Maududi poured his energy into books, pamphlets and more than 1000 speeches and press statements, laying the ground work for making Pakistan an Islamic state, but also dealing with a variety of issues of interest in Pakistan and the Muslim world. While earlier mujaddids had renewed religion he wanted also "to propagate true Islam, the absence of which accounted for the failure of earlier efforts at tajdid." He was very much disheartened after the
Ottoman collapse, he believed the limited vision of Muslims to Islam rather than a complete ideology of living, was its main cause. He argued that to revive the lost Islamic pride, Muslims must accept Islam as complete way of living. Maududi was highly influenced by the ideas of the medieval theologian
Ibn Taymiyya, particularly his treatises that emphasised the Sovereignty (
Hakimiyya) of God. Maududi would stress that armed
Jihad was imperative for all contemporary Muslims and like Sayyid Qutb, called for a "universal Jihad". According to at least one biographer (
Vali Nasr), Maududi and the JI moved away from some of their more controversial doctrinal ideas (e.g. criticism of
Sufism or the
Ulama) and closer to orthodox Islam over the course of his career, in order to "expand" the "base of support" of Jama'at-e Islami.
Qur'an Maududi believed that the
Quran was not just religious literature to be "recited, pondered, or investigated for hidden truths" according to Vali Nasr, but a "socio-religious institution", a work to be accepted "at face value" and obeyed. It pitted truth and bravery against ignorance, falsehood and evil. The Qur'an is ... a Book which contains a message, an invitation, which generates a movement. The moment it began to be sent down, it impelled a quiet and pious man to ... raise his voice against falsehood, and pitted him in a grim struggle against the lords of disbelief, evil and iniquity.... it drew every pure and noble soul, and gathered them under the banner of truth. In every part of the country, it made all the mischievous and the corrupt to rise and wage war against the bearers of the truth. In his
tafsir (Quranic interpretation) ''Tafhimu'l-Qur'an
, he introduced the four interrelated concepts he believed essential to understanding the Quran: ilah
(divinity), rabb
(lord), ibadah
(worship, meaning not the cherishing or praising of God but acting out absolute obedience to Him), and din'' (religion). Maududi adopted Hanbali theologian
Ibn Taymiyya's doctrines on
apostasy, which asserted that an individual may only be considered a
Muslim if his or her beliefs found an adequate representation in their acts. Describing the essential conditions of Islam and stressing the difference between a Muslims and
non-Muslims; Maududi states: 'Islam is first of all the name of knowledge [ʿ
ilm] and, after knowledge, the name of action [ʿ
amal]', that 'after you have acquired knowledge it is a necessity to also act upon it', and that 'a Muslim is distinct from an unbeliever [
kāfir] only by two things: one is knowledge, the other action [upon it]'. Since a Muslim is the one who obeys divine law, simply having made a
shahada (declaration of belief in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet) or being born into a Muslim family does not make you a Muslim. Nor is seeking "knowledge of God" part of the religion of Islam. The Muslim is a "slave of God", and "absolute obedience to God" is a "fundamental right" of God. The Muslim does "not have the right to choose a way of life for himself or assume whatever duties he likes." Though he set a high bar for who would qualify as a Muslim, Maududi was adamant that the punishment for a Muslim leaving the faith was death. He wrote that among early Muslims, among the
schools of fiqh both
Sunni and
Shia, among scholars of shari'ah "of every century ... available on record", there is unanimous agreement that the punishment for apostate is death, and that "no room whatever remains to suggest" that this penalty has not "been continuously and uninterruptedly operative" through Islamic history; evidence from early texts that Muhammad called for apostates to be killed, and that companions of the Prophet and early caliphs ordered beheadings and crucifixions of apostates and has never been declared invalid over the course of the history of Islamic theology (Christine Schirrmacher). Of all aspects of Islam, Maududi was primarily interested in culture from (what he believed were) the dangers of
women's emancipation,
secularism,
nationalism, etc. It would also be proven scientifically (Maududi believed) that Islam would "eventually ... emerge as the World-Religion to cure Man of all his maladies." But what many Muslims, including many
Ulama, considered Islam, Maududi did not. Maudid complained that "not more than 0.001%" of Muslim knew what Islam actually was. Maududi not only idealised the first years of Muslim society (Muhammad and the "
rightly guided" Caliphs), but considered what came after to be un-Islamic or
jahiliya—with the exception of brief religious revivals. Muslim philosophy, literature, arts, mysticism were syncretic and impure, diverting attention from the divine.
