgiveness and courage, which the believers display during this conflict, helps to further these people’s spiritual and moral growth and development30. The same is true of the conflict that arises today when, under the impact of Islamic Movement, a common man or woman is spiritually and morally transformed. He or she faces problems in the job or at home because his or her thinking has altogether changed. The people who are accustomed to the corrupt ways of their society fail to appreciate the honesty, truthfulness and other beauties of a transformed character. Mawdudi points out that he is always waiting for reports of such conflicts. He is very eager to know how wisely they are dealt with. And when there is no such news he is inclined to conclude that the tawhidic message has not yet reached the people31.
4. Mawdudi’s Tawhidic Movement and the Prophetic Movement:
The above is not a precise statement of Mawdudis’ description of the tawhidic movement of the prophets of God. Instead of presenting a straightforward copy of Mawdudi’s description, I have filled in some missing pieces from the Qur’an and omitted a number of details from his own description, for the sake of brevity. The key is that, Mawdudi identifies his movement with the tawhidic movement of the prophets of God.32 It is important to note that there have not been many prophetic movements. This is the same tawhidic movement that was initiated by Noah, when the original ummah wahidah,33 with which human family started its journey in the very beginning, was divided. And it is the same movement that was again and again revived by Abraham, Moses, Jesus and so many other prophets of God throughout the world. It is the same movement that was finally revived by the Prophet Muhammad. But as the Prophet himself underlined, his own ummah (community of followers) will produce persons who will take up the revivalist task at the end of every century34. Mawdudi is performing this tajdidi (that is, revivalist’s) job without claiming to be a mujaddid. He does not care for the title; nor does he think that in order to be a mujaddid one has to claim to be a mujadidd. Of course some mujaddids informed their people about their status as such. Mawdudi’s work “Tajdid wa Ihya-i Din” gave him an opportunity to review the work of earlier revivalists (mujaddidin) and to point out what kind of revivalist work would be needed in the future.35 Mawdudi briefly discusses the hadith reports related with the coming of an ‘imam mahdi’ (or ‘a guided leader).36 We will not go into all these details. What is important from our perspective is that Mawdudi is quite clear in the concept of Islam as a movement.37 With great clarity and courage, Mawdudi invites the world to join his movement, as he sees it, an effort to revive the movement of the prophets of God.38 (At the outset, his focus is on the Muslim Community of The Indian Sub-Continent.) Mawdudi asserts that his own movement and the prophetic movement are one and the same because they both share the same tawhidic mission39 and that there is a determination on his part to follow the methodology followed by the prophets of God. However, Mawdudi makes it clear in his “Witness to the Truth” and some other places that there would be many such parallel movements working at the same time. He hopes they will all become one at the end. Leading a tawhidic movement involves striving so that humankind becomes free of all domination of Man over Man-free from all zulm (oppression and injustice), corruption and exploitation which is an offshoot of shirk or the lordship of Man over Man. Historians and scholars of various religions can make their own judgement as to how correct is Mawdudi’s description of the prophetic movements. That is an altogether different concern. In the following, however, we will explain, in our own words, what is actually involved in seeing Islam as a tawhidic process. Later we shall also discuss a number of difficulties, which we face in light of some affirmations, which Mawdudi also makes.
However, before we proceed to this task we need to clarify Mawdudi’s use of “prophetic movement.”40 It is well known that due to his strong support for the Movement for the Finality of Prophethood, the Martial Court of Pakistan sentenced Mawdudi to death on May 11, 1953.41 The judgment was revoked immediately before his scheduled execution. This was due to a huge reaction from the Muslims of Pakistan and Muslims throughout the world.42 The question arises, if Mawdudi so strongly believes that there will be no more prophets, what is his point in using the term ‘prophetic movement’ in this context. Obviously, Mawdudi wants to emphasize the identity of the movement of the Prophet Muhammad with the movement of all the prophets. This can be of value in the development of a better relationship between Muslims and the rest of the world’s religious people. Muslims would feel (e.g.) concerning many religions that, in spite of very obvious differences, our origin is the same. Likewise, the believers of the other religions would feel good when they discovered Muslims hold some of their heroes and great religious leaders in such a high esteem.43 We are well aware of the growing emphasis in the global interfaith* movement on sustainable society, social and economic justice, and preservation of Earth’s resources as well as other critical issues of prime importance to the prophetic movement.44 Mawdudi’s work prepared the ground for cooperation on the part of Muslim communities in such a growth of the interfaith movement which is the only hope for our plural world, which otherwise seems to be heading toward self-destruction.
