Maulana Maududi’s Writings

Maulana Maududi’s Writings programme a practical shape and they should not be negligent of God.’ One could cite several more such passages from Maulana Maududi’s writings to indicate his distinctly political interpretation of Islam. The passages provided above are, however, more than adequate to understand the nature of the problem at hand. It is readily apparent—and anyone can easily see this—how in the political interpretation, every aspect of Islam comes to assume a political dimension. The purpose and meaning of life and the universe are given a distinctly political colour—in just the same way as in Marxism everything is coloured by the economic or material question. The goal of life is projected as essentially political. The deen of Islam comes to be seen as shaped by politics. God’s sending of prophets to humankind also comes to be seen as impelled by political goals. The highest position for the Muslim ummah was as a political party. Worship is reduced to a preface to politics. Piety and spiritual excellence come to be shaped in a distinctly political mould. Witnessing to the truth becomes a political act. The ascension comes to be seen as a sort of political journey. In other words, in this political interpretation of Islam, the whole of the religion of Islam wrongly comes to be seen as a collection of parts whose individual and collective significance cannot be understood without linking them with politics. Can this be called simply stressing the importance of the political aspect of Islam, of highlighting one