Hadith Maududi had a unique perspective on the transmission of
hadith—the doings and sayings of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad that were passed on orally before being written down, and which form most of the basis of Islamic law. The authenticity and "quality" of hadith are traditionally left to the judgments of "generations of
muhaddithin" (hadith scholars) who base their decisions on factors like the number of chains of oral transmission (known as
isnad) passing down the text of the hadith (
matn) and reliability of the transmitters/narrators passing down the hadith in the chain. But Maududi believed that "with extensive study and practice one can develop a power and can intuitively sense the wishes and desires of the Holy Prophet", and that he had that intuitive ability. "Thus ... on seeing a Hadith, I can tell whether the Holy Prophet could or could not have said it." Maududi also disagreed with many traditional/conservative Muslims in arguing that evaluating hadith, traditional hadith scholars had ignored the importance of the
matn (content) in favor of the
isnad (chain of transmission of the hadith). Maududi also broke with traditional doctrine by raising the question of the reliability of companions of the prophet as transmitters of hadith, saying "even the noble Companions were overcome by human weaknesses, one attacking another."
Sunnah Maududi wrote a number of essays on the
sunnah—the customs and practices of Muhammad—and sought a middle way between the belief of conservative Islamists that the sunnah of the prophet should be obeyed in every aspect, and the traditions that tells us that Muhammad made mistakes, and was not always obeyed by his
followers (
Zayd divorced his wife against the wishes of Muhammad). Maududi argued that mistakes by Muhammad corrected by God mentioned in the Quran should be thought of not as an indication of Muhammad's human frailty but of how God monitored his behavior and corrected even his smallest errors.
Women According to Irfan Ahmad, while Maududi opposed all Western influence in Islam, "the greatest threat to morality" to him was "women's visibility" in the bazaar, colleges, theatres, restaurants. "Art, literature, music, film, dance, use of makeup by women: all were shrieking signs of immorality." Maududi preached that the duty of women is to manage the household, bring up children and provide them and her husband with "the greatest possible comfort and contentment". Maududi supported the complete veiling and segregation of women as practiced in most of Muslim India of his time. Women, he believed, should remain in their homes except when absolutely necessary. The only room for argument he saw in the matter of veiling/
hijab was "whether the hands and the face" of women "were to be covered or left uncovered." On this question Maududi came down on the side of the complete covering of women's faces whenever they left their homes. He opposed birth control and family planning as a "rebellion against the laws of nature", and a reflection of loss of faith in God—who is the planner of human population—and unnecessary because population growth leads to economic development. Maududi opposed allowing women to be either a head of state or a legislator, since "according to Islam, active politics and administration are not the field of activity of the womenfolk."
Music Maududi saw music and dancing as social evils. In describing the wickedness that comes of ignoring Islamic law he included not only leaving the poor to "starvation and destitution" while wallowing in luxury, liquor and drugs, but having "a regular need" for music, satisfied with "musicians, dancing girls, drum-beaters and manufacturers of musical instruments".