5. Islam as a Tawhidic Process
It is due to the impact of Sayyid Mawdudi that the writer of this paper sees Islam as a tawhidic process. ‘That there is no god but One God’ is a realization and a commitment, which initiates a systematic social change liberating humans from all slavery to any other than God as if a chain-reaction has started, if we were to take an analogy from the world of chemistry. This principle is directed toward making all humans One Community of the servants of One God, the Lord of all humankind.45 The Tawhidic movement has an epistemic dimension, what Mawdudi calls ‘liberating human minds from the mental slavery’ of their tradition and from the blind following of their scholars and leaders, thus making people think with their own minds.46 In its social and economic dimension, others direct the tawhidic movement against all domination of some humans as well as against their mutual exploitation. The Qur’an has a way of cutting all roots of mutual hatred, envy and division that arise among human groups.47 The Qur’an is against discrimination but not against distinctions’ against hatred and mutual exploitation but not against coexistence and plurality.48 The Tawhidic approach creates mutual respect and mutual concern among humans, turning them into what I call “co-’ibad” or “fellow servants” of God who mutually share their resources, virtually behaving as one family. People become Ummah Wahidah (One, undivided, community) as the Quran calls it in which mutual conflict and class struggle is replaced by cooperation and concern, and in spite of various kinds of differences a strong feeling of being one binds peoples together49. Thus shirk-lordship of Man over Man-divides and tawhid unites.50 Unlike tawhidic community, in a shirk-based system the rich instead of sharing their resources with the poor further exploit them; blood, and the strong instead of giving their support to the weak use their power to keep them in control, if not even to crush them. In the epistemic dimension of tawhid, it is the Revealed Guidance in Divine Words that works as an instrument of liberation. It makes the minds of the believers (who are now the readers of the Book) free from rigid human-made legal systems and from blind following of their religious leaders51 as well as from their slavery to other authorities. The Book continually liberates the Ummah Muslimah (the Muslim Community), as its believers keep receiving fresh enlightenment through its readings leading to an authentic creative thinking (ijtihad).
6. The Present Tawhidic Movement
The Process of Understanding and Living the Qur’an
It is important to note that in its Quranic descriptions the epistemic dimension of tawhid precedes its social dimension.52 In fact, the Qur’ an repeatedly describes Islam as a tawhidic process, and in doing so underlines its epistemic dimension. Consider ayah 39:22, which tells the story in which a person’s heart opens to the Tawhidic Truth and thereby he/she starts walking in the light of the Qur’ an. But this could very well be the history of a community of believers. The individual could be the Prophet himself or any believer whose heart opens to the Tawhidic Truth. What is important, after tawhidic realization (and thereby commitment), the later life of this individual (or community) becomes a journey in Divine Light-understanding and thereby receiving inspiration from the Quran, as he/she/it (i.e the Quranic Community) lives the Qur’an or applies the
Qur’anic guidance to life. While the later part of the ayah expresses sorrow for the terrible deprivation of those who remained blind to the Tawhidic Truth, the following ayah further underlines the epistemic as well as the spiritual value of the Book which was earlier named “Divine Light” or more literally “Light of his Lord”. Or consider ayah 6:122 which introduces a new metaphor, that of “life”. Realization of the Tawhidic Truth by an individual (or even by a people) is, in fact, a dead body’s becoming alive. The Quran repeatedly speaks of Revelation as “ruh” or “spirit” which is the essence of that higher form of life, which humans share. Revelation contains immense possibilities of enlightenment. These may lead to unlimited growth and development in human life and thought. It is very interesting to note that the ayah underlines interaction of the Quranic Community (or that of the individual reader of the Quran) with the rest of the world as ‘his walking in “an-nas “or “the people”‘ signifies. The preceding literary context is related with the legislative role of the Revealed Guidance in Divine Words and the following ayat further highlight the epistemic role of the Book in the context of a shirk-based society, where criminal and corrupt leadership dominates.
7. Mawdudi on the Place of Reason (’Aql)
We hope that the tawhidic epistemology implicit in the above will not be unclear to an intelligent reader. It follows from the Qur’anic postulate that God creates as well as guides53. ‘Aql or reason is innate guidance-guidance ingrained in human nature. God has given ‘aql to human beings so that they can think and to find their way. It is a great blessing of God. It is expected that if humans use their reason-and are not led astray by temptations and such other factors that stand in the way of a truthful and virtuous life and thereby vlur the reason- they will find their way and not lose it. However, out of His Mercy God also reveals guidance. Its most important mode is Revealed Guidance in Divine Words, e.g. the Qur’an, Injil, Torah, and scriptures revealed to Abraham and Noah. It is important that the prophets of God lived the Guidance (revealed to them in Divine Words) in their own lives and explained it to their people in their own words. In the performance of these duties God was guiding the prophets. Therefore, the sunnah of the prophets also gives us revealed guidance in an extended meaning of the word ‘revelation’. 2*
