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CORRESPONDENCE ABO-L-A'LA
AL-MAUDOODI BY
Margaret Marcus (Maryam)
Soon after I began a prolonged and concentrated
study at the age of nineteen of what Islamic literature existed in
English translation, in order to obtain more intimate knowledge at
first-hand what it personally meant to be a Muslim and more detailed
information about current events in the Muslim countries than what was
ordinarily available in newspapers and magazines, I began correspondence
with a dozen young people in Arab world and Pakistan. most of these
pen-friends did not last long because I soon grew bitterly disappointed
with their westernized mode of living, their indifference and some
times outright hostility towards Islamic faith and culture and their
childish minds. Finally I decided to develop correspondence with
mature and influential Muslim leaders, especially among the ulema.
By the close of 1960 I had exchanged letters with Dr.Fdhil Jamali,
formerly chief delegate of Iraq at the united nation, Dr Mahmud
F..Hobullah, then the director of the Islamic center in Washington
D.C., the late Sheikh Mohammad Bashir Ibrahimi, chief of the Algerian
ulema and the soul of the struggle for freedom against French
imperialist domination, Dr. Mohammad el-Bahay of al-Azhar Dr. hamidullah
of paris, Dr. Maruf Dawalibi, noted authority on Islamic law, Professor of
shariah at Damascus University an ex-prime minister of Syria. Dr.
Said Ramadan. head of the Islamic center in Geneva, and was trying my
hardest to make contact with the late Sayyed Qutb Shahid, at the
time serving a long prison sentence in Egypt. I penned my first letter notexpecting any more than a single brief reply expressing mutual sympathy for commonly shared ideals. Then I could not possibly foresee that this correspondance would mark the most cricial period in my entire life history. Maulana Maudoodi had no need to persuade me to adopt Islam as I was already on the thrshold of conversion and would have taken th efinal step even with out his knowledge. Neither did Moulana Maudoodi exert any decisive impact upon the direction of my literary career as I had begun to write essays in defence of Islam mor than a year before our acquaintance and the main outlines of my idias were already fermly established long before we knew of each other's existence. Nevertheless, as a result of this correspondance and consequently a vast increase in knowledge and insight, I grew more articulate and my writings gained in depthand and maturity. these letters should be read keeping
in vew their historical backgroud. In amirica, Jhn f Kennedy was
president and the country had reached unprecedented hights of political
power and economic prosperity. The so- called "Cold War"
between Communist Russa under Khrushchev and the western democracies had
just begun to thaw. In Pakistan, President Ayob khan
ruled unchallenged and in order to make his dictatorship secure, had
imposed martial law and banned all political parties, including the Jama'at-islami.
MARYAM JAMEELAH
Dear Maulana Maudoodi, Your splendid article entiteled "life after death" which appeared in the February 1960 issue of the Muslim Migest of Durban, south Africa was by far the best and most convincing I have ever read on the subject. When I first read about you in Mazaruddin Siddiqi's contribution to Islam the straight path ( edited by : Keneth Morgan, Ronald Press, New York,1958) about muslims in Pakestan, even though the auter was a typical modenist who discribed you in derrogatory terms, I immediately felt myself in complete sympathy with your cause. During the past year I have discovered that I want to devot my life to the struggle against materialistic philosophies-secularism and nationalism which are still to rampant in the world today and threeten not only the survival of Islam but the whol human race. Withis goal in mind, I have already written a number of articles, six of which have been bublished in The muslim Digest and The Islamic Review of Working, England. My first article entitled "A Critique of Islam in Modern History" written by professor Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Director of the Islamic instetute at McGill University, Montreal, refutes point by point his arguments that secularism and weterniztion are compatable with Islam and that kemal Ataturk's "reforms" in Turkey offer the most desirable model for other Muslim countries to copy. My second article entitled "Nationalism a Menace to the Solidarity of Islam" shows how incomatible and irreconcilable is modern concept of nationalism to the universal ummah or brotherhood of Islam. My third article which appeared in the jun 1960 issue of The Islamic Review and the augst 1960 issue of The Muslem Digest is a refutation of Asaf A, Fyzee's (vice-chancellor of Kashmir University) arguments for a westernized Islam, reformed and "liberalized" to the point where it becomes nothing but empty ethical platitudes having no impact upon the shaping of society and its culture. Other articles I have written refute the turkish sociologist, Ziya Gokalp who tried to hoodwink his readers ito believing that nationalism and secularism are compatible with Islam (kemal Ataturk derived his inpiration directly from European science and phelosophy; Ali abd ar-Raziq who in his Islam and the principles of Government written just after abolittion of the ottman khalifate, tried to show that the khalifate was never an integral part of islam and therefore that religion must be completely and permaneently severd from the state ; President habib bourguiba who last year attacked the fast of ramadan as responible for hindring Tynisia's economic development and Dr. Taha Hussain, blind Egyptian intellectual and auther who in his Future of culture in Egypt argues that egypt is an integral part of europe and therefore complete wesernization and secularization is a necessity. All these so-called Muslem "progressives" are far mor dangrerous than any external enemies for they are attacking the very foundations of Islam from within. In writing my articles, my aim is to open the eyes of my Muslim readers to this fact.
