The Error of Political Islam

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION Such individuals are present in the Jamaat, just as they are in other intellectual circles, and it is these individuals who are the focus of my hopes. In truth, it is for these servants of God that I have undertaken the challenge of producing this difficult work. 3. There are many people surrounding the specific circle of the Jamaat who have studied its literature and are interested in it. They sympathize with and support the Jamaat, yet they still feel an unresolved issue, a knot in their hearts that has yet to be untied. Despite their interest, they do not feel entirely ready to embrace the Jamaat’s ideas fully. They carry within them a subtle inner conflict. For such people, my book, God willing, will serve as the answer to their questions, enabling them to make a more clear-hearted decision about their future stance. 4. Once, when asked about the Jamaat-e-Islami, the late Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (1863-1943), a prominent Indian Sunni Muslim scholar, responded, “Although no objection can be raised against it from a religious perspective, my heart does not accept this movement.” (Seerat-e-Ashraf, p. 546) Maulana Thanwi’s words represent the sentiments of almost all the scholars of Islam in India and Pakistan