The Error of Political Islam

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION and hunger vanished, and I resumed my study, engrossed until sunset. Before analyzing the interpretation under discussion, I must clarify a few points. Before my parting ways with the Jamaat (Jamaat-e-Islami India), some people advised me to avoid engaging in such controversial discussions and instead focus on positively presenting the Islamic understanding I had reached through studying the Quran and Hadith. I appreciate the sincere intentions behind this advice. Had I followed it, my work would have taken a different form. In fact, to work in this way, I would not have needed to leave the Jamaat at all. I could have continued, like other speakers and writers within the Jamaat, to add my own voice. But two factors led me to make the decision that ultimately resulted in the book you now hold. First, I believed that remaining within the Jamaat while promoting an interpretation of Islam that diverged from Maulana Maududi’s thinking—which serves as the Jamaat’s foundation—was a matter of dishonesty. Historical circumstances have led to the situation that now Maulana Maududi’s literature has been regarded by the Jamaat members as the authentic, definitive explanation of the organization’s Jamaat ideology. Under such circumstances, if one seeks to promote a different interpretation within the Jamaat, it would be