ISLAMIC LITERATURE: AN ANALYSIS

revealed in seventh century Arabia. The idiom used to express an idea undergoes changes in every age. Now it is required to explain the eternal teachings of the Quran in a contemporary idiom so that they become comprehensible for today’s people and situations. Today, the dawah mission of Islam needs an explanatory literature which is according to the spirit of the age. Only such a literature can address the modern mind and restore people’s confidence in Islam as a religion that possesses reliable guidance for the present day just as people in ancient times were able to find guidance from it. The explanatory literature that is required for Islam in modern times needs to have these features: the first being that for its arguments, it should be reason-based. The traditional style is not useful today. The second feature is that it should have universal approach. The old-fashioned sectarian approach is not acceptable to people today. The third feature is that this literature should be completely peaceful. Any literature that directly or indirectly advocates an ideology of violence cannot be acceptable to presentday societies. An enviable position will be granted in the Hereafter to that group who performs the duty of calling people to God in the 21st century in accordance with these requirements. CPS International, founded by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, has been working for the past two decades to fulfill this pressing need. o In order to address the modern mind, new explanatory literature is required that would take into account the modern conditions. Now it is required to explain the eternal teachings of the Quran in a contemporary idiom so that it becomes comprehensible for today’s people and situations.