Sayyid Abul A鈥檒a Maududi [Ab奴 'l-A士l膩 Mawd奴d墨) (Urdu: 丕亘賵 丕賱丕毓賱賶侔 賲賵丿賵丿蹖鈥� 鈥� alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi, Mawdudi, and Modudi) was a journalist, theologian, Muslim revivalist leader and political philosopher, and a controversial 20th century Islamist thinker in British India, and later Pakistan. He was also a political figure in Pakistan and was the first recipient of King Faisal International Award for his services 1979. He was also the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamic revivalist party.
Was keen to read this book based on suggestion by some and task given to explain the concept of Salimul Aqidah encompassing the topic of Uluhiyyah, Rububiyyah and Asma' Was-sifat of Allah s.w.t.
In this edition the publisher incorporated author's introduction of his work on 'Tafhim Qur'an' to brief the readers about the approach taken by the author in analyzing the qura'nic substances.
Through this introduction there are 2 important points that fall under my serious observation:
1) The central theme of the Quran is the man. So, reader have to keep this idea in mind and trying to reflect what is God proposed idea of a man. i.e what is needed to actually be a man, in a real sense?
2)The Quran was revealed parallel to the advancement of Harakatul Islam or the Islamic movement in the prophet era. Guiding him and his companions throughout the battle between the truth (al-haq) and falsehoods (al-batil). How come then a man, can properly understand its message without stepping inside the same context? Or can a man understand its principles without an effort to actually implement it in reality? How then can a man who never taste a mango will be able to describe its deliciousness to somebody else?
Main part of the book of course deals with the four concepts, ILAH, RABB, IBADAH and DIN.
The main idea of the book is to explained the concepts in their entirety or extended sense and challenging their current reduction into mere imageries that misrepresent its real spirit resulting in flaws and contradictions in belief.
Throughout the journey the author quoted lot of verses in the Quran on each subject (I can say that almost 80% of the book is of Quranic verses) to shed light on the entirety of the concept. For example invoking Allah as the ILAH is not just to accept His supernaturality but also His binding decree, as ILAH also means the highest power of reference and authorization.
There are some instances where the author represented topics in a totally different perspective, something that even I never thought of it before. Such was the chronicle of Moses and Pharaoh.
Read the book with a pre-question in mind that are we really placing Allah as ILAH and RABB in our life? Are we making the true IBADAH to Him? Are we totally immersed or just partially following His DIN?
I had a couple of personal breakthrough moments whilst reading this book. You'll look at the Qur'an from a complete different perspective. This book covers a lot of Qur'anic references and the concepts it covers are from social, political, religious etc. A MUST read!