Now it is required that the Islamic scholars working in the contemporary world in the methodology of knowledge work out how reason and revelation, in the above two forms, should work together. It is well known that Islam emphasizes fresh thinking and ijtihad and that there has been great lack of continuity in this regard. In the second quarter of the twentieth century, Mawdudi is the person who saw the need for fresh thinking and ijtihad more than any one else. In his address to the Student’s Association of Nadwatul ‘Ulama, Lucknow, on January 5, 1941, Mawdudi emphasized that Islam can not regain its leadership of the world, without having a lead in knowledge, fresh thinking and research54. Obviously the need for further development of the methodology of knowledge in Islam, in the contemporary perspective, should be at the top of the issues that need our attention. However, as we pointed out above, Mawdudi himself was so much involved in other** matters of immediate concern that scarcely any progress was made in this direction by him or under him. On the other hand, Mawdudi’s style of dealing with some subjects of importance to him creates misunderstanding about his approach as a whole. We will discuss only two examples:
In his polemic against rationalists (’aql prasts), Mawdudi is interested in establishing that reason alone is not sufficient to guide human life. Divine Guidance or Revelation is also needed. Essentially, in his lecture “Din–i Haq”55 (or “The True Religion”), he seems to be arguing very forcibly against reason or ‘aql56, which the Qur’an honors so much. The Qur’an always speaks of ‘aql (use of reason) as something desirable. According to the Qur`an believers share the habit of using ‘aql and the disbelievers fail to do so; and for this reason the Qur’an severely criticizes the disbelievers.57 The disbeliever’s who fail to use ‘aql, thereby fail to receive guidance.58 The Qur’an emphasizes that humans are answerable for the use of their intellectual faculties, i.e., for the use of sam’ah (the faculty of gaining knowledge from others e.g. through hearing), basar (observation or experience) and fu’ad (the faculty of thinking, reflecting or intuiting)58. But Mawdudi’s point in Din-i Haq should not be misunderstood. He is not arguing against those who believe in using reason (or ‘aql); on the contrary, he is arguing against those who reject Revelation and who seem to believe that reason is sufficient and that, revelation is not required. Here, Mawdudi shares his line of argument with Islamic scholars who would say: reason is not sufficient, therefore revelation is required.59 It is very similar to the argument of those who say that Qur’an is not sufficient, therefore, Hadith is also required. As we consider in the following, Mawdudi also shares this line of reasoning with a number of Muslim scholars. The writer of this paper does not appreciate this way of arguing, which resembles saying “Be a revelationist instead of being a rationalist,” if not even saying “Be a revelationist in spite of being a rationalist.” Obviously if we follow the Qur’anic line of argument we would say, “Follow the Revelation, if at all you are a rationalist, in the true sense of the word.” And in fact, if you define Revelationalism as the school according to which the Qur’an is a source of knowledge and guidance, you should also say, “We can not claim to be revelationalists unless we are rationalists in the true sense of the word.”
According to this view, if some so-called Islamic scholars are unable to understand the Qur’an and in spite of Qur’an’s repeated implicit emphasis on Hadith and Sunnah, they do not see that Hadith is required or that Hadith is necessary,60 they should be taught the method of understanding the Quran and should be given training in the art of understanding the Quran.61 We must not confuse the whole issue by arguing from the insufficiency of the Qur`an to the need of Hadith or Sunnah. Likewise, due to the lack of proper*development of philosophy some scholars very naively reject the belief in revelation as totally irrational. And some other thinkers, due to the same deficient perspective, readily conclude that reason is not sufficient for guidance, or even that philosophy is only a source of misguidance.
At other places, Mawdudi himself emphasizes the use of reason and severely criticizes people’s blind following of their (religious and other) leaders.62 In fact, the above misunderstanding arises because we fail to see that Din-i Haq is not a book of philosophy even though in it Mawdudi seems to be discussing some, philosophical issues for the common readers of the Muslim world, and it has been quite effective in impressing them. However, the book achieves its objective at a very high cost. Students of Western Philosophy are shocked when they see that great schools of philosophy like “Rationalism” and “Empiricism” are being dealt with in such an unphilosophical fashion and then rejected so hurriedly63. They do not know that Mawdudi’s rhetoric is only directed toward liberating the graduates of western colleges from mental slavery to the West.
However, it is true that Rationalism is quite often understood in the West in such a way that it develops an inner contradiction. According to this conception of Rationalism, as soon as a believer in reason also believes in revelation, even if he/she is compelled by strong reasons to do so, then he/she fails to be a rationalist. But suppose a person’s thoroughgoing rational approach leads her or him to revelation, then should that rationalist, in the wider and truer sense of the word, irrationally reject this finding or shed off of this irrational brand of rationalism?
It is quite obvious to us that in this case a person’s rational inquiry has brought him/her to a juncture, after which reason and revelation will work together as two genuine sources of knowledge and guidance. We hope that this is the point at which Mawdudi stands.