Present-day secularism, nationalism and maerialism are drived from the
philosophers who provoked the french revolution such as Voltairs,
Rousseau, Montesquieux and others like them. Fanatic haters ofall
religion, they responsible for the belief that man can progress and
achieve salvation without god. The illusion that man is not
dependent upon god and that there is no hereafter, led to the belief that
material progress in this life is the supreme goal of the human race.
Without this deadly anti-religious atmosphere, such creeds as Marxism,
Fascizm, Nazism, Pragmatism, ( as advocated by John Dewy) and zionism (
which caused the Plastine tragedy) could never taken root. I plan to
write another article about this, offering an explanation in greater
detail. Your most respectfully, MARGARET MARCUS Dear Miss Marcus, Assalaam alaikum Your litter dated December 5,1960 reached here when I had left for Saudi Arabia in response to an invitation extendeed to me by King Ibn Saud. The King wishes to establish an Islamic University in Medina and he had invited me to prepaire a scheme for the same. So I had been away from home for about a month . On my return over-emphasize how pleased I was to read your letter and essays. I have intentionaly addressed yoy in the opening of my letter with the phrase, "assalaam alaikum" which is the form of greating peculiar only to muslims. The reason is that althaugh you are still only thinking about your conversion, I am ceertain that you are already a Muslim. A person who believes in the unity of god , in Muhammad as his last Prophet and in the holy quran as His word and in the life hereafter is realy a genuine Muslim regardless of whether he or she was born into a Jewish, a Christian or a pagan home. Your ideas bear witness to to the fact that you believe in the abone-mentioned truths. Therefore I regard you as a muslim and my sister-in-faith. No baptism or any proselytizing retual befor a priest is need in order to enter the pale of Islam. If you are convinced of the truth than is Islam, you need only to affirm solemnly that "there is no God but allh and Muhammad is His Prophet." Then you should adopt some Islamic name (i.e. Ayesha or Fatima) and make a public announcement of your name and religion so that the Muslim world at large should come to know that you are a member of the great fratenity of Islam. Then you should begin tooffer the five obligatory prayers daily and follow other Islamic injuntions steadfasty. I find you quite on the threshold of Islam and only one firm step forward will bring you into the fold of the believers. I think this final step will be a natural and logical culmination of your ideas. My personal assistant has sent you several pamphlets, including the one you mentioned. In addition, i am sending you some more books written by me. When I was reading your articles, I felt as if I were reading my oen ideas, I hope you feeking will be just the same when you read my books. Add this despite the fact that there has been no previus acquaintance between you and me. This mutual sympathy and unanimity in thought has resulted directly from the fact that both of us have derived our inspiration from one and the same source. The westernization Muslims over whose lack of Islamic spirit you are lamenting, are the worst products of western colonialism in Muslim countries. The greatest blow of colonialism which was administered against us was not in the field of politics or economics butin realm of the mind and spirit. This Imperialism has produced many mental slaves among our ranks whose souls even after our political independence remain subjected to the west and who are faithfully following in the steps of their former masters. From this viewpoint, I think our war of libration has not ended as yet and we have to fight a long-drawn battle against such indigenous foreigners. And now i can not help
expressing my pleasant surprise at one thing. i want to know
precisely how and where a young Amierican girl could arrive at such a
clear and genuine conception of Islam. Could you find
some time to write a brief story of your mental evolution and send it to
me ? I quit understand your feeling of loneliness for lack of an
Islamic society. No doubt this is the most acute agony for a Mulim
in a non-Muslim country. But it might give you some consolation to
know that in the present world, every true Muslim is sharing these pangs
of loeliness with you, though it may be to a lesser degree or in a
somewhat different way.
