, TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
Table of Index:
Editor’s Preface ________________________________________________2
Foreword _____________________________________________________4
Chapter 1: The Meaning Of Islam__________________________________5
Chapter 2:Faith and Obedience___________________________________14
Chapter 3:The Prophethood______________________________________20
Chapter 4:The Articles of Faith____________________________________43
Chapter 5:Prayer and Worship____________________________________60
Chapter 6:Din and Shariah_______________________________________67
Chapter 7:The Principles of Shariah________________________________70
, TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
EDITOR'S PREFACE
Ours is an age of anxiety and restlessness. A change is imperceptibly overtaking the
world. The old order is disintegrating; the new one is, however, yet to come. And history
tells us that such ages of restlessness have also been periods of birth for new movements
and cultures. The world is in the grip of a tension and awaits a twentieth-century
renaissance of man.
A significant feature of the present century is the new and wide-spread trend of Islam
revival. After a long period of stagnation the world of Islam is rising from its stupor. A
new awakening has appeared on the horizon; a new life is being infused into the
community of Islam. This trend is visible in every country and at every place and has
within it the possibilities of its becoming the harbinger of a new age.
But this revivalist trend can become the messenger of a New only if is accompanied by
an intellectual revolution-a thorough appraisal of the intellectual and cultural heritage of
Islam and its representation to the world in the language of today. Thus the importance of
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and Maulana Maududi as the authors of this new intellectual
awakening is immense. Maulana Maududi is the author of more than eighty books and
pamphlets on Islam and has written more or less on each and every aspect of Islamic
culture. His writings have provided the present-day revival of Islam with its intellectual
foundations.
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM also is one of his important book. It is an
elementary study of Islam and a simple, understandable and unsophisticated
interpretation of the religion for the younger folk. It has not been written in the brow-
beaten style of theology books, through which the reader gets enmeshed in a quagmire of
legal quibbling and is unable to understand the real spirit and message of Islam. The work
is simple exposition of Islam, its approach to life, the articles of faith, its worships and
prayers and the scheme of life which it envisages. The method of exposition used in the
book is the same as adopted in the Qur'an itself and an attempt has been made to present
in it a summary of the teachings of Islam. And as the book is primarily for the students
and younger people, the discussion has been made to burden the mind of the reader with
difficult or philosophic dissertations.
Originally the book was written in 1932 in Urdu and was intended as a test-book for
students of the higher classes and the general public. It filled an important gap and
became a primer of Islam. Most of the schools and colleges of the indo-Pakistan sub-
continent adopted it as a text- book in theology and made its study a part of their
curricula. It has been translated into Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Gujrati, Sindhi, Tamil,
Turkish, Japanese and French languages. Realizing its importance for the English-
reading public, the late Dr. Abdul Ghani translated it into English in 1940. But for a
number of reasons, including the fact that in the latest editions of the Urdu text the author
had made certain additions and alterations the need has long been felt for a new
translation. I have made an attempt to fulfill this need. The present translation is
altogether a new one and only a few pages of the earlier translation have been embodied
2
, TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
in it, and these too with necessary changes and alterations. The text on which it is based
is that of the sixteenth (revised) edition of the Risala-e-Diniyat.
Strictly speaking it is not a literal world-for-word translation of the original text. I have
tried to follow the original as faithfully as possible, but have departed from a strictly
literal rendering wherever necessary in the interest of the language. I have also added
explanatory notes wherever necessary.
The learned author has, however, been kind enough to go through the translation, which
therefore has his approval and the reader can rest assured that the translation is a faithful
one.
I am grateful to all those friends who have kindly helped me in the preparation of this
book. I am particularly grateful to khwaja Abdul wahid who went through the manuscript
and gave me very helpful suggestions and to my friend Mr. Ansar Azam who assisted me
in the translation of Chapters 5 and Chapters 6. My thanks are also due to Mr. Shahzad
Muhammad who ungrudgingly typed form my badly written manuscript again and again.
KHURSHID AHMAD
1,New Queens Road
Karachi
23rd March, 1959
3
Table of Index:
Editor’s Preface ________________________________________________2
Foreword _____________________________________________________4
Chapter 1: The Meaning Of Islam__________________________________5
Chapter 2:Faith and Obedience___________________________________14
Chapter 3:The Prophethood______________________________________20
Chapter 4:The Articles of Faith____________________________________43
Chapter 5:Prayer and Worship____________________________________60
Chapter 6:Din and Shariah_______________________________________67
Chapter 7:The Principles of Shariah________________________________70
, TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
EDITOR'S PREFACE
Ours is an age of anxiety and restlessness. A change is imperceptibly overtaking the
world. The old order is disintegrating; the new one is, however, yet to come. And history
tells us