Towards Understanding Islam
Some may think it pretentious of me to write
a foreword to a book by an Islamic thinker as outstanding in our time as
Mawlana Mawdudi, especially when any need to introduce the eminent author
or his remarkable book Towards Understanding Islam has
been magisterially fulfilled by Brother Khurshid Ahmad. Towards
Understanding Islam has already made its mark and this edition
is only an improved English version. However. I can hardly neglect this
opportunity to express our gratitude to Allah, subhanahu wala'aia
for having enabled us to bring out a new revised version of a book which
has so deeply influenced such a large number of men and women. Only
recently I received a letter from a friend in Brazil, saying how a leading
journalist had embraced Islam purely because of the simple and persuasive
exposition of the Islamic way of life in Towards Understanding
Islam. There must be innumerable other examples of a similar kind and I
hope that the book will be even more effective in its present form.
The Islamic Foundation envisages a
comprehensive plan to bring the moving and inspiring work of Mawlana
Mawdudi before the world at large. in English and other major European
languages. Towards Understanding Islam is only the
first step and we hope that other important books by him, certainly some of
the most influential in our age, will soon find their way to thirsty souls
and hungry intellects.
We pray to Allah to bless our effort with
mercy and acceptance.
13 December, 1979
4 Miiharram 1400 A.H.
K. J. Murad
Director General
AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO SECOND
EDITION
The present edition of Towards
Understanding Islam is more than a new translation of my book
Risalah Diniyat: it is an entirely new and revised version. The
first edition, which was rendered into English by the late Dr. Abdul Ghani
(Director of Public Instruction, Afghanistan), was very brief and sketchy.
Unfortunately, Dr. Abdul Ghani did not live to improve the translation. I
later revised the original book and made substantial additions to it. Prof.
Khurshid Ahmad, to whom my heartfelt thanks are due for this labour of
love, has now skillfully translated this revised edition of Risalah Dinivat.
I am confident that the book will serve its purpose better in this new
form.
My object in writing this book has been to
provide all those — Muslims and non-Muslims alike — who have no access to
the original sources with a brief treatise giving a lucid, comprehensive
and all-embracing view of Islam. I have avoided minute details and
endeavoured to portray Islam as a whole in a single perspective. Apart from
staling what we Muslims believe in and stand for, I have also tried to
explain the rational bases of our beliefs. Similarly, in presenting the
Islamic modes of worship and the outlines of the Islamic way of life, I
have also tried to unveil the wisdom behind them. I hope this small
treatise will go far towards satisfying the intellectual cravings of Muslim
youth, and that it will help non-Muslims to understand our real position.
Lahore ABUL A'LA
11th September, 1960
It is a cherished intellectual fashion of our
times to highlight the challenge of secular civilization to faith and
religion. There is however, very little reflection on the challenge that
religion — particularly Islam — poses to the sensate culture of the age. For
the last few centuries religion in the West has been on the defensive, most
often apologetic, at all times making concessions to and compromises with an
approach to life and culture that is alien to the values and ideals of
religion. The Muslim World has also weathered the global onslaughts of
Western civilization, especially its politico-economic arm, imperialism,
which inflicted many a dent and deformity. The religious approach to life
and its problems was discarded and the role of religion in the socio-
economic spheres became minimal. At both the conceptual and operational
levels the faith and religion of all those under colonial rule, and of the
Muslims in particular, was reduced to a secondary position, if not to one of
total irrelevance. The situation is now changing. The tide of Imperialism
has receded. The Muslim World, after attaining political independence, is
now engaged in an ideological effort to rediscover its cultural personality.
By drawing upon its own spiritual and historical sources it is trying to
develop new attitudes and roles for restructuring its own society and for
the establishment of a new world order. This new resilience in the Muslim
World symbolises the revivalist movement of Islam.
The Muslims look upon the crisis of the
twentieth century as a crisis of values and believe that the way out of the
human predicament lies in the construction of a new social order. The real
need is not to seek concessions here and there or to effect a few changes
in the institutional superstructures. What is needed is a searching
re-examination of the foundations on which the entire structure of society
is built and of the ideals, which the culture aspires to achieve. The
crisis in economic and political relations is the natural outcome of the
ideals, values and institutions that characterize modern civilization.
Islam, therefore, suggests that it is only through summoning mankind
towards a new vision of man and society that its house can be set in order.
This calls for a basic change in man's approach. It is only through a
thorough understanding of the social ideals and values of religion and a
realistic assessment of their socio-economic situation — resources,
problems and constraints — that faith-oriented communities can develop a
creative and innovative approach to the challenges confronting humanity
today. This approach must be ideological. The real objective which inspires
the Muslims is not a package of economic and political concessions nor even
certain changes in the economic superstructure, but the construction of a
new world order, with its own framework of ideals, values and foundations.
The Western approach has always assumed that radical change can be brought
about by changing the environment. That is why emphasis has always been
placed on change in structure. This approach has failed to produce proper
results. It has ignored the need to bring about change within men and women
themselves and has concentrated on change in the outside world. What is
needed, however, is a total change — within people themselves as well as in
their social environment. The problem is not merely structural, although
structural arrangements would also have to be remodeled. But the starting
point must be the hearts and souls of men and women, their perception of
reality and of their own place and mission in life. The Islamic approach to
social change takes full cognizance of these aspects.
