Syed Abul Ala Maududi was born in 1903 AD, and correspondingly in 1321 AH, at Orang Abad, Deccan, India, in a Syed Family, whose founder was Khawaja Qutbudin Maudud Chishti a confirmed Saint, of his day, and spiritual teacher of Usman Harooni, Khawaja Moeenuddin Chishti Ajmeri’s Shaikh, another divine of his times. Syed Abul Ala being descent of Syed Qutbudin Maudud Ahmad Chishti, takes the suffix of Maududi. He was reared in a profoundly religious family both his mother and father were very pious and devout Muslims.
Therefore they brought up Syed Abul Ala Maududi in a environment, tenaciously religious in tone and tenor. As such, he was tutored at home by his father himself instead of sending him to a formal School. Syed Maududi was taught Urdu, Persion, Arabic, Islamic Jurisprudence, Hadith(Saying of the Prophet PUBH), by a Private tutor at home. His education at home spans over 11 years.
Up Bringing His father paid special attention to his Character building and brought him up, in line with principles of Quran and Sunnah. He also was very particular about the language of young Syed Maududi. He never passed a slang words to him nor allowed his pronunciation deviate slightly from the standard one, and if ever Syed Maududi uttered a word in conflict with the standard he was corrected then and there. Syed Maududi’s father was wont to tell him stories of the Prophet PBUH and historic facts with a message from the annals of Islamic and Indian history. Apart from this, he was familiarized with the lives of the Saints and spiritual leaders.
All this impressed young Maududi a lot and ingrained concepts of good and evil, moral values of sacrifice, greatness and superiority of Islam, in him inspiriting him to follow the path of Good.
Formal Education: For formal education Syed Maududi was admitted to eight class directly in Madrassa Furqania, Orang Abad. Where he excelled his class mates, in all respects, despite being the youngest of the all. It was the time when Syed Maududi was attracted to Physic, Chemistry and Mathematics, and he studded the subjects in depth. He passed the examination of Molvi (Matric), and got admission in Molvi Alam (Intermediate). Meanwhile his father shifted to Bhopal where he suffered a severe paralysis attack and died leaving no property or Bank Balance, as he belonged to a middle class family. Therefore, Young Maududi had to dissever his education due to financial hardship.
Syed Abul A'la Maududi; His Standing If influence is taken as a criterion, sayed Abul A'la Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, will be regarded as one of the greatest contemporary scholars of the Muslim World.
Clearing misconceptions: At the time when sayed Maududi started his movement, many great misconceptions about Islam were rampant among the Muslims due to centuries-long slavery and decadence. It was thought that Islam was either concerned only with the individual life or its relation to the collective life was limited to only a few of aspects. Islam was also widely conceived as having no relationship with the state and political affairs.
Rather it was believed that Islam had no concept of politics and state. In matters of economy Islam was believed to have only the guiding principles without a full-fledged economic system. Some people even said that Islam had no philosophy of education. Sayyid Maududi challenged all such misconceptions on a rational basis. As a result of his life-long intellectual and scholastic struggle, it was at last accepted that Islam is a comprehensive model of life, which guides us not only in the affairs of our individual and collective lives but also our international lives.
His writing also helped millions of Muslims in regaining their confidence over Islam and in eliminating their sense of inferiority. He wrote an unparalleled critique of socialism, and the modern western thought. Unveiling their waywardness, he interpreted the western thought as ‘modern ignorance’.
(Even in 1950, Syed Maududi had prophesied that one day both Communism and Liberalism would not be able to get a haven even in Moscow, Paris, New York and London.) His prophesy about Communism has proved itself in its literal sense and now the world awaits the fulfillment of his second prophesy, the downfall of Liberalism. The intellectual, scholastic and literary life of Sayyid Maududi is astonishing. Sayyid Maududi authored more than a hundred books, translated the Holy Quran into Urdu and wrote a comprehensive commentary on it in six volumes. This is a huge achievement to have been made by a man who was not a full time writer, who met with hundreds of people on a daily basis and who continually had to go to jail during his difficult and active struggle for the dominance of the truth.
The work of Syed Maududi has been translated into 75 important languages of the world, which is a record, as few contemporary writers have been translated in such big number. The translation of the Quran by Sayyid Maududi is regarded as one of the best in Urdu and according to the famous scholar Dr. Hameedulah, in terms of clarity, no translation in Urdu is better than that of Sayyid Maududi’s.
The great movement of Syed Maududi : It is because of his great intellectual contributions that the Jamaat-e-Islami, which was created in the sub-continent, has now extended far and wide, Now countries like Bangladesh, Mauritius, Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, all by the grace of Allah have come within the circle of its struggle for the dominance of Islam.
Moreover, in the European countries, the USA and the countries of South America and Far and Middle East, the influence of the thought of Syed Maududi and the struggle of Jamaat-e-Islami are evident. In Pakistan the influence of Syed Maududi has been very significant from its inception.
When the Muslim League demanded Pakistan on the basis of the two nation theory, it had very little intellectual content in support of its demand. It, therefore, referred to Syed Maududi’s writing, which being a great treatise in support of the theory, was published and distributed in millions by the Muslim League for the propagation of the ideology. This fact has been mentioned by the famous diplomat and historian Sharif Uddin Perzada.
When Islamic revolution took place in Iran, the leader of revolution, Imam Khumaini acknowledged that the thought of Syed Maududi had been greatly instrumental in bringing about the revolution. The global movement for the revival of ‘Jihad’ was also founded by Sayyid Maududi, who wrote ‘Al Jihad fil Islam’, a great argument in support of Jihad, at the age of 21. The influence of Sayyid Maududi on the Arab world is also quite evident, particularly on the movement of Ikhwan-ul-Muslimun.
Thus the thought of Syed Maududi is a symbol of revolution not only in the 20th century but also for the 21st century. This thought has deeply penetrated into the minds of millions of Muslims throughout the world. The gist of this thought is the belief that all the systems of the world are the creation of men and thus are faulty and false as they are the creation of man. It is only Islam which is the truth, and the future is that of Islam. It is the greatness of Syed Maududi that he invites people not to any sect, division or fraction but only to Islam. The famous scholar, poet and critic Salim Ahmed has rightly said that it is Islam, rather than the personality and greatness of Sayyid Maududi that one becomes convinced of after reading his work.
Thought provoking ideas of Al Maududi: A revolution of specific kind demands a pepper movement of the same nature, leaders and workers of that special character and the collective awareness and moral environment Of the same speciality.The French revolution required the same specific ideological and moral basis, which was prepared by Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. Revolution of Russia occurred only because of the doctrine of Marx, leadership of Lenin and Trotsky and the tireless efforts of millions of comrades, whose lives were framed in the paradigm of communism. So Islamic revolution can only be occurring when Mohammedan movement rises on the basis Quranic ideology and collective system. And the foundation of the civilization by power and struggle