8. Mawdudi on the Place of Sunnah
However, in his polemic with those who accept the authority of Revelation, Mawdudi’s concern is to establish that both the Qur`an and the Sunnah are needed as sources of guidance.64 Here his struggle is directed against those scholars that advocate that the Quran is sufficient for guidance and that Hadith is not required as a source of gaining knowledge or guidance in Islam. This clearly shows Mawdudi’s acute interest in the methodology of knowledge. However, despite his interest in the two primary sources of knowledge in Islam, he does not give sufficient attention to the study of the difference in the nature of the two sources of guidance and knowledge. Likewise, he does not work out in detail the nature of mutual relationship between these two basic sources65 as something of value in the methodology of knowledge in Islam. He does not even seem to care much about how these two basic sources actually work together in a well-defined methodology of knowledge, with the help of a third, very basic source (even instrument) of guidance, knowledge and understanding in Islam, i.e. reason or ‘aql. As we know, the Qur’an gives to reason, the status of innate guidance.66 It is hard to believe that Mawdudi was not concerned with the development of a comprehensive methodology of ijtihad and fresh creative thinking in the contemporary perspective. The only reasonable interpretation is that Mawdudi left this job for future generations of Islamic scholars in the field of the Islamic philosophy of knowledge. We do not doubt that he had intense involvement in matters of his immediate concern that had priority for him and this kept him away even from such an important job. However, future progress in the epistemic dimension of tawhid is blocked unless we seek further clarity concerning these matters. The work done by earlier scholars of jurisprudence (usul al -fiqh) and fiqh has reached its limits. No creative thinking and fresh discoveries are possible through a logical approach, even that of qiyas (analogy). Therefore, hermeneutics should acquire the most central place in our intellectual work. The key to the progress of Islamic thought lies in a fresh but authentic understanding of the Revealed Guidance in Divine Words. As we know ‘’its wonders or its treasures will never be finished”67. But for this purpose, the methodology of understanding the Qur’an is to be further developed68 and more insight is to be developed into the meaning of ‘understanding’ itself.
We shall underline only one point that is of utmost importance. The contemporary scholars of Islam should fully understand how the method of understanding the Qur’an is different from that of understanding the Sunnah .In nutshell, the Quran is to be understood afresh, through its direct contact with our minds and hearts, in changing human situations and with our growing abilities to understand.
In the process of understanding the Qur’an, both its individual and its collective modes should receive our full consideration.
And what is most important, piecemeal understanding of the Divine Text (of an ayah of the Qur’an or even a part of an ayah) must cease!69 The Qur’an must be viewed as containing 114 perfect and complete, Divine Discourses or surahs70 arranged in order. Each of these is highly organized and has tremendous continuity in its linguistic expressions. And, any understanding of a piece of The Divine Text is valid only if it fits its literary context.
On the other hand, Hadith and Sunnah should be understood with the minds of the Prophet’s immediate addressees, and in the light of the human situation in which the Prophet worked out this tafsir of the Qur’an explaining the Divine Text to his people and applying Qur’anic guidance to human life under Divine Supervision.
And what is most important, we must keep in mind that in his Sunnah the Prophet is actually explaining the Qur’anic text and working out its practical implications. Therefore, to be valid, the understanding of Hadith has to justify itself as such.
9. Let us briefly consider a few concluding remarks.
The concept of Islam as a tawhidic process is a most basic inspiration from Mawdudi. The concept of the ‘Islamic Movement’ as a ‘tawhidic movement in continuation with the movement of the prophets of God’ is derived from ‘Islam as a tawhidic process’.
Mawdudi was not unclear about this view of Islam as a process. It emerges so forcibly71 from the original sources72! But Mawdudi also gives the impression of being in love with a diametrically opposed view of Islam that of a perfect and complete, fully (as if Divinely) made, system of life. This leads to what I would call a “System Approach”. The concept of Islam as a system of life was very appealing at a time when Communism as a system was alive. Communist State was a threat to both, the Capitalist West as well as the Global Muslim Ummah. Mainly during the thirties and forties of the twentieth century, this concept was very relevant to the needs of the Muslims of the Indian Sub-Continent who were excited about having (after the end of British rule) an Islamic system of life (which they viewed as an Islamic State) in Muslim majority areas of the Sub-Continent. Even today, to many of us, Islam is an a ready made system; though not so clearly perfect and finished as the one in the mind and writings of Sayyid Mawdudi. However, we should not forget that such a “system of life” would always remain a man-made system of thought. Unlike the Quran which is, as every Muslim believes, a Book written by God Himself, and unlike the Sunnah which is the totality of the words and the works of the Prophet, who is doing his assignment under Divine Supervision at a specific time and place though he is a messenger for all generations to come, the Islamic system of life as understood and explained by Mawdudi is a creation of Mawdudi’s eclectic genius.* He has full command over our intellectual heritage of more than one thousand years and possesses a skill to integrate this treasure of Islamic scholarship! Mawdudi also possesses the ability to modernize it, i.e., to present the Islamic system in terms understandable to graduates of modern colleges, e.g., through speeches on various aspects of this system, like those over Pakistan Radio, as early as in 1948.
Before we proceed further, let us review once again how the three items mentioned above are different from each other in their nature.
* The system of life described above is a man-made system of thought.
* The Revealed Guidance in Divine Words, i.e. the Qur’an, is a linguistic expression*.
* Sunnah is a process extending over twenty-three years.
It is here that the Qur’an is understood and lived in concrete life.
The Sunnah is concrete Islamic life itself.