Economics His 1941 lecture "The Economic Problem of Man and Its Islamic Solution" is generally considered to be one of the founding document of modern Islamic economics. Maududi has been called the leader of the "vanguard of contemporary Islamic orthodoxy" in "
riba and finance" However, Maududi believed Islam "does not concern itself with the modes of production and circulation of wealth", and was primarily interested in cultural issues rather than socioeconomic ones. or other "experts and specialists" which he believed to be "one of the many calamities of modern age". But since Islam was a complete system, it included (a shariah-based) economic program, comparable and superior to other economic systems. Capitalism was a "satanic economic system" starting with the fact that it called for the postponement of some consumption in favor of investment. One of the major fallacies of economics was that it regarded "as foolish and morally reprehensible" spending "all that one earns, and everyone is told that he should save something out of his income and have his savings deposited in the bank or purchase an insurance policy or invest it in stocks and shares of joint-stock companies." In fact, the practice of saving and not spending some income is "ruinous for humanity". This led to
overproduction and a downward spiral of lower wages,
protectionism, trade wars and desperate attempts to export surplus production and capital through imperialist invasions of other countries, finally ending in "the destruction of the whole society as every learned economist knows". Socialists sought to end economic exploitation and poverty by structural changes and putting an end to private ownership of production and property. But in fact poverty and exploitation is caused not by the profit motive but by the lack of "virtue and public welfare" among the wealthy, which in turn comes from a lack of adherence to
sharia law. In an Islamic society, greed, selfishness and dishonesty would be replaced by virtue, eliminating the need for the state to make any significant intervention in the economy. embodying all of the virtues and none of the vices of the two inferior systems. it would be distinct and superior to all other systems. Before the economy (like the government, and other parts of society) could be Islamised, an Islamic revolution-through-education would have to take place to develop this virtue and create support for total
sharia law. Maududi opposed any and all interest on loans as unIslamic
riba. He taught that there is hardly a country of the world in which moneylenders and banks are not sucking the blood of poor labouring classes, farmers and low income groups ... A major portion of the earning of a working man is expropriated by the moneylenders, leaving the poor man with hardly enough money to feed himself and his family. While the Quran forbid many sins, it saved its "severest terms" of punishment – according to Maududi – for use of interest.{{#tag:ref|" ... The Holy Quran forbids many other sins also and warnings of condign [sic] punishment for them have also been given, but in no other case have such severest terms been used as in the prohibition of usury" and that even "the smallest and apparently harmless form" of interest was intolerable in Islam as rates would inevitably increase over time when the "capitalists" (moneylenders) squeezed the entrepreneurs (borrowers) eliminating any entrepreneurial profit. To replace interest-based finance he proposed "direct equity investment" (aka
Profit and loss sharing), which he asserted would favor "societally profitable" ventures such as low-income housing that conventional finance ignores in favour of commercially profitable ones. To eliminate the charging of interest he proposed penal punishment with the death penalty for repeat offenders. Feisal Khan says Maududi's description of interest-based finance resembles that of the dynamic between South Asian peasant and village moneylender rather than between modern bank lender and borrower; nor did Maududi give any explanation why direct equity finance would lead to any more investment in what is good for society but not commercially profitable for financiers than interest-based lending has.
Socialism and populism Unlike Islamists such as Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, Maududi had a visceral antipathy to
socialism, A staunch defender of the rights of property, he warned workers and peasants that "you must never take the exaggerated view of your rights which the protagonists of class war present before you." He also did not believe in intervention in the economy to provide universal employment. Islam does not make it binding on society to provide employment for each and every one of its citizens, since this responsibility cannot be accepted without thorough nationalisation of the country's resources. Maududi held to this position despite his florid denunciations of how the rich were "sucking the blood" and enslaving the poor, the popularity of populism among many Pakistanis, He later softened his views, extolling economic justice and equity (but not egalitarianism),
Islamic Modernism Maududi believed that Islam supported modernisation but not
Westernisation. He agreed with
Islamic Modernists that Islam contained nothing contrary to reason, and that it was superior in rational terms to all other religious systems. He disagreed with their practice of examining the Quran and the Sunnah using reason as the standard, instead of starting from the proposition that "true reason is Islamic" and accepting the Book and the Sunnah, rather than reason, as the final authority. He also took a narrow view of
ijtihad, limiting the authority to use it to those with thorough grounding in Islamic sciences, faith in the
sharia, and then only to serve the needs of his vision of an Islamic state. At the same time, one scholar,
Maryam Jameelah, has noted the extensive use of modern, non-traditionally Islamic ideas and "Western idioms and concepts" in Maududi's thought. Islam was a "revolutionary ideology" and a "dynamic movement", the ''Jama'at-e-Islami
, was a "party", the Shari'ah'' a complete "code" in Islam's "total scheme of life." His enthusiasm for [Western idioms and concepts] was infectious among those who admired him, encouraging them to implement in Pakistan all his "manifestos", "programmes" and "schemes'", to usher in a true Islamic "renaissance".
Mughal Empire Abul A'la Maududi, condemned
Mughal Emperor Akbar's belief in an individual's common spirituality (controversially known as the
Din-e Ilahi, or "Religion of God") as a form of
apostasy. (Contemporary scholars such as
S. M. Ikram argue that Akbar's true intentions were to create an
iradat or
muridi (discipleship) and not a new religion.) Maududi appears to be a critic of not only
Western Civilisation but also of the Mughal Empire, many of whose achievements he deemed "Unislamic".