your brother-in-Islam,
New York, Jan.31,1961 several days ago I received your
gift of English books and pamphtels which amounted to a small
library. I cannot begin to thank you enough, only to tell you
I will keep them and treasure them always. Just yesterday I
received your letter in which you told me that when you read my articles,
it was as if you were reading your own ideas. I assure you that when
I read your books and pamphlets I felt as if I were reading my very own
thoughts only expressed more forcefully and comperhensively than I perhaps
ever could write. My two latest articles have been on about the
poetry of Allama Iqbal, the only man in the intire contemporary world of
Islam who has been able to express in poetry of enduring artistic value
what it truly neans to be a Muslim and other intitled, " the
philosophical Sources of westerm materialism" in which I trace to
development of Western materialism from its incepection in
anceint Greece, though yhe "renaissance" to its culmination in
the form of ideologies like communism. In the later I try to show
that the evils we are witness-ing today are the logical result of a trend
lasting more than five hundred years All the major leaders of wesern
thouht were ardent materiaists; in fact, the whole them of modern wesern
civilization was its revolt agaist the Church and ultimately all religious
and spiritual values. Thus materialism is the part of the very
assence of the west. The leaders of Asia and Africa, as you as aptly
pointed out in your pamphlet, Nationalism and Indea, have been
simultaneously thought to dispise their native heritage and imbued with
the philosophies of materialism. Filled wiyh hatred and resentment against
their former Western masters, they are merely flinging the garbage
right back into their faces! I mean this as a description of the
violent upheavals taking place in Asia and Africa now, particularly in the
Congo. After what I have read of the violence going on in Africa, I fear
for your safety. It is extrenely painful for me to read how such
Muslim countries as the United Arab Republic slavishly copy Communist
Russia and China in their foreign policies-in Africa. I would like
to be sympathetic with such countries as the United Arab republic but can
discern nothing which could be called Islamic in the policies of its
government. A gullible Muslim might like to rejoice in the efforts
Nasser is making to promot the cause of Islam in Africa but it is clear
beyond doubt that he is not so much interested in furthering the case of
the faith than merely using as a slogan instrumental in the
extention of his own personal glorification and presige. It is
my deep and sincere conviction that your understanding of Islam as you
present it in your books, Towards Understanding Islam and Islamic
lae and constitutionas well as all the pamphlets you were so kind to
send meis the only correct interpretation and I hope I will not be
considered narrow-minded to say so. I recpect you and what you do because
you adhere to Islam in its pristine purity and refuse to compromise to
propitiate the whims of the "items" or adulterate it with aline
phelosophies.As you present Islam in your writings, I believe this
is the superior way to life and the only read to truth. Tragicaly,
tere are many Muslims who disagree. Many the time I have met young
Muslim students studying in New york colleges and universities who try to
assure me that kemal Ataturk was a good Muslim and that Islam must submit
to the criteria of contemporary phelosophies and any Islamic principle or
practice that conflects with modern Western culture must be
discarded. Such thinking is praised as "libral"
"forward-looking," and "progressive" while those who
think as we do are branded as "reactionaries" and
"fantics" who refuse to face the realities of the day. Throughout my adolesence I suffered from what amounted to social ostracism in school because I liked to spend so much of my time reading books in the library and had no interest in the opposite sex, parties, dancing, cinema, clothes, jewels or cosmetics. I thought that smoking cigarettes was a vulgar habit and a waste of mony. Despite the fact that one must drink at parties to be socially acceptable and my parents consider moderate indulgence in wine inseparable from the "good things of life" , I have never touched liquor. Since I shared few interests in common with the girles and boys my age, I had almost no friends throughout the eight years of junior and senior high school. during my second year at New York
University, I met a young girl also from A Jewish home who had decided to
embrace Islam. As passionately interested in the arabs as I
was, she inyroduced me to many of her Arabs and Muslim friends in New
york. She and I attended the same class taught by a Jewish robbi
which was entitled "Judaism in islam". The rabbi tried to prove
to his students under the guise of "comparative religion" that
every thing good in Islam wase birrowed directly from the old
Testment, the Talmud and the Medrash. Our textbook
(judaism in Islam, Abraham i Katsh, Washington Square
Press, New York, 1054) written by this same rabbi set down the second and
third Surahs of Quran verse by verse, tracing their origins from
illeged Jewish sources. Interspersed with this was a libral
sprinking of Zionist propaganda in many films and coloured slids
glorifying the jewish state. Ironically enough, instead of
convincing me of the superiority of judism over Islam, this course
converted me to the opposite view. Dispite the fact that in the old
Testment, there are some universal concepts of God and high moral ideals
as preached by the Prophets, Judism has always retaind its tribal,
nationalistic character. Despite some noble idealism, the jewish
scriptures is like a Jewish history book and their God a tribal god.
