Abul A'la Maududi | |
---|---|
ابو الاعلیٰ المودودی | |
Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami | |
In office 26 August 1941 – October 1972 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Mian Tufail Mohammad (in Pakistan) Abul Lais Islahi Nadvi (in India) Abdur Rahim (in Bangladesh) Burhanuddin Rabbani (in Afghanistan) |
Title | First Amir and Imam of Jamat-e-Islami Shaykh al-Islam Allamah Sayyid Mujaddid of 20th century |
Personal | |
Born | |
Died | 22 September 1979 Buffalo, New York, U.S. | (aged 75)
Religion | Islam |
Denomination | Modern Sunni |
Lineage | Direct descendant of Islamic prophet Muhammad, through Husayn ibn Ali and Moinuddin Chishti |
Jurisprudence | Hanafi |
Movement | Jamaat-e-Islami |
Organization | |
Founder of | Jamaat-e-Islami |
Website | jamaat |
Abul A'la al-Maududi (Urdu: ابو الاعلیٰ المودودی, romanized: Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; 25 September 1903 – 22 September 1979) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan.[1] Described by Wilfred Cantwell Smith as "the most systematic thinker of modern Islam",[2] his numerous works, which "covered a range of disciplines such as Qur'anic exegesis, hadith, law, philosophy, and history",[3] were written in Urdu, but then translated into English, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Burmese, Malayalam and many other languages.[4] He sought to revive Islam,[5] and to propagate what he understood to be "true Islam".[6] He believed that Islam was essential for politics and that it was necessary to institute sharia and preserve Islamic culture similarly as to that during the reign of the Rashidun Caliphs and abandon immorality, from what he viewed as the evils of secularism, nationalism and socialism, which he understood to be the influence of Western imperialism.[7]
He founded the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.[8][9][10] At the time of the Indian independence movement, Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami actively worked to oppose the partition of India.[11][12][13] After it occurred, Maududi and his followers shifted their focus to politicizing Islam and generating support for making Pakistan an Islamic state.[14] They are thought to have helped influence General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to introduce the Islamization in Pakistan,[15] and to have been greatly strengthened by him after tens of thousands of members and sympathizers were given jobs in the judiciary and civil service during his administration.[16] He was the first recipient of the Saudi Arabian King Faisal International Award for his service to Islam in 1979.[17] Maududi was part of establishing and running of Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia.[18]
Maududi is acclaimed by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic Circle of North America, Hamas and other organizations.
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Maududi made plenty of enemies in his lifetime – but his most significant domestic impact came after his death. Pakistan's military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq put some of Maududi's ideas into practice in 1979, turning Islamic "sharia-based criminal punishments into law.
... Zia rewarded the only political party to offer him consistent support, Jamaat-e-Islami. Tens of thousands of Jamaat activists and sympathizers were given jobs in the judiciary, the civil service and other state institutions. These appointments meant Zia's Islamic agenda lived on long after he died.
From 1956, the discussion of the role of Islam in the constitution, died down and Maududi, until restricted by ill-health in 1969, traveled widely outside Pakistan. He was a particularly frequent visitor to Saudi Arabia, where he took part in both the establishment and the running of Medina's Islamic university and the World Muslim League.