Through his presence, the Prophet guides the first generation of believers who always maintain their direct relationship with the Book. As the believers encounter their human situation under the leadership of the Prophet, the Prophet’s actions and his words explain and interpret the Book and work out its practical implications under
Divine Supervision. When the Prophet departs, the Ummah is supposed to continue the process of understanding the Qur’an, in changing human situations, with its growing abilities to understand. In this collective endeavor the believers correct each other. All Islamic life is a process of living the Qur’an by the Ummah. Only in this earlier part i.e. Sunnah, we have the Prophet, working under Divine Supervision. While the Prophet himself invites feedback from his companions and they have all the freedom to ask questions for clarifications, the question of Prophet’s being corrected by later generations does not arise-I mean, the way the believers correct each other, after he leaves*.
Now one serious disadvantage of the ‘System Approach’ is the resulting future orientation that leads to postponement of our tawhidic responsibilities. Those who believe that at this time we should focus our attention on the establishment of an Islamic System of Life (Islamic State or Khilafah, whatever name you choose) at the cost of our tawhidic obligations in the present situation, fail to see that, according to the Qur’an, even in Makkah the believers who were concerned with the miserable poverty of their fellow citizens would remind the rich people (even those who were not Muslims) of their duty to their fellow-servants of God73. Likewise, today the Qur’anic Community should also be concerned with the critical issues that face humanity. And while the Ummah is doing its best by itself, it should also work in cooperation with other peoples who are concerned with social, economic, and political justice in the human world and who believe in peace, human rights and sustainable society. We should not forget that, in spite of their being very much scattered, some followers of other prophets and messengers of God are also working as we are, and with very similar concerns. While we are busy trying to awaken the Muslim Community to its tawhidic covenant, it is necessary that we keep our doors open for everyone to come and join us. However, even that it is not sufficient. We should also learn to respect others and should never deprive ourselves of the opportunities from learning from them. And it is our duty to cooperate with those who have similar concerns and who are also working for the good of humanity. Is it not time to work together against zulm, violence, envy and hatred - wherever they are found?
It is the greatest injustice that those who are supposed to lead the tawhidic process stand in the way of its growth and development. As we know, like a healthy seed in fertile ground, the tawhidicprinciple has an inherent tendency toward a systematic growth in every dimension in thought as well as in action, individually as well as collectively, intra-faith (within the Ummah) as well as interfaith (throughout humanity). And, at every step our tawhidic movement makes progress toward what Mawdudi should see as an ideal Islamic State. Thus all we need is to follow the progress of the tawhidic movement and it will take care of the rest of our concerns. In his lecture in1940, Aligarh Muslim University on “The Process of Bringing About An Islamic State” at, Mawdudi sought to remove the misunderstanding of students and teachers who wanted to establish an Islamic state through voting for the formation of Pakistan. He had valuable positive recommendations concerning the process. It seems, however, they all are already naturally covered in our tawhidic process. It is his own idea that we want to follow persistently the spiritual, moral, educational, social, economic, and political (etc.) implications of the tawhidic principle.** Mawdudi should have told his audience that all they need is to be part of a full-fledged tawhidic process of the movement of the prophets of God, where all peaceful and virtuous people of the past as well as of the future belong.
Tawhid is initially a realization and a commitment.74 However, as the self (as well as the community) is liberated, the tawhidic process turns into a creative activity into a process of understanding and living the Revealed Guidance in Divine Words. In continuation of the process of Sunnah, we understand the Divine Text with our growing abilities to understand as we apply its guidance to the changing human situation. This is possible because God is working on both planes. He has also been preparing the human mind, through progress in technology, natural and social sciences, philosophy literature and arts (etc.) for better understanding of his Guidance; just as He sent His prophets according to a systematic plan with Revealed Guidance in Divine Words (e.g. the Qur’an) that offer immense possibilities of growth and development of meaning.
The Islamic Revolution lies in the tawhidic process itself. The tawhidic principle changes the hearts and the minds of believers and then proceeds to transform the whole world. The prophetic movement that is missing its systematic revival has to fulfill the purpose of human creation through the elimination of the corruption and zulm spreading all over the Earth with the possibility of which angels of God were shaken75. The tawhidic process is a systematic movement, because:
(i) it is the Revealed Guidance in Divine Words which thus unfolds itself.
Our own observation testifies, nothing is more systematic than the Qur’an;
(ii) and progress in science and the humanities, the background against which this unfolding takes place, is a also systematic process.
However, Mawdudi’s Islamic Movement must understand that theirs is a gigantic revolutionary task. Polemics and emergencies, political or otherwise, as well as other trivialities quite often distract us to counter-revolutionary paths; they should not be permitted to drive us off the High Way. We must bring our focus back to the development of intellectual and practical aspects76 of the tawhidic process giving due attention to its operation within Ummah as well as on the plane of insaniyah (that is, humanity at large).
Note: All references from Sayyid Mawdudi’s work are from his original Urdu writings which I have translated in my own English.
1 Mawdudi’s lecture on “Striving (Jihad) in the Way of God”, April 13, 1939 on
Iqbal Day; published in booklet form.
See Mawdudi, Striving in the Way of God (New Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami).