The narrow-minded parochialism has found its modern expression (although
in a throughly secular form) in Zionism, The Primier of Israel,
David Ben-Gurion believes in no personal, supernational God, never attends
synagogue, and observes no Jewish laws, customs or rituals yet he is
considered, even by the most pious and orthodox of Jews, to be one of the
greatest Jews of our times. As I studied the Quran more and more deeply, I began to realize why Islam and Islam alone had made Arabs a great people. Without the Quran, the Arab laguage would probably be extict now. At best, minus Quran, Arabic would be as obscure and insignificant as Zulu! All other Arabic literature and culture owes its existence to th Quran. Therefore Arabic culture and Islam are inseparable. Without the latter the former would have no international importance. Although my parents can't understand my
antagonism against the calture in which they raised me and special
my hostile feeling about Zionism, they give me the freedom to lead my own
life. at first they tried to discourage my involvement in Islam,
fearing that this would alienate from them and the rest of the family ,
but now that they see how determined I am, they assure me they will not
try t stop me from conversion or put any obstacles in the way of the
leading the life that makes me happy. Even though they hold contrary views
to mine on almost everything, they are tolerant and broadminded
enough no matter how much they may disapprove, never to threaten to
disinherit me cut their ties. What a contrast to Orthodox Jewish
parents who consider a child who empraces another religion as dead! respectfully yours,
MARGARET MARCUS Maudoodi reply
Lahore, Feb. 25,1961
Your detailed letter dated January 31st
arrived here a bit late. I am sorry that I failed to send a
prompt reply due to some unavoidable preoccupations. I am afraid
all this delay has put you to inconveniences for which I must offer my
apologies. Every since your first letter, I have been pondering over your problems. I think that you must choose between two alternatives. Either you should start to work openly for Islam in America and gather a group of sympathizers and co-workers around you or you should migrate to a Muslim country, preferably Pakistan. Now for me, it is not easy to decide which alternative would be best suited for you. It depends upon your circumstances and aptitudes which you know better. But this much I can say that if you come to live in Pakistan, you will find yourself amidst many like-minded people barring the language difference. God-willing, you will receive here all moral as well as material support and encouragement. Moreover, there is very likelihood here that you may find a virtuous young Muslim to be your life-companion. When you are in Pakistan, I can offer every possible help to you but I am sorry to say that I am unable to assist you in your passage from America to Pakistan because of the very stringent restrictions on foreign exchange here.
I do hope that your parents as your
well-wishers will not stand in the way of your choice. They
should not fail to keep in view the fact that if their daughter is
forced to live in inclement weather, not only will she be doomed to
lead a life of despair but there is every danger of nervous breakdown.
On the other hand, if she is fortunate enough to find a friendly and
suitable social atmosphere, her mind will be restored to full health
and vigour and she will be able to lead a useful and productive life .
I think once they are able to grasp this point fully, no resistance
will be encountered on their part. Rather, it is not improbable
that they will welcome my suggestions.
Have you contacted the Islamic
centers in Washington D>C or Montreal which may be useful for you?
The address of the Islamic Center of Montreal is as follows :
Thank you for expressing your sincere
anxiety for my safety as regards my forthcoming African tour.
Fortunately the parts of this continent to which I am presently
planning my journey are quite safe and peaceful. I intend to go
to Somaliland, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Mauritius and the
republic of South Africa, all of which contain large
communities of Indo-Pakistan and Arab Muslims ad with their help, I
hop to further the propagation of Islam in Africa.
