Where Does an Erroneous Interpretation of the Deen Take Us?

an unwillingness to reflect on the matters that I had raised that even these minimal requests were not accepted. I know what status the literature of Maulana Maududi is coming to enjoy, in practical terms, in Jamaat-e-Islami circles. And perhaps the day is not far off when its status will be that of a sacred memorial— to touch or dishonour which will undoubtedly be considered an unforgiveable crime. However, at the intellectual and practical levels, it will no longer have any relationship with people’s lives, just as has happened with Karl Marx and his writings. In the Communist world, Marx’s words are still considered to be some sort of holy writ. But in reality, they are now just decoration pieces in libraries and have no bearing at all on people’s lives, which are now directed by other ideologies. The same is bound to happen in the case of the Maulana’s writings. An unrealistic and unnatural interpretation of any truth always passes through a historical process. It temporarily attracts and influences a particular generation of people, and then it begins to weaken. Finally, it comes to be locked up in a cupboard in a museum. Maulana Maududi’s literature is bound to meet this same fate. Its inheritors and custodians simply cannot stop the work of this historical process. However, if they openly admit this inevitable development, it would undoubtedly be a great blessing.