Secularism Maududi did not see
secularism as a way for the state/government to dampen tensions and divisions in multi-religious societies by remaining religiously neutral and avoid choosing sides. Rather, he believed, it removed religion from society (he translated secularism into Urdu as
la din, literally "religionless"). Since (he believed) all morality came from religion, this would necessarily mean "the exclusion of all morality, ethics, or human decency from the controlling mechanisms of society." It was to avoid the "restraints of morality and divine guidance", and not out of pragmatism or some higher motive, that some espoused secularism.
Science Maududi believed "modern science was a 'body' that could accommodate any 'spirit'—philosophy or value system—just as radio could broadcast Islamic or Western messages with equal facility."
Nationalism Maududi strongly opposed the concept of
nationalism, believing it to be
shirk (polytheism), and "a Western concept which divided the Muslim world and thus prolonged the supremacy of Western imperialist powers". After Pakistan was formed, Maududi and the JI forbade Pakistanis to take an oath of allegiance to the state until it became Islamic, arguing that a Muslim could in clear conscience render allegiance only to God.
Ulama Maududi also criticised traditionalist clergy or
ulama for their "moribund" scholastic style, "servile" political attitudes, and "ignorance" of the modern world". Maududi also believed there would be little need for the traditional roll of ulama as "leaders, judges, and guardians of the community", in a "reformed and rationalised Islamic order" where those trained in modern as well as traditional subjects would practice ijtihad and where Muslims were educated properly in Arabic, the Quran, Hadith, etc. However, over time Maududi became more orthodox in his attitudes, including toward the ulama, and at times allied himself and his party with them after the formation of Pakistan.
Sufism and popular Islam Like other contemporary
revivalists, Maududi was critical of
Sufism and its historical influence in the early part of his life. However, as he got older, his views on Sufism changed and focused his criticism mainly on unorthodox and popular practices of Sufism that was not based on the Sharia In his youth, Maududi studied various sciences of
Tasawwuf under the
Deobandi seminary in
Fatihpuri Mosque; from where he obtained an
Ijazat (certificate) on the subject "gradations of mystical ecstasy" in 1926. Influenced by the Deobandi reformist doctrines and writings of past scholars like
Ibn Taymiyya and
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab; Maududi opposed folkish forms of excessive Sufism. Maududi's conception of
Tasawwuf was based on strict adherence to ''
Qur'an and Sunnah like those of the earlier Sufis. He was heavily critical of the cult of saints that developed during the medieval period of Islam, and believed that abiding by the sharia (Islamic law) was essential to achieve Zuhd and Ihsan. Most significantly, Maududi asserts that the very highest stage of Ihsan'' was to be reached through collective societal efforts that establishes a just
Islamic state as what occurred during the early period of Islam in the
Rashidun Calpihate. Maududi would later clarify that he did not have any antagonism towards Sufism as a whole; by himself or the Jama'at. (According to at least one biographer, this change in position was a result of the importance of Sufism in Pakistan not only among the Muslim masses but the ulama as well.) Maududi distinguished between the Orthodox Sufism of Shaikhs like 'Alau'ddin Shah which were bounded in the Sharia (which he approved of), and the shrines, festivals, and rituals of unorthodox popular Sufism (which he did not). From the mid-1960s onward, "redefinition" of Islam "increasingly gave way to outright recognition of Tasawwuf", and after Maududi's death the JI amir
Qazi Hussain Ahmad went so far as to visit the Sufi
Data Durbar in Lahore in 1987 as part of a tour to generate mass support for JI.