Sincerely yours,
New York, March 8, 1961 Dear Maulana Maudoodi, I received your last letter of February 25th which made me so happy to read your detailed and thoughtful reply to all the things which have for so long weighed heavily upon my mind. Enclosed is a photo-assay from Look Magazine about the last fashions in women’s dress, which to me are so repulsive that I refuse to conform and would rather be struck dead than seen wearing it . American and European fashion designers appear to do all they can to make the modern Western woman look like streetwalker. Even professional prostitutes do not go to the extremes of these so-called “respectable” woman. Oscar wilde stated the truth when he once said that fashion is something so ugly, it has to be changed every six month! One of the functions of the clothes, of course, is modesty and, as you can see from the pictures in the article, modern Western fashions for women are designed exclusively for commercialized sex One of the very first things I did after accepting Islam and saying my prayers, was to lengthen all my skirts. My relatives were most surprised to see me wearing skirts almost to the ankles when all the women are wearing their dresses above the knee. There is loud propaganda in American popular magazines about the increasing “emancipation” of women in Muslim lands due to the impact, of course, of western education and the mass media. Although I believe that every woman should be educated for the fullest use of her intellectual capacities, I certainly question the advantages of taking women out of the home (particularly those with young children) to compete in business offices and factories with men and substituting nurseries and kindergartens for a home upbringing. This is exactly what has happened in soviet Russia and Communist China where the so-called ‘emancipation’ of women is being deliberately used by the rulers to destroy the family, to a lesser degree, a similar situation exists in my country. What you said about Muhammad Asad in your last letter shocked and saddened me deeply. I never suspected even from this most recent writings and letters to me that he was not a staunchly observant Muslim. I can never forget that splendid chapter in his book, Islam at the crossroads, about the necessity for Muslims to strictly follow the sunnah as well as the Quran if Islam is to survive and flourish. His arguments for the authenticity of Hadith were so sound and convincing, and his deep feeling for Islam so evident. Despite what you told me about his financial difficulties, I cannot help but wonder why he changed his mind. I pray to Allah that such a thing will never happen to me. Could you please describe in some detail the programme you outlined for the new Islamic University of King Ibn Saud? At first I thought that the university would be modeled on the pattern of al_Azhar. But just a few days ago I read an article which said that the proposed university would be essentially secular, patterned on Western lines with Islamic studies only a small and incidental part of the curriculum. The same article described kink Ibn saud’s plans to rebuild the entire cities of Macca and Medina. Although I know that so many of the ancient buildings in the holy cities are antiquated and in desperate need to repair, I only hope that the new buildings will be constructed in conformity to the Islamic style of architecture because the whole atmoshere in these places would be ruined if they are copied from the ultra-modern fashions. Personally I abhor modern architecture because it conflicts with every criteria of beauty, symmetry, grace and warmth. Every time I vist the United Nations headquarters ( which is an outstanding example of modern architecture) I am repelled by the bleakness, barreness and coldness of the high-rise buildings which look like nothing more than giant boxes with glass windows. I think that the contemporary architecture which is giving our cities an uglier face every day, is perfect reflection of the rejection of all spiritual values by those who design them. Far better for Mecca and Medina to remain old and even dilapidated than go the way of our modern cities. Although I know nothing about the Islamic Centre in Montreal until you told me about it in your last letter, ever since its completion in 1957, I have kept in contact with the mosque in Washington. Last summer I made a special trip to Washington just to see it and talk with the Director, Dr. Mahmoud F. Hoballah who, like Dr. Shoreibah, is a graduate of al-Alazhar. The Washington mosque was built in comformity to traditional Muslim architecture and is as beautiful as any elsewhere in the world. The only thing which saddened me is that the Washington authorities do nont permit the Adhan to be called from the minaret lest that annoy the non-Muslim residents in the area as a “public nuisance!” And the mosque is only for the juma prayers. Attendance as far as I could observe for the five daily prayers is almost nil. Do you know about the campaign against the fast of Ramadan being carried on by the President of Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba ? he claims that the fast is injurious to health and is responsible for Tunisia’s economic backwardness because industrial production