Syed Abul A'la Maududi (Urdu: ابو الاعلی مودودی‎ – alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi, Mawdudi, also known as Abul Ala Maududi; (1903-09-25)25 September 1903 – 22 September 1979(1979-09-22)) was an Islamist philosopher, jurist, journalist and imam.[2] His numerous works were written in Urdu, but then translated into English, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Burmese and many other languages.[3] He strove not only to revive Islam as a renewer of the religion,[4] but to propagate "true Islam", (which he saw as) a remedy for the weakness from which Islam had suffered over the centuries.[5] He believed that politics was essential for Islam and that it was necessary to institute sharia and preserve Islamic culture from what he saw as the evils of secularism, nationalism, socialism, and women's emancipation.[6]

He was the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamic organisation in Asia.[7] He and his party are thought to have been the pioneer in politicizing islam and generating support for an Islamic state in Pakistan.[8] They are thought to have helped inspire General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to introduce "Sharization" to Pakistan,[9] and to have been greatly strengthened by him after 10,000s of members and sympathizers were given jobs in the judiciary and civil service during his administration.[10] He was the first recipient of the Saudi Arabian King Faisal International Award for his service to Islam in 1979.[11] After his death his Gayby Salat al-Janazah in Mecca, making him the second person in history whose prayer was observed in the Kaaba, succeeding King Ashama ibn-Abjar.[3][7]


Contents
1 Early life
1.1 Background1.2 Childhood1.3 Education1.4 Journalism1.5 Political writings2 Political activity
2.1 Founding the Jamaat-i-Islami2.2 After founding of Pakistan3 Beliefs and ideology
3.1 Qur'an3.2 Islam
3.2.1 Hadith3.3 Women3.4 Economics
3.4.1 Socialism and populism3.5 Islamic Modernism3.6 Mughal Empire3.7 Secularism3.8 Science3.9 Nationalism3.10 Ulama3.11 Sufism and popular Islam3.12 Sharia3.13 Islamic Revolution3.14 Islamic state
3.14.1 "Failure" of Western democracy3.15 Non-Muslims3.16 Jihad4 Mystique, personality, personal life
4.1 Family and health4.2 Late life5 Legacy6 Timeline of Abul A'la Maududi's life7 Selected bibliography8 See also9 References
9.1 Citations9.2 Sources10 Further reading11 External links
Early life[edit]Background[edit]Maududi was born in (Mohalla Manzoor pura) Aurangabad India, then part of the princely state enclave of Hyderabad, until it returned to India in 1948.

He was the youngest of three sons of [12] Maulana Ahmad Hasan, a lawyer by profession. Although his father was only middle-class, he was the descendant of the Chishti line of saints; in fact his last name was derived from the first member of the Chishti Silsilah, i.e. Khawajah Syed Qutb ul-Din Maudood Chishti (d. 527 AH).[13] His father's mother was related to Islamic modernist thinker Sayyid Ahmad Khan.[14]

Childhood[edit]At an early age, until he was nine, Maududi was given home education, he "received religious nurture at the hands of his father and from a variety of teachers employed by him."[13] As his father wanted him to become a maulvi, this education consisted of learning Arabic, Persian, Islamic law and hadith.[15] He reportedly translated Qasim Amin's The New Woman from Arabic into Urdu at the age of 14,[16] and about 3,500 pages from Asfar, a work of Persian mystical thinker Mulla Sadra, some years later.[17]