Sharia Maududi believed that
sharia was not just a crucial command that helped define what it meant to be a Muslim, but something without which a Muslim society could not be Islamic: That if an Islamic society consciously resolves not to accept the sharia, and decides to enact its own constitution and laws or borrow them from any other source in disregard of the sharia, such a society breaks its contract with God and forfeits its right to be called 'Islamic.' Many unbelievers agreed that God was the creator, what made them unbelievers was their failure to submit to his will, i.e. to God's law. Obedience to God's law or will was "the historical controversy that Islam has awakened" throughout the world. It brought not only heavenly reward, but earthly blessing. Failure to obey, or "rebellion" against it, brought not only eternal punishment, but evil and misery here on earth. The source of sharia, was to be found not only in the Quran but also in the
Sunnah (the doings and sayings of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad), since the Quran proclaimed "Whoever obeys the messenger [i.e. Muhammad] obeys Allah." Sharia was perhaps most famous for calling for the abolition of interest-bearing banks,
hadd penalties such as flogging and amputation for alcohol consumption, theft, fornication, adultery and other crimes. Hadd penalties have been criticised by Westernised Muslims as cruel and in violation of
international human rights but Maududi argued that any cruelty was far outweighed by the cruelty in the West that resulted from the absence of these punishments, and in any case would not be applied until Muslims fully understood the teachings of their faith and lived in an Islamic state. and there was no area of human activity or concern which the
sharia did not address with specific divine guidance. A "very large part" of sharia required "the coercive power and authority of the state" for its enforcement. Consequently, while a state based on Islam has a legislature which the ruler must consult, its function "is really that of law-finding, not of law-making." At the same time, Maududi states ("somewhat astonishingly" according to one scholar) According to scholar (
Vali Nasr), Maududi believed that the
sharia needed to be "streamlined, reinterpreted, and expanded" to "address questions of governance to the extent required for a state to function." For example,
sharia needed to "make clear the relation between the various branches of government".
Islamic Revolution Though the phrase "Islamic Revolution" is commonly associated with the 1979
Iranian Revolution, Maududi coined and popularised it in the 1940s. The process Maududi envisioned—changing the hearts and minds of individuals from the top of society downward through an educational process or ''da'wah'' but opposed sudden change, violent or unconstitutional action, and was uninterested in grassroots organising, socio-economic changes, or even street demonstrations, often associated with revolutions. His "revolution" would be achieved "step-by-step" with "patience", since "the more sudden a change, the more short-lived it is." He warned against the emotionalism of "demonstrations or agitations, ... flag waving, slogans ... impassioned speeches ... or the like". He believed that "societies are built, structured, and controlled from the top down by conscious manipulation of those in power," not by grassroots movements. The revolution would be carried out by training a cadre of pious and dedicated men who would lead and then protect the Islamic revolutionary process. To facilitate this far-reaching program of cultural change, his party "invested heavily" in producing and disseminating publications. In 1957 he outlined a new Jama'at policy declaring that "transformation of the political order through unconstitutional means" was against
sharia law. Even when he and his party were repressed by the
Ayub Khan or
People's Party (in 1972) governments, Maududi kept his party from clandestine activity. It was not until he retired as emir of JI that JI and Jam'iat-e Tulabah "became more routinely involved in violence."
Islamic state The modern conceptualisation of the "Islamic state" is also attributed to Maududi. This term was coined and popularised in his book,
The Islamic Law and Constitution (1941), and in subsequent writings. Maududi's Islamic state is both ideological and all-embracing, based on "
Islamic Democracy," and will eventually "rule the earth". In 1955 he described it as a "God-worshipping democratic Caliphate, founded on the guidance vouchsafed to us through Muhammad." Ultimately though, Islam was more important and the state would be judged by its adherence to
din (religion and the Islamic system) and not democracy. Unlike the Islamic state of Ayatollah
Khomeini, it would not establish and enforce Islamisation, but
follow the Islamisation of society. As Maududi became involved in politics, this vision was "relegated to a distant utopia". Three principles underlying it:
tawhid (oneness of God),
risala (prophethood) and
khilafa (caliphate). The "sphere of activity" covered by the Islamic state would be "co-extensive with human life ... In such a state no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private." The Islamic state recognises the sovereignty of God, which meant God was the source of all law. The Islamic state acts as the
vicegerent or agent of God on earth but (Maududi believed) the entire Muslim community, a "popular vicegerency". Sovereignty of human beings is simply the domination of man by man, the source of most human misery and calamity. Governance based on sovereignty other than that of God's does not just lead to inferior governance and "injustice and maladministration", but "evil." Therefore, while Maududi used the term democracy to describe his state, (in part to appeal to Westernised Muslim intellectuals), his "