slows down during that period. Those who insist on observing the fast are maligned as “ reactionaries.” The chief target of president Bourguiba’s venom is the Reactor of Zaituna University which has for centuries been a major center of Islamic education in North Africa. I have read in the newspapers that in the soviet Union each year as Ramadan approaches, the communists intensify their propaganda against Islam. Communist propaganda for domestic consumption never fails to stress the economic destructiveness of Ramadan, arguing that the factory or farm worker exhausted from fasting or a Muslim who stops work to say his prayers is sabotaging national productivity. Even though Habib Bouguiba is supposed to be such a great friend of the Western democracies, he uses exactly the same tactics against Ramadan as the Communists. Do you know the orientalist, Dr Wilfred Cantwell Smith who is Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University in Montereal ? If so, did you ever read his book, Islam in Modern History, the theme of which is Islam as the Holy Prophet preached and practiced, is “out of date” and must accept secularization and modernization if it is survive in the future? In the chapter about Pakistan, here is what he has to say about you ; “….Maudoodi would present Islam as a system, one that long ago provided mankind with set answers to all its problems rather than as a faith in which God provides mankind anew each morning the riches whereby it may answer them for itself….Modern tendencies would view Maudoodi’s system as dated, as inadequate in scope and to rigid in form to represent faithfully those imperatives for today and would seek the truth of Islam more in the realm of values, dynamic and spirit… Furthermore, to judge from his own expositions, it would appear that he aims at imposing his system on Pakistan, if he can contrive to get his group into a position of power, also in rigorously systematic fashion Maudoodi evinces but scant concern both for the human beings and their individual welfare who would live under his rule. His ideology seems to make little allowance either for the wishes and even the integrity of the ruled or for the propensity which men in positions of authority have all too often demonstrated through human history to distort even the finest of scheme by individual aberration… Maudoodi’s movement is a compromise and an adaptation between previous Islamic history and the demands of modern life from which he abstracts for his static pattern, rather than a creative vision…” Since I know that when this letter reaches you, you will be too busy with your preparations for your trip to Africa to answer, I will not be expecting your reply until after you return to Lahore at the end of May. Sincerely yours,
MARGARET MARCUS Lahore, April 1, 1961 Dear Miss Marcus,
Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatullah.
Your information about the
Islamic university of Medina is not correct. The curriculum,
submitted by me and approved by a committee appointed by the king, provides
for the teaching of Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, Kalam, and Islamic history combined
with European philosophy, jurisprudence, history, economics, politics
and comparative religions. One European language-either French, English or
German-will be compulsory. The education visualized in this scheme can
neither be labeled “secular” or “religious” in the
narrowly accepted sense of these terms. We intend that this University will
be different from modern colleges or old-fashioned madrassahs and shall
occupy a unique place all its own.
We wish to produce such Muslim scholars will versed in Islamic teachings
combined with modern knowledge so they will be competent to apply Islamic
principles to the problems of contemporary life. Like all other Muslim
lands, Saudi Arabia is now the scene of a head-on clash between two
conflicting civilizations. The discovery of oil has brought limitless and
undreamt wealth and the flood- gates to Western civilization have thus been
thrown open. Modern Riyadh is rising like a true replica of Western
capitals in the Arabian desert. Similar is the case of Dhahran and Jeddah.
Even Macca and Madina are also in the process of being "modernized". In such
a critical state, if we fail to produce first-rate scholars who can equip
Arabia with the requisite intellectual and practical leadership, this
sanctuary of Islam, I am afraid, will be swept away by the same surge of
materialistic culture which has already wrought havoc in Turkey and now in
Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia and Pakistan are experiencing its deadly
grip. I think it is our foremost duty to rescue the center of Islam from
this rising peril. President Habib Bourgiiba of Tunisia is
faithfully following in the footsteps of Mustafa Kamal Ataturk of Turkey.
All these so-called modern leaders of Muslims have played the most
treacherous game in their respective countries.
When they launch a
struggle for political freedom from western imperialism, they appeal to
Muslims in the name of Islam but as soon as these leaders manage to capture
power, they make religion their scape-goat for national "backwardness" and
mercilessly stamp out every manifestation of Islamic thought and culture.
