Witnesses unto Mankind. Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi
admirers who desired to disseminate its important message on a larger scale. It has also been translated into several languages, the first English translation appearing under the title the Evidence of Truth (Lahore, 1967). Now, this entirely new and more extended English version is being published by the Islamic Foundation.
The message and substance of Sayyid Mawdudi’s address is of fundamental importance both to Muslims and to mankind at large, as the English title adopted by me shows. Put simply: Muslims, who now constitute one-fifth of the human race, have no other justification to exist as a community but that they should bear witness, before mankind, to the Truth and guidance which God has given them. For this very purpose, he explains, God sent all the Prophets. They showed man the right way of life, the path of his Creator, so that he could live by it and not plead ignorance when called to account on the Day of Judgement. After the Last Prophet, blessings and peace be on him, it is Muslims who must fulfil this prophetic mission to all mankind and for all times to come.
Describing how this witness must be given, both by words and deeds, Sayyid Mawdudi proceeds to depict how the Muslims’ words and deeds have in fact become witnesses against Islam. Their failure to do their duty and, instead, giving false witness, he holds, is the sole cause of their present state of ignominy and backwardness. Later, he also explains that the Jama‘at Islami was formed precisely to do this duty and invite all Muslims to it. Finally, he answers certain objections which were then being raised against the Jama‘at Islami.
His style, as usual, possesses all the directness and clarity, the passionate lucidity, and the persuasive logic, so characteristic of him.* Because of its message and style, this brief booklet has made a deep impact on its readers, and stirred many people to renew their commitment to Allah and come forward to fulfil their covenant with Him.
Though delivered about four decades ago in a party conference, Sayyid Mawdudi’s message is universal and timeless. The need to hear it remains as great as ever. But the presently available English translation retains little of the charm and power that characterize the original Urdu work. Hence it has not been able to penetrate the hearts and minds of English readers as it should have. The need for a better English translation was, therefore, great. English is now spoken by millions of Muslims, who can all benefit immensely from an improved English version. I hope that this new translation will bring them, in some degree, nearer to the life and power that fill Sayyid Mawdudi’s original words.
The editorial work, in addition to contributing an introduction and notes containing Quranic references, has been confined to providing necessary headings and sub-headings, incorporating certain footnotes in the text, and removing the last part, dealing with the objections against the Jama‘at Islami, to an appendix at the end of the book.
The extensive references from the Qur’ān that I have provided should prove an important addition. What need do they fulfil? Firstly, the Qur’ān is the source of Sayyid Mawdudi’s message and argument. Hence these notes should help the reader to discover how both are linked. Secondly, as I have written elsewhere, I expect that this work will continue to be used, as it has been so far, by the generations of Muslims who are ardently striving to make their lives Islamic. In many groups, study circles, classes and organizations around the world, it will be eagerly taken up as a basic text. It is most essential, however, that all studies on Islam are pursued, as far as possible, within the framework of the Qur’ān and Hadith. To these the Muslim youth, intelligentsia and scholars must turn again and again and draw closer and closer. I sincerely hope that my notes will serve as a means towards that end, and that they will encourage the reader into a more direct intimate relationship with the Qur’ān.
It is my earnest hope that this book will stir the hearts of its readers and inspire them to take up the challenge that Sayyid Mawdudi has placed before them. I also pray to Allah, subhanahu wata’ala, to bless this effort with His forgiveness, mercy and acceptance.
| Leicester16 December, 19853 Jumada ’l-Ula, 1406 | Khurram Murad |
* The Jama‘at Islami was formed as a result of Sayyid Mawdudi’s call, in Lahore, now in Pakistan, on 2 Sha‘ban 1360/26 August, 1941, in a gathering of about 75 persons. Sayyid Mawdudi was elected its first Amir.
* See my Introductions to his The Islamic Movement: Dynamics of Values, Power and Change (Leicester, 1984) and Let Us Be Muslims (Leicester, 1985).
Shahadah in Islamic Life and Discourse
Shahādah, of which ‘witness’ is the English equivalent, is central to Islam. It is a fundamentally important key word in the Islamic vocabulary. It plays a crucial role in defining and shaping the Islamic life and discourse, a life and discourse which extends from the existential to the cosmic.
‘Witnessing’, thus, lies at the heart of Islam, it constitutes the precincts of Islam. One can enter Islam only upon saying the Shahadah, one can remain in Islam only by saying and doing the Shahadah. It is the first word that a new-born Muslim baby hears, it is the first and foremost of the pillars of Islam on which he constructs and sustains the entire edifice of his Islamic life, it must be the last word on his lips as he departs from this world to meet his Maker. Five times a day it must be proclaimed to the world from minarets and rooftops wherever a Muslim might happen to be; still much more often it must be uttered in the deep silence of the heart. In between, every aspect of his life should be shaped by the Shahadah.
And, finally, by voluntarily laying down his life in the way of God, he deserves to be called a shahīd, a witness par excellence to his faith and the Truth he has received. It is also interesting to note here that the English word ‘martyr’, too, etymologically means ‘witness’, or shahīd. First used in Christianity for those who were put to death in the cause of their faith, it provides strong evidence that the link between faith and witness is common to all faiths, for all of them originated from one source and were centred on commitment to the One God.
Witness to what? To the Truth. But what does the Truth mean?
The Arabic word al-ḥaqq, which has been translated as the ‘Truth’, is used in the Qur’ān in a number of ways: justification, moral or legal (2: 61); right, as against wrong (13: 17); right and due (2: 180, 17: 26, 3: 102); purpose and meaning (6: 73, 44: 39); certain, real and true (6: 62, 7: 8, 31: 30, 45: 32).
Obviously, God is the ultimate and most certain reality and truth (24: 25, 10: 32); indeed, in a sense, only He is Real and True, because all else exist only because of Him. Therefore His guidance, too, by which He guides man – and only He can so guide (10: 35) – to Himself and to the true knowledge of right and wrong in every respect is the Truth. Hence, the Truth means the Divine guidance in this pervasive sense, as given by God through His Messengers and Books, and, finally, through the Qur’ān and the Last Prophet, Muhammad, blessings and peace be on him. This last guidance confirms and includes, not controverts and excludes, all previous guidance.
All mankind were one single community; [then they began to differ] so God sent forth the Prophets as heralds of glad tidings and as warners, and He sent down with them the Book with the truth, that it might decide between the people with regard to all in which they differed (al-Baqarah 2: 213).
God – there is no god but He, the Ever-living, the Self-subsisting [by whom all subsist]; He has sent down upon you the Book with the truth, confirming what came before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel aforetime, all as guidance unto mankind; and it is He who has sent down the Criterion [by which to discern the true from the false] (Āl ‘Imrān 3: 2–4).