A. A. Mawdudi - Islamic Way of Life

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ISBN 9781780410296

The Islamic Way of Life is an introductory book dealing with the most misunderstood and distorted topic in the present age, i.e. Islam and its relationship as a religion to life and its system. Islam advocates that there is no conflict whatsoever between spiritual life and temporal life. It does not merely confine itself to the spiritual aspects of human life. Rather, it invokes itself deeply in all aspects of the life of mankind in general and not only Muslim.

The Message of Muhammad (peace be upon him) was for the whole of mankind. He presented anew the teachings of Islam in their pristine form and provided humanity once again with the Divine Guidance which they had lost in its original form. Through its message, Islam came to be a universal and global system applicable to all races and conductive to all times and places.

The Islamic Way of Life is aimed at making a fresh presentation of Islam to reacquaint Muslims with the truth of Islam and provide them with a spiritual insight into the universe and a moral approach to the human condition. If this is realized, it will make them responsible citizens of their respective countries, honorable members of the human race, and, above all else, God-conscious people.

The Islamic Way of Life is a compilation of a series of five radio talks given by Mawlana Abu al-A`la al-Mawdudi during January-March, 1948, in Urdu, on Radio Pakistan, in which he dealt with the broad and basic principles of the moral, political, economic, social and spiritual teachings of Islam. Furthermore, the book contains an additional chapter, contributed by Khurshid Ahmad, the editor of the book, on the Islamic concept of life compiled from various writings of Sayyid Mawdudi, and providing a concise introduction to the view of man and universe as given in the Divine Guidance, which forms the basis of the Islamic way of life.

Khurshid Ahmad, the editor, must be commended for his earnest efforts in compiling and translating the works of the author in the form of this book. Also thanks should be extended to Naseema Mall and Ahmad M. Hasan who did the final reading for the script of this edition.

( Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error. Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which Thou didst lay on those before us. Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins and grant us forgiveness. )

All praise and Thanks are due to Allah,

Without Whose Help and Guidance Nothing can be Accomplished.

General director

Sheikh Muhammad `Abdu

The main characteristic of Islamic ideology is that it does not acknowledge a conflict; not even a slight separation between spiritual life and mundane life. It does not confine itself merely to purifying the spiritual and the moral life of man in the limited sense of the word. Its scope extends to the entire aspects of life. It wants to fashion individual life as well as the social order in healthy patterns, so that the Kingdom of God may really be established on the earth and so that peace, contentment and well-being may fill the world as waters fill the oceans. The Islamic way of life is founded on this unparalleled approach to life and a peculiar concept of man's place in the universe. That is why it is necessary that before we move a head to discuss the moral, social, political and economic systems of Islam, we should have a clear idea of the Islamic concept of life.

There are certain basic concepts which should be understood and appreciated at the very beginning. These concepts are as follows:

1.God, Who is the Creator, the Ruler and the Lord of the universe created man and provided him with a short-lived station in that part of His immense Kingdom (cosmos) which is known as the earth. He has bestowed man with the capacities of thinking and understanding, and has given him the ability to discern right from wrong. Man has also been invested with freedom of will and choice and the ability to use the resources of the world in any way he likes. In short, man has been given a kind of autonomy while being appointed God's vicegerent on the earth.

2. Before assigning to man vicegerency on the earth, God made it explicitly plain to him that He alone is the Lord, the Ruler and the Deity. As such the whole universe and all the creatures in it (including man) must yield to Him alone. Man must not think himself totally free and should know that this earth is not his everlasting abode. He has been made to live upon it only during the period of his trial, and in due course, he will return to his Lord, to be judged according to the way he has availed the period of trial. The only right course for man is to confess Allah as the only Lord, the Sustainer and the Deity and to pursue His Guidance and His Commands in all spheres of life. Man must live this life with the realization that he is to be judged and his sole objective should be to gain the Pleasure of Allah so as to appear successful in the final test. Action which is contrary to this would lead man astray. If man adopted the way of piety and Godliness (which he is free to choose and follow) he will succeed in this world and in the next: in this world he will lead a life of peace and contentment, and in the Hereafter he will qualify himself for the Heaven of eternal bliss, the Paradise. And if he chooses to adpot the other way, i.e. that of Godlessness and evil (which he is equally free to choose and follow) his life will be one of corruption, disruption and frustration in this world and he will meet a huge disappointment in the life to come - that abode of pain and misery which is called Hell.

3. After giving out this warning, God settled man upon the earth and provided the very first human beings (Adam and Eve) with His Guidance in conferment with which men were to live on the earth. Thus man's life on this earth did not begin in absolute darkness. The very first man was given a burning torch of light and guidance so that humanity might achieve its glorious destiny. The very first man received revealed knowledge from God Himself. He had knowledge of the reality and was bestowed the code of life which by following, he could lead a life of bliss and success. This code of life was Islam, the disposition of absolute surrender to Allah, the Creator of man and the entire universe. It was this religion which Adam, the first man, bequeathed to posterity. But later generations gradually deviated from the Right Path and adopted different false paths. Because of negligence, they lost the plain teachings, or due to absurdity or mischief they interpolated and perverted them. They ascribed with God innumerable human beings, non-human objects and imaginary entities as deities and indulged in Shirk (polytheism) of the worst type. They moulded the pure teachings of God with strange superstitions, ideas and philosophies and thus produced a jungle of religions and cults. They threw away the God-given principles of social ethics and collective morality, the Shari`ah, and deprived the human life of peace and tranquility.