All such persons are the product of imperialism. They have no knowledge or
appreciation of Islam. They have been educated and brought up in England,
France or other European countries. Many of them have European wives (Bourguiba
also has a French wife). In their daily life and behavior, they are exact
prototypes of Western people. Muslims had to accept their leadership in
order to win their political liberty and now these Europeanized leaders are
trying to remove the last vestige of Islamic civilization from their realms
in order to make their political power strong and secure. I am wonder-struck at the folly of the Western powers. On the one hand, they want the Muslims to fight against communism because it is a godless creed wile on the other hand , they regard true Islam as a menace and so try to de-Islamize Muslims and encourage every kind of heresy and apostasy. What a pity these people do not understand what the inevitable results of their blunder must be. They always encourage those elements who are infusing un-Islamic values into the Muslim countries, and never tire of condemning those persons who are struggling to revive the true spirit of Islam – they malign as "reactionaries" and "fanatics". Not content even with such diatribes, they make the modernist leaders instrumental in persecuting those Muslims who are working for an Islamic awakening. God only knows what will ultimately happen due to such unwise and misguided attitudes on the part of our Western critics. Dr.
Wilfred Cantwell Smith and his counterparts among ourselves should rest
assured that there is not even the remotest possibility that the majority of
Muslims will accept this new version of "Islam" as genuine and would believe
in it. Thank God, the original sources of Islam-the Quraan and Sunnah-are
still to be found intact and unalloyed. So long as even a single Muslim is
left in the world having direct access to these basic sources, no
counterfeit and unauthorized editions of Islam can never gain currency among
Muslims.
With salaams and best wishes,
New York, April 12, 1961 Dear Maulana Maudoodi, I was shocked to learn that you could not male the trip to Africa because of bad health and that you have been ill for almost two months. I only hope that the doctors will find an effective treatment to relieve the pain. Suffering such pain, it must have required much effort on your part to type such a detailed letter to me and replying to all the question I asked you to my satisfaction.
These days it seems that radio, television and the press about the
necessity for “raising the standard of living “and “economic development” in
the so-called underdeveloped countries constantly bombard one. In order to
do this, foreign aid on a massive scale from the United state or the Soviet
union is deemed essential.
Now I can understand why belief in the Hereafter is such an essential
part of Islam and why it is emphasized in almost every verse of the Quraan.
As soon as one begins to have faith in the Hereafter, the values this world
considers supreme immediately lose their importance. Belief in the
Hereafter at once gives the believers a true perspective on life so that
he can distinguish between what is really important and what is not. He or
She then begins to long for the good which lasts eternally and not for mere
material objects doomed to perish soon without a trace behind. Belief in
God’s judgment in the hereafter is the only effective sanction behind the
moral law. Minus Hereafter, religion is meaningless. If the Hereafter is
such a moral necessity, it cannot be the product of mere wishful thinking,
as the skeptics tell us, but most be an objective reality ! Now I want to ask you what ca be done about this? Thus far since November 1959, I have written a number of articles defending this viewpoint and had them published in various English language Muslim magazines, but this is not enough, Besides writing, I would be very grateful if you could tell me what practical work along these lines you have done and are doing now. With every prayer for the improvement of your health, I send my salaams to you and your family. Sincerely, MARGARET MARCUS Lahore, May 19, 1961 Dear Miss Marcus Assalaam alaikum wa rahmatullah. I received your letter if April 12th and again I must apologize for delaying my reply, the reason being, as you already know, my failing health and over-work. After a prolonged illness, I was finally given deep X-ray treatment and thank God I have almost recovered. Only weakness remains. I read with interest the cutting from Islamic review of the short story from your novel that you enclosed with your letter. You have painted the most accurate picture of the impact of Western materialism upon the Arab Muslims. I have been with my Owen eyes similar influences on Arabian life during my last visit there and I discussed these matters with Islam-loving thinkers and reformers. The comment you have received on your story do not surprise me in the least. Even sincere Muslims fear that Westerners and modern Muslims will react with repugnance when such a “retrograde” picture of Islam is presented to them. Your first reaction to such adverse opinions will naturally be mingled with dismay but you should try to understand all of this. If you persevere patiently in propagating the truth of Islam, you are sure succeed in your efforts eventually and win converts on your way. I advise you not to try to convince everybody, especially those who do not care to listen or whose views are diametrically opposed to yours, even so they may be your own dear parents. Allah tell us: “Admonish if