Foreword

I am very thankful to Allah (SWT), Whose help and favour enabled me to complete the translation of this book. Fundamentals of Islamic Civilization (Islami Tahzib Aur Us Ke Usul Wa Mabadi) is one of the great works of Sayyid Maududi (Allah's blessings be upon him). No doubt, he was one of the topmost scholars of the Islamic world, and his books, which present the Islamic concept of all aspects of life, spiritual, moral, social, political, and economic, are scholarly works. However, his principal distinction is as the leader of the Movement of the Islamic Revival; for which he established a party with the name of Jamat-e-Islami. The Movement initiated by him has spread all over the world; many organizations are working under different names for the same movement. His scholarly works, including his great commentary of the Holy Qur'an (Tafhimul Qur'an) and the organization of the Islamic Revival Movement, and the literature he produced for the Movement, confirm his scholarship. His struggle as the leader of the Movement rightly ranks him high in the galaxy of Mujaddedin-e-Islam especially in the subcontinent of Asia, they include Syed Ahmed Serhindi known as Mujadid Alaf Sani, Shah Waliullah Dehlvi, and Syed Ahmed Shaheed (Allah's blessing be upon them).

Maulana Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi is not among us today but his literature has kept his mission alive, and it is still spreading all over the world. In the Western countries, his books, translated into English and other European languages, are particularly effective means of Dawah work (spreading the message of Islam). His book Deeniyat has been translated, and titled Towards Understanding Islam, in all the important and widely spoken languages of Asia, Africa, and Western countries. He wrote many books on Islamic beliefs, Islamic ways of worship, and on the Islamic way of life that hold equal appeal to people from laymen to intelligentsia, students to scholars, men and women. His sermons, delivered in a mosque of a village of India (before his migration to Pakistan) in which he explained in simple Urdu (a language widely spoken in the subcontinent), the beliefs and all the ways of worship in Islam. This book has also been translated in all the widely spoken languages of the subcontinent, and in English too. The book, Islamic Civilization, belongs to the same series but it deals with the subject of Islamic belief or faith in a different way, proving its truth, through logic and strong arguments that appeal to the mind and the heart. To explain each aspect of the Islamic beliefs, he quoted the related verses of the Qur'an. The beliefs of other faiths also have been discussed appropriately in their context. This book with two other books, Diiniyat (Towards Understanding Islam), and Khutbat (Let Us Be Muslim) makes a good assortment of tools for Dawah work.

I had no predilection for the translation. But one day my respected brother in Islam, Shamim Siddiqui, member of the general assembly (MGA) of ICNA and In charge of Dawah Dept. suggested and encouraged me to undertake translation of this book; I started it and I could not stop until it was finished. I think it was because the matter of the book was of great importance and interest to me. I remember I read this book when I was young, and it was published in a series in Maulana's monthly magazine, Tarjumanul Qur'an, from Hyderabad Deccan, and it was reproduced in other magazines too. I remember one of them was Siratal Mustaqim of Hyderabad Deccan. In this way I developed an intellectual and spiritual attachment to this book. I pray to Allah (SWT) to give brother Siddiqui the best reward for his good suggestion.

I am also grateful to my sister-in-Islam Aysha Holden, the Associate Editor of Muslims, New York, who spared her precious time for improving the language in the context of an American version. Her suggestions in the editing of the book were very valuable.

It will be unfair if I fail to thank my wife, my sons, Shahid and Mushahid Farooqi, and my granddaughters, Marium Hussaini and Umamah Hussaini, who helped me in so many ways, especially in the typing and the computer work of the book. Without their help it would have been impossible for me to finish the work in just a few months.

I would like to draw the attention of the people with enabling states and resources to the translation of the books from other languages into English, especially Movement- and Dawah-oriented literature produced in Arabic, Urdu, and Persian by great scholars, particularly the books written by Sayyid Maududi (Allah's blessings be on him).

Lastly, I would like to write a few lines about the translation. I have tried my best to convey the sense of the writer as it is, truly and honestly, making the language as simple as possible. It is a fact that the originality, beauty, and style of a writer cannot be translated fully into another language but the sense can be conveyed and that has been earnestly attempted in this translation from Urdu to English. The translation of the verses of the Qur'an mostly has been taken from the translation of Abdullah Yousuf Ali (Allah's mercy be upon him).