2 Mawdudi made this point very clearly at a number of places.
Consider Mawdudi’s paper at Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh September 12,1940.
Mawdudi, The Process of Bringing about an Islamic State (Lahore: Islamic Publications).
3 Ibid., 3-10.
4 See Mawdudi, The Reality of Jihad (Lahore: Idara Tarjumanul Qur’an)
Also consider Mawdudi’s lecture, “Moral Foundations of Islamic Movement”
in Jamaat-e-Islami All India Conference on April, 21, 1945 in Darul Islam near Pathankot,
Punjab, India in
Mawdudi, Islamic System of Life and its Fundamental Concepts
(New Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami).
5 Mawdudi even called the political revolution of 1947 an artificial revolution.
See Mawdudi, Jamaat-Islami: Its Purpose, History, and.Line of Action
(Lahore: Jamaat-e Islami Pakistan Department of Publications).
6 See Mawdudi’s paper ” Process of Bringing about an Islamic State”.
7 Ibid., 23-39.
8 Consider Mawdudi’s lecture “Moral Foundations of Islamic Movement”.
9 Ibid., 261-264.
10 Mawdudi uses the term “imamat-i salihah” or “the pious leadership” as opposed to fasidah or
corrupt. He says “The establishment of the leadership of the pious is the real objective of
the Religion” 265.
11 In “Moral Foundations of Islamic Movement” Mawdudi discusses at length, how in the
Islamic Movement, an step by step moral and spiritual progress of its people takes place. 295-312.
12 Mawdudi, The Process of Bringing about an Islamic State. 30-36.
13 “Striving (Jihad) in the Way of God” Mawdudi’s lecture on Iqbal Day April 13, 1939 in
Mawdudi, Islamic System of Life and its Fundamental Concepts 368.
14 Mawdudi first developed this point in Mawdudi, A Short History of Revivalism in Islam
(Lahore: Islamic Publications), 1940
And then also presented it in a paper read at Islamic Association of Islamic College Peshawar,
Feb 23, 1941. See Mawdudi, Islam and The Way of Ignorance (Lahore: Islamic Publications).
15 Islam and The Way of Ignorance 5-7.
16 Ibid., 11-18.
17 Ibid., 18-22.
18 Ibid., 22-38.
19 Ibid., 22-24.
20 Ibid., 29.
21 Ibid.,
22 It is important to note that the Qur’an underlines this negative aspect of tawhid, i.e.
coming out of slavery of other than God. Just see 4:36; 7:59, 65, 73; 2:83, 256.
23 The theme of Ummah Wahidah (One Community) occurs in the Qur’an at the following nine places:
2:213; 5:48; 10:19; 11:118; 16:93; 21:92-93; 23:51-53; 42:8; 43:33
For a detailed discussion of the theme see Irfan Ahmad Khan,
Insight into the Quran: Reflections upon Divine Signs (New Delhi: Gunuine Publications 1999) 541-553
24 See Mawdudi, Khutubat (Lahore: Islamic Publications).
25 Spiritual and moral training always remained an important part of Mawdudi’s Islamic Movement. For a
detailed study of this topic consider the officially published reports of All India and All Pakistan
Conferances of Jamaat-e-Islami, by the Publication Department of Jamaat. Or see
Khalil Hamdi’s selection: Mawdudi, Movement and the Worker (New Delhi: Markazi Makaba Islami)
Also see Mawdudi, Directions (Lahore:Islamic Publications).
Four jobs of the Prophet repeatedly mentioned in the Qur’an, see,2: 129,151; 3:164; 62:2, include this.
26 See Mawdudi, Khutbat, (Lahore: Islamic Publications)
Also see the Qur’an, 2:75-78, 165-176 And 9:31-34.
27 It is interesting to note that, in the Qur’an, the prophets of God address people in general. However, the negative response comes mainly from the al-mala’ (their chiefs) who had their vested interests with the prevailing unjust system. Just see 7:60, 66, 75, 88.
28 The Qur’an discusses at length and at many places, how the opposition of the prophetic movement by the unjust people, grew stronger and stronger. Just consider the Qur’an, 14: 9-19.
29 The Qur’an, 13:22; 25:63;28:54-55; 41:33-36.
30 Mawdudi was very particular about reminding his people concerning this natural way of
receiving moral and spiritual training. Just consider Mawdudi, Movement and the Worker 101-104.
31 Mawdudi, Movement and the worker 91-103.
32 Mawdudi, The Objective, History and Line of Action Page 8.
33 For the Quranic description of the Prophetic Movement see 7: 59-158; 10: 71-93; 11:25-97; 26:10-196
And see 3:33-60; 19:1-58
And also see Surah Yusuf no.12.
`
34 Mawdudi mainly quotes the report from Abu Hurayrah in Abu Daud “God will keep raising for this
Ummah at the head of every century such persons who will renew for the Ummah its Religion.” Mawdudi discusses the hadith briefly.
See Mawdudi, A Short History of Revivalism in Islam (Lahore: Islamic Publications).