admonition is profitable.” You should always try to seek out such souls as are able to rise above purely materialistic conceptions and appreciate higher spiritual and moral values. Unless you first succeed in reaching such persons, you will feel alone and isolated in the wilderness of materialism and constant quarrels or arguments with hostile or apathetic people will tend to create pessimism in you mind. Of course it is natural that the so-called “underdeveloped” countries should want to put an end to their backwardness as quickly as possible and catch up with the western countries in the race for material progress. But the tragedy is that aid from rich countries is bringing a deluge of western culture in its wake which is a deadly menace to our religion, our morality, our civilization and culture-in short, every thing near and dear to us which makes our life worth living. Furthermore, the leadership in Muslim countries is in the hands of those persons whose minds are completely vanquished and who venture to re-interpret the laws of shariah despite their meager knowledge. Such a situation is doubly dangerous. It not only poses a threat to Islamic patterns of thought and behavior but also there is every possibility of Muslim countries falling into the lap of Communism. When the Muslim peoples witness their scared and sublime values of life being trampled under-foot and when nothing but grossly materialist ideas are left for which they could live and die, then surely the Muslim world will be fertile soil for communist propaganda, infiltration and conspiracies. I think that American foreign policy will suffer irreparable reverses in Muslim countries. It may meet the same fate here, it has encountered in China and all its donations in cash and kind may fall into the hands of the enemy. The deep-rooted prejudice against Islam and their hatred for Muslims among Americans and Europeans have blinded them even to their own loss! The question you asked me at the end of your last letter is an important question indeed ! This is indeed precisely the question which I have been trying to solve for the last thirty-five years. I began my efforts towards understanding Islam and working for its revival when I was a youth of twenty-three and ever since then, I have dedicated my whole life for this task. I never had any faith in mere defensive tactics or a rear-guard action. I have launched a three-pronged offensive. On the one hand, I have ruthlessly attacked the ideological foundations of Western culture. On the other hand, I have expounded as fully as I know how, the ideological bases of Islam. I have explained at great length what is meant by an Islamic way of life and how in every respect it is superior to Western ways. Thirdly, I have offered practical Islamic solutions of important problems which previously even observant Muslims could see no alternative but to follow the west. As a result of this work, there are millions of Muslims in Pakistan and India from every walk of life who share with me the zeal and yearning for an Islamic order. About twenty-five of my Urdu books Muslim public in the Arabic-speaking countries appreciate and sympathize with my ideas. I bow my head before Allah and praise Him for all this. Unfortunately, as yet very few of my works have been translated into English. If you could learn Urdu, I think that my books would help you in your fight for Islam in America. I wonder if you know that since 1941 an organization-Jama’at-e-Islami – has been working in the Indo-Pak sub-continent. Jama’at-e-islami strives to propagate and implement the ideology which I have presented in my writings. After partition in 1947, this organization was also split into two separate parties- Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan an Jama’at e—Islami Hind. The former has been banned along with all other political parties sunce the promulgation of Martial Law by President Ayub Khan in 1958; the later is still working in India under its own independent leadership. I have told you this story to impress upon your mind the fact that in order to gain some positive results, it is necessary to struggle patiently for many long years. Moreover, to achieve success in a cause, it is essential to equip oneself adequately in the intellectual as well as the moral sphere . It is a hard, unremitting struggle all the way. You have just begun. I fully realize how difficult and painful it is for a young, unmarried female convert to work for Islam in a country like America, but when you have embraced Islam and have clearly grasped the duties it entails, you should seek the help of Almighty Allah and try to assume all the responsibilities He has chosen to give you. The more serious and sincere you are in your efforts, the greater the help you will receive from your Lord which will come from sources and ways you and I could not possibly imagine beforehand. I must confess that with my indifferent health, I am compelled to perform multifarious duties. Daily I have much to read and write and every day many people write me letters and come to see me, so if I am late in replying to you, do not mind and continue to keep me informed about your welfare and activities. I am keenly interested in your struggles and trials for Islam. I also want to publish in my Urdu monthly, Turjuman ul-Quran, extracts of your assays and letters, omitting, of course, intimate personal details. I hope you have no objection to that. May I ask you whether you have assumed an Islamic name? With salaams and best wishes. Sincerely yours, ABUL ALA
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