Islam is an Arabic word. It is derived from
two root-words: one Salin, meaning peace and the other Silm,
meaning submission. Islam stands for "a commitment to surrender one's will
to the Will of God" and thus to be at peace with the Creator and with all
that has been created by Him. It is through submission to the Will of God
that peace is brought about. Harmonization of man's will with the Will of
God leads to the harmonization of different spheres of life under an
all-embracing ideal. Departmentalization of life into different watertight
compartments, religious and secular, sacred and profane, spiritual and
material, is ruled out. There is unity of life and unity of the source of
guidance. As God is One and Indivisible, so is life and our human
personality. Each aspect of life is inseparable
from the other. Religious
and secular are not two
autonomous categories; they represent two sides of the same coin. Each and
every act becomes related to God and His guidance. Every human activity is
given a transcendent dimension; it becomes sacred and meaningful and goal-centred.
Islam is a worldview and an outlook on life.
It is based on the recognition of the unity of the Creator and of our
submission to His will. Everything originates from the One God, and
everyone is ultimately responsible to Him. Thus the unity of the Creator
has as its corollary the Oneness of His creation. Distinctions of
race, colour, caste, wealth and power disappear: our relation with other
persons assumes total equality by virtue of the common Creator. Henceforth
our mission becomes a dedication to our Creator; worship and obedience to
the Creator becomes our purpose in life.
The Creator has not left us without guidance
for the conduct of our life. Ever since the beginning of creation He has
sent down Prophets who have conveyed His message to humanity. They are the
source from which to discover God's Will. Thus we have the chain of
Prophets beginning with Adam (peace be upon him) and ending with Muhammad
(peace be upon him). Abraham, Moses, Noah, John, Zechariah and Jesus (peace
be upon them) all belong to this golden chain of Prophets. The Prophets
David, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (may peace be upon them all), brought
revealed books of guidance with them. The Qur'an, the Book revealed to the
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), is the last and final of these books
of guidance.
The Qur'an contains the word of God. In it is
preserved the divine revelation, unalloyed by human interpolation of any
kind, unaffected by any change or loss to the original. In it is distilled
the essence of all the messages sent down in the past. In it is embodied a
framework for the conduct of the whole of human life. There are explicit
criteria for judging between right and wrong; there are principles of
individual and collective conduct. In it are depicted the human follies of
the past. In it are warnings for humankind, and in it are assurances for
continued guidance for those who seek God's help.
The Qur'an has depicted a path, the Straight
Path (Siral al-Muslaq'lin), which when followed
revolutionizes the whole of life. It brings about a transformation in
character and galvanizes us into action. This action takes the form of
purification of the self, and then unceasing effort to establish the laws
of God on earth, resulting in a new order based on truth, justice, virtue
and goodness.
Men and women play a crucial role in the
making of this world. They act as God's vicegerents (Khulofa')—His
deputies and representatives on earth. They are morally prepared to play
this role. Success lies in praying it properly, by enjoining what is right
and for hiding what is wrong, by freeing people from the bondage of others,
by demonstrating that a sound and serene society can only result if one
harmonizes one's will with the Will of God. This makes seeking the
Creator's pleasure one's purpose in life, treating the whole of creation as
one's partner, raising the concept of human welfare from the level of mere
animal needs to seeking what is best in this world and what is best in the
Hereafter.
This is the Islamic worldview, and its
concept of men and women and their destiny. Islam is not a religion in the
Western understanding of the word. It is at once a faith and a way of life,
a religion and a social order, a doctrine and a code of conduct, a set of
values and principles and a social movement to realize them in history.
The uniqueness of Islamic culture lies in its
values and principles. When Muslims, after an illustrious historical
career, became oblivious of this fact and became obsessed with the
manifestations of their culture, as against its sources, they could not
even fully protect the house they had built. The strength of Islam lies in
its ideals, values and principles, and their relevance to us is as great
today as it has ever been in history. The message is timeless and the
principles Islam embodies are of universal application. In our search for a
new world order today, Islam emphasizes that we must aspire to a new system
of life through which to approach human problems from a different
perspective, not merely from the perspective of limited national or
regional interest, but from the perspective of what is right and wrong, and
how best we can strive to evolve a just and a humane world order at
different levels of our existence, individual, national and international.
That the present order is characterized by injustice and exploitation is
proved beyond any shadow of doubt. But Islam suggests that the present
order fails because it is based upon a wrong concept of man and of his
relationship with other human beings, with society, with nature, and with
the world. The search for a new order brings us to the need for a new
concept of man and his role. From the viewpoint of world religions in
general, and of Islam in particular, the focus of the discussion must be
shifted to a new vision of man and society, to an effort to bring about
change at the level of human consciousness, of values, leading to new
cultural transformation.
This is the, concept of Islam that lies at
the root of the contemporary resurgence of Islam. It is in the framework of
these parameters that the Muslims are today awakening to a new world role,
facing the problems of modernization, challenging the secular concepts and
institutions of the world establishment, purging their thought and society
of alien intrusions from Western civilization, and harnessing their
resources to build a new order at home which could act as a window on the
Islamic order for all humankind. Amongst the chief architects of this new
awakening in the world of Islam is Mawlana Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi.
Born in 1903 C.E., Mawdudi started his public
career as early as 1918. He wrote and spoke as editor, scholar, religious
thinker and leader of a movement, authoring over a hundred works of
varying size and delivering more than a thousand speeches. His death in
September 1979 marks the end of an era. |