35 Ibid., 47-54.
36 Ibid., see mainly 49 - 54 and 162 - 173.
37 According to Mawdudi “Nation” or Qawm” are Jahli (of the Way of Ignorance) terms
and should not be used for the Ummah. He would rather use the Quran’ic term “Hizb”
or “Party” for what the people were calling Muslim Nation.
Mawdudi, “The Problem of Nationality” (Delhi: Markazi Islami)
38 The Qur’an makes it very clear that the message and the mission of all the prophets was the same.
The Qur’an tells the Prophet to inform the people that he is not some new kind of messenger (46:9), with a different message. The Muslims should declare proudly that they believe in all the prophets and messengers of God. (2: 136; 3: 84)
Still it was not customary among the Muslims to start a movement saying
repeatedly that objective, mission and method of their organization would be the same as that of
the prophetic movement.
39 Mawdudi defines the Objective and the Mission of his organization, Jamaat-e-Islami, as “Establishment
of the system of life as a whole, according to the guidance of the prophets, on the basis of
the servitude (’ibadah) of One God only.
Mawdudi, The Islamic Movement: Its Objective, History and Line of Action
(Lahore: Department of Publications, Jamaat-e-Islami).
40 It is interesting to note that when Mawdudi is asked to write on The Achievement of
Shah Wali-Allah of Delhi, he determines the place of this great Islamic scholar
and revivalist, in the history of the revivalist movement in Islam. But even before doing
this, Mawdudi explains the mission of the movements of the prophets of God. Thus Mawdudi sees the
revivalist movement as an off-shoot of the prophetic movement.
See Mawdudi: A Short History of Revivalist Movement P.g 9
Also consider Mawdudi’s cocluding speech on Nov.13,1951, in Jamaat’s Conference. Reminding the people concerning ‘their relationship with God’, Mawdudi says that it is the first item, which the prophets of God, the guided caliphate, and all pious people of the ummah, underlined in their advice to their people. He thus underlines the identity of his Islamic Movement with that of the prophets.
41 Abdur Rahmad Abad, Syyed Mawdudi Faces The Death Sentece (Lahore: Islamic Publications) 25.
42 Ibid., 32 -38.
43 See above the end notes no.33 on prophetic movement. Also consider Quran’ic assertion that it mentions
the names of only some of the prophets. The Qur’an 4:164 and 40 :78
To see Mawdudi’s broad-based approach and to see how he shares his ideas with people of other
religions, Consider his address to a mixed gathering of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims on
May 1940 in the State of Kapurthala.
Mawdudi, Way to Peace (Lahore: Islamic Publications).
44 In Chicago, in the Parliament of World’s Religions 1993, about two hundred leaders of world’s religions
signed Global Ethic, pledging to work together to save the world through such an approach. In Cape Town PWR1999, A Call was given to world’s major institutions in the same light. Other international inter faith organizations like United Relgion Initiative, International Peace Council, Global Dialogue, Earth Charter etc., seem to be working for a sustainable society, economic and social justice and preservation of Earth resources and such other objectives with which prophetic movement was concerned.
45 The very first ayah of the Quran 1:1 points to the fact that God is above all divisions of nations, tribes,
etc. He is the Lord of all humans and the Qur’an suggests to the readers that we praise him as such. The
Qur’an further elaborates its point through its description of the mission of prophets of God. Moses
says to Pharoah “I am the messenger of the Lord of all humankind”.Thus Moses was above the division
which Pharoah was trying to create see 7:104. Abraham criticized that worship of tribal gods
and goddess’s is dividing you (29:25).
46 Those whom these religious people follow blindly are named “andad” (”or equals of God”) by the
Qur’an. Those who develop such a bias, the Qur’an criticizes them as loving their authorities, religious
or otherwise, the way God alone should be loved. To see Qur’an’s severe criticism of people’s un-critically following their leaders just consider 2:165-176.
47 Mainly consider the following surahs of the Qur’an: 49, 89, 90 ,98, 102, 104, 107.
48 Consider the discussion related with the study of Surah al Kafirun
in Irfan A. Khan, Insight in the Qur’an 432-434.
49 It is the oneness of which the ayah 3:103 reminds.
The Prophet’s reminder in his Final Pilgrimage _ when he emphasized that the believers should not be
divided after he leaves _ is also related with the same.
50 The Quran suggests that the efforts to divide humans and make them fight each other, are from
Satan, their common enemy. Consider the Quran 2:208. Also in 5:64 notice the Divine remark “every time they kindled a fire for war, God extinguished it.”
See also 3:103 and 41:34-36.
51 Through the Qur’an, the Prophet liberates the believers from rigid laws, religious leaders have
concocted to dominate over them (7:157). Earlier Jesus liberated the Children of Israel through Injil (3:50).
During the period of Revelation, the believers should not ask unnecessary questions. The Quran’ic response to such questions may turn the simple Quranic Law into a more complicated one (5:102).
