not the root of a civilization’s tree but only its leaves and fruit. The true understanding of a civilization is possible only by having access to the soul of that civilization and its underlying fundamental principles.5
There are good reasons why civilizations should be viewed in terms of the basic ideas and ideals underlying them. Yet while many changes have taken place over the millennia, humanity continues to be perennially confronted with the same basic questions: Is the existence of the universe and of humankind simply the result of a fortuitous combination of circumstances or does it represent the decision of an All-Wise and All-Powerful Creator? If the latter is the case, then what are His basic attributes and how is humanity expected to relate to Him? What is the position of the human being in the overall scheme of the universe and what is the purpose and mission of his life? Is the physical death of the human individual tantamount to his total extinction or does his life continue even after he has been subjected to biological death? Does God expect human beings to act in a particular manner to achieve self-fulfilment and abiding success and felicity? If so, has God provided any guidance to that effect and how can humanity find out what that guidance consists of?
These questions would seem quite remote from the day-to-day concerns and pursuits that inform the lives of most men and women. This, however, does not detract in the least from the fact that unless these questions are clearly answered and a definite position is taken with regard to them, then a person’s life will remain devoid of proper direction. By evading these questions, humanity is likely to continue to stumble. This might give rise to a lot of frenzied activity only to discover from time to time that – thanks mainly to a lack of clarity about his worldview – the life of the human individual keeps going around aimlessly in circles without making any true headway.
The present book raises these profound questions and attempts to answer them candidly, an attempt that leads in this book to the fleshing out the essentials of the Islamic worldview. In addressing this task, the author mainly draws upon the rich reservoir of the Qur’ān and does so with admirable resourcefulness and insight. Thus the teachings pertaining to the fundamental tenets of belief in Islam – God, the angels, the Prophets, the Revealed Books and the Last Day – have been clearly expounded. Thanks to a very systematic exposition, three salient features emerge very prominently. Firstly, that the basic doctrines of Islamic belief are cohesive and organically interrelated. Secondly, that these doctrines are in harmony with human nature and appeal to human reason as being innately sensible and judicious. Thirdly, that these doctrines are capable of serving as the foundation of a civilization that says ‘yes’ to the human urge to satisfy his legitimate biological drives without going to the extreme of Epicureanism, in which the chief goal of existence is the pursuit of individual pleasure.
In any case, as far as Muslims are concerned, they have been committed from the very beginning to fashion their individual and collective lives according to the worldview and principles and values derived from Islam, a fact which has given their culture and civilization a flair and flavour all of its own. Whatever is distinctive about Islamic civilization stems from the distinctiveness of the foundations upon which it rests. This is why Islamic civilization can only be adequately appreciated by grasping the constitutive concepts of its worldview such as its concepts of God, Prophethood, the Afterlife, and the aim and purpose of human life.
In sum, the book brings into sharp relief the concepts as well as the ethos of Islamic civilization. It is the characteristic paradigm of this civilization that needs to be grasped in order to understand the Muslim psyche and the ‘venture of Islam’ in history. This is true not only for Islam’s bygone ages, but it is equally true for Islam in the second decade of the twenty-first century.
The book is characterized by some of the qualities for which Mawdūdī’s writings have been known throughout his long and distinguished literary career: His discourse is supported by an impressive degree of knowledge of the subject in hand which he presents logically and persuasively. Additionally, even in this early work, Mawdūdī’s literary style displays its distinctive charm and elegance.
It is presumably not insignificant that in this relatively early part of his life Mawdūdī set out to articulate Islam’s worldview before embarking on his lifelong task of elucidating the details of the Islamic way of life. This seems, in my opinion, to reflect Islam’s inherent scheme of priorities in which the essentials take precedence over the subsidiary details. Quite obviously, unless there is a clear concept of Islam’s basics, it would be meaningless and sterile to strive for the establishment of an Islamic order of life with all of its ramifications. In this sense the book might be seen to represent the early Mawdūdī’s clarion call towards ‘first things first’. As Mawdūdī has observed elsewhere, anyone seriously concerned with the operationalization of Islam should start with its ABCs, with understanding the basic tenets of Islamic belief. This first step should be to know well the meaning of lā ilāha illallāh (‘There is no deity except the One True God’) to be followed by translating its implications in terms of practice. All else follows from this.
This work has been ably rendered into English by the gifted writer and intellectual, Syed Akif. Akif has admirably acquitted himself in expressing Islamic religious ideas in chaste English, at a stage when English as a vehicle for articulating some of the finest and subtlest of ideas and emotions related to Islam is still in its early stages of development. What made Akif’s task even more difficult was that apart from being a great scholar and thinker, Mawdūdī had a highly-regarded and distinctive literary style all of his own. In my opinion, Akif’s success speaks volumes about his deep familiarity with the universe of Islamic lore and his outstanding ability to write felicitously in English.
It is to be hoped that this contribution will serve to further enrich the growing body of Islamic literature in the English language and lead to a deeper and better grasp of the Islamic worldview, thereby promoting mutual understanding and friendship among human beings belonging to a variety of civilizations, religious faiths, and ideologies. I would also like to acknowledge the editorial support extended by the able team of the Islamic Foundation, particularly Dr M.M. Ahsan and Dr A.R. Kidwai, and the logistic and financial support given by the World of Islam Trust, Islamabad, the Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad, and the Madina Trust, Peterborough, U.K.
| Islamabad | Zafar Ishaq Ansari |
Rajab 1432 H
June 2011
1 Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1934-1961), 12 vols.
2 Samuel P. Huntington, Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).
3 Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (London, 1651), Part 1: Of Man, Chap. 13, para. 9.
4 See Tahdhīb-i Islāmī awr Uske Uṣūl-o Mabādī, 27th edn. (Lahore: Islamic Publications, 2100), “Muqaddimah”, pp. 9 ff.
5 Ibid.
Arabic Consonants
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