Islamic democracy" was to be the antithesis of secular Western democracy which transfers
hakimiya (God's sovereignty) to the people, who may pass laws without regard for God's commands. The Islamic state would conduct its affairs by mutual consultation (
shura) among all Muslims. The means of consultation should suit the conditions of the particular time and place but must be free and impartial. While the government follows the
sharia law, when it comes to a question about which no explicit injunction is to be found in the
sharia, the matter is "settled by consensus among the Muslims." ;Rights While no aspect of life was to be considered "personal and private" Maududi stated: This espionage on the life of the individual cannot be justified on moral grounds by the government saying that it is necessary to know the secrets of the dangerous persons.... This is exactly what Islam has called as the root cause of mischief in politics. The injunction of the Prophet is: "When the ruler begins to search for the causes of dissatisfaction amongst his people, he spoils them" (Abu Dawud). However, the basic human right in
Islamic law was to demand an Islamic order and to live in it. Not included were any rights to differ with its rulers and defy its authority. ;Islamic Constitution According to Maududi, Islam had an "
unwritten constitution" that needed "to be transformed into a written one". The constitution would not be the
sharia (or the Quran, as Saudi Arabia's constitution is alleged to be) but a religious document based on "conventions" of the "
rightly guided caliphs", and the "canonised verdicts of recognised jurists" (i.e. the
sharia) as well as the Quran and hadith. No one is allowed to nominate him for the office, nor to engage in electioneering or run for office, according to another source. and there would be only one party. On the other hand, Maududi believed the state had no need to govern in the Western sense of the term, since the government and citizenry would abide by the same "infallible and inviolable divine law", power would not corrupt and no one would feel oppressed. Power and resources would be distributed fairly. There would be no grievances, no mass mobilisations, demands for political participation, or any other of the turmoil of non-Islamic governance. Since the prophet had told early Muslims "My community will never agree on an error", there was no need for establishing concrete procedures and mechanisms for popular consultation. Since the state would be defined by its ideology—not by boundaries or ethnicity—its ''raison d'etre'' and protector would be ideology, the purity of which must be protected against any efforts to subvert it. Naturally it must be controlled and run exclusively by Muslims, and not just any Muslims but only "those who believe in the ideology on which it is based and in the Divine Law which it is assigned to administer". The state's legislature "should consist of a body of such learned men who have the ability and the capacity to interpret Quranic injunctions and who in giving decisions, would not take liberties with the spirit or the letter of the
sharia". Their legislation would be based on the practice of
ijtihad (a source of Islamic law, relying on careful analogical reasoning, using both the Qu'ran and Hadith, to find a solution to a legal problem), making it more a legal organ than a political one. Non-Muslims or women may not be a head of state but could vote for separate legislators. Originally Maududi envisioned a legislature only as a consultative body, but later proposed using a referendum to deal with possible conflicts between the head of state and the legislature, with the loser of the referendum resigning. Another later rule was allowing the formation of parties and factions during elections of representatives but not within the legislature.
Failure of Western Democracy Secular Western representative democracy—despite its free elections and civil rights—is a failure (Maududi believed) for two reasons. Because secular society has "divorced" politics from religion, its leaders have "ceased to attach much or any importance to morality and ethics" and so ignore their constituents' interests and the common good. Furthermore, without Islam "the common people are incapable of perceiving their own true interests". An example being the
Prohibition law in the United States, where despite the fact that (Maududi states) "it had been rationally and logically established that drinking is injurious to health, produces deleterious disorder in human society", the law banning alcohol consumption was repealed by the
American Congress.
Non-Muslims Maududi believed that copying cultural practices of non-Muslims was forbidden in Islam, having very disastrous consequences upon a nation; it destroys its inner vitality, blurs its vision, befogs its critical faculties, breeds inferiority complexes, and gradually but assuredly saps all the springs of culture and sounds its death-knell. That is why the
Holy Prophet has positively and forcefully forbidden the Muslims to assume the culture and mode of life of the non-Muslims. In his commentary on Surah An-Nisa Ayat 160 he wrote The Jews, on the whole, are not satisfied with their own deviation from the path of God. They have become such inherent criminals that their brains and resources seem to be behind almost every movement which arises for the purpose of misleading and corrupting human beings. And whenever there arises a movement to call people to the Truth, the Jews are inclined to oppose it even though they are the bearers of the Scripture and inheritors of the message of the Prophets. Their latest contribution is Communism – an ideology which is the product of a Jewish brain and which has developed under Jewish leadership. It seems ironical that the professed followers of Moses and other Prophets should be prominent as the founders and promoters of an ideology which, for the first time in human history, is professedly based on a categorical denial of, and an undying hostility to God, and which openly strives to obliterate every form of godliness. The other movement which in modern times is second only to Communism in misleading people is the philosophy of Freud. It is a strange coincidence that Freud too was a Jew. He was appalled at (what he saw as) the satanic flood of female liberty and licence which threatens to destroy human civilisation in the West. Maududi strongly opposed the
Ahmadiyya sect, a sect which Maududi and many other Muslims do not consider as Muslim. He preached against Ahmadiyya in his pamphlet
The Qadiani Problem and the book
The Finality of Prophethood. ;Under the Islamic state The rights of non-Muslims are limited under Islamic state as laid out in Maududi's writings. Although non-Muslim "faith, ideology, rituals of worship or social customs" would not be interfered with, non-Muslims would have to accept Muslim rule. Islamic 'jihad' does not recognise their right to administer state affairs according to a system which, in the view of Islam, is evil. Furthermore, Islamic 'jihad' also refuses to admit their right to continue with such practices under an Islamic government which fatally affect the public interest from the viewpoint of Islam." Non-Muslims would be eligible for "all kinds of employment", but must be "rigorously excluded from influencing policy decisions" and so not hold "key posts" in government and elsewhere. They would not have the right to vote in presidential elections or in elections of Muslim representatives. This is to ensure that "the basic policy of this ideological state remains in conformity with the fundamentals of Islam." An Islamic Republic may however allow non-Muslims to elect their own representatives to parliament, voting as separate electorates (as in the
Islamic Republic of Iran). While some might see this as discrimination, Islam has been the most just, the most tolerant and the most generous of all political systems in its treatment of minorities, according to Maududi. Non-Muslims would also have to pay a traditional special tax known as
jizya. Under Maududi's Islamic state, this tax would be applicable to all able-bodied non-Muslim men—elderly, children and women being exempt—in return from their exemption from military service, (which all adult Muslim men would be subject to). Those who serve in the military are exempted. Non-Muslims would also be barred from holding certain high level offices in the Islamic state. but also as a symbol of Islamic sovereignty. ... Jews and the Christians ... should be forced to pay Jizya in order to put an end to their independence and supremacy so that they should not remain rulers and sovereigns in the land. These powers should be wrested from them by the followers of the true Faith, who should assume the sovereignty and lead others towards the Right Way.
Jihad Maududi's first work to come to public attention was
Al Jihad fil-Islam ("Jihad in Islam"), which was serialised in a newspaper in 1927, when he was only twenty-four. In it he maintained that because Islam is all-encompassing, the Islamic state was for all the world and should not be limited to just the "homeland of Islam" where Muslims predominate.
Jihad should be used to eliminate un-Islamic rule everywhere and establish a worldwide Islamic state: Islam wishes to destroy all states and governments anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and programme of Islam, regardless of the country or the nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a state on the basis of its own ideology and programme, regardless of which nation assumes the role of the standard-bearer of Islam or the rule of which nation is undermined in the process of the establishment of an ideological Islamic State. Islam requires the earth—not just a portion, but the whole planet.... because the entire mankind should benefit from the ideology and welfare programme [of Islam] ... Towards this end, Islam wishes to press into service all forces which can bring about a revolution and a composite term for the use of all these forces is 'Jihad'.... the objective of the Islamic 'jihād' is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system and establish in its stead an Islamic system of state rule. Maududi taught that the destruction of the lives and property of others was lamentable (part of the great sacrifice of jihad), but that Muslims must follow the Islamic principle that it is better to "suffer a lesser loss to save ourselves from a greater loss". Though in jihad "thousands" of lives may be lost, this cannot compare "to the calamity that may befall mankind as a result of the victory of evil over good and of aggressive atheism over the religion of God." He explained that jihad was not only combat for God but activity by the rear echelon in support those waging combat (
qitaal), including non-violent work: In the jihad in the way of Allah, active combat is not always the role on the battlefield, nor can everyone fight in the front line. Just for one single battle preparations have often to be made for decades on end and the plans deeply laid, and while only some thousands fight in the front line there are behind them millions engaged in various tasks which, though small themselves, contribute directly to the supreme effort. At the same time he took a more conservative line on jihad than other revivalist thinkers (such as Ayatollah
Khomeini and
Sayyid Qutb), distinguishing between jihad properly understood and "a crazed faith ... blood-shot eyes, shouting
Allahu akbar, decapitating an unbeliever wherever they see one, cutting off heads while invoking
La ilaha illa-llah [There is no god but God]". During a cease-fire with India (in 1948), he opposed the waging of jihad in
Kashmir, stating that Jihad could be proclaimed only by Muslim governments, not by religious leaders. == Mystique, personality, personal life ==