52 For example in al-Baqarah 2:21-23 precedes 2:27;
2:63 precede 2:83-85 ; 2:159-176 precede 2:177
53 See the Qur’an, 20:50, 96: 1-5 and 87: 2-9.
54 See Mawdudi, Education ((Lahore: Islamic Publications) 66 - 100.
55 Mawdudi delivered this address on March 21, 1943, in Jamia Millia, New Delhi.
See Mawdudi, Islamic System of Life and its Fundamental Concept 163-207.
56 The Quran uses ‘aql (or using reason) at more than forty places mostly as a verb, but always as a desirable action.
57 The Quran 21: 67; 36: 62; 2: 171.
58 Consider the Qur’an 67:10.
59 It is different from Qur’anic line of argument. Qur’an would rather argue: it is quite un-reasonable of the people not to believe in revelation. Just consider, 6: 91and6: 38.
60 For example, the Qur’an repeatedly says “Obey God and obey the messenger” And obviously “obey God” means ‘follow the Qur’an’ and “obey the messenger” means ‘follow the Sunnah’.
Consider 3:32; 4: 59; 8:20; 8: 46.
61 However, it seems such a system is yet to be established by the Global Muslim Community.
However, when Mawdudi took over as editor of Urdu Monthly Tarjumanul Qur’an in 1933 and when, in it, he started his own Tafhimul Qur’an in Febuarary 1942, he was preparing a ground for the above.
The Qur’an repeatedly claims that its linguistic expression is crystal clear. Therefore, the Qur’anic education system should aim at the goal that every reader sees the Qur’anic text as such.
62 Mawdudi, Khutubat (Lahore: Islamic Publications) 74 - 78.
63 Mawdudi, Islamic System of Life of Life and its Fundamental Concepts 189 - 192.
64 Mawdudi, Legal Status of Sunnah (Lahore: Islamic Publications).
65But Mawdudi agrees in principle”It is he (the Prophet) who explains by his words and deeds commands and directions (from God in the Qur’an).
See Mawdudi, Caliphate and Kingship (New Delhi: Markazi Maktaba Islami).
66 The Qur’an makes this point in a number of ways. Just consider the following two ways:
(i) 32:7-9; 17: 36
(ii) 90:10-17; 91:7-8
67 See the hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Abbas in al-Tirmidhi and al-Darmi.
68 This will include criticism of earlier work in Usul al-Tafsir (Principles of Understanding the Qur’an) and give due consideration to developments in Hermeneutics and Literary Criticism. Most important in contemporary tafsir work is the one done by Hamiduddin al-Farahi and his students includingAmin Ahsan
Islahi. Mustansir Mir, Coherence in the Qur’an:A Study of Islahi’s Concept of Nazm in Tadabbur-I Qur”an (Indianapolis: American Trust Publications) gives some idea of its significance.
69 The Qur’an severely criticizes earlier People of the Book for quoting its linguistic expressions without
giving due consideration to its literary context. See the Qur’an 4:46; 5:13; 5:41. Piecemeal understanding of a linguistic expression from the Qur’an may cause total distortion of its meaning.
70 It is very unfortunate that “surah” is very often wrongly translated by English writers as “chapter”.
The Qur’an treats surahs as its real units, independent and complete in themselves. It will be a serious mistake to say that Qur’an is a book that has 114 chapters. The nature of a surah is not that of a chapter as generally undertsood. It is only concerning the Qur’an as a whole, or concerning its surahs that the Qur’an gives a challenge to the skeptics.
For “If you have any doubt concerning its being from God then bring one surah like this …”, see the Qur’an 2:23; 10:38. For “Bring ten surahs like this…” see 11:13.
71 The Qur’an opens with the concept of Religion (al-Din) as a path (1: 6,7; 2: 5).
The Qur’an, mostly, gives the similitude of Islamic life from the growth in the plant life both in its individual as well as collective modes. The most important place is 14: 24. Here Islamic life is presented as a growing tree which goes high into the sky, having a firm foundation in the ground where it is firmly rooted and all the time it bears fresh fruits. Throughout the Qur’an the metaphor of Islamic life ‘as walking in the light of our Lord’ is developed in its various aspects.
42 We will just refer to Aws ibn Shurahbil’s repot in al- Bayhaqi in Branches of Iman:
“Whoever walked with a zalim (unjust person./oppressor) to strengthen him and he knows that he is a zalim, then he is out of Islam”
The above hadith describes Islam as a tawhidic process that is directed against all zulm. And it is quite difficult to interprete it in any other way.However, we must remember without a sound Qur’anic foundation one’s study of Hadith may lead to total bewilderment.
73 Just see the Qur’an 36:47. The point is made in the Qur’an at many places in different ways.
74 The Qur’an 6: i61-162.
75 Just see the Qur’an mainly for the apprehension of angels and Divine re-assurance 2: 30-39
and for the prevalent situation 29: 41.
76 I deal with some of these in a little more detailed discussion in my forthcoming “Authenticity and Development in Islamic Thought” and “Development of Co-’Ubudiyah on Micro- and Macro- Levels”. The former deals with epistemic dimension of tawhid and the latter with its social dimension which includes economic and political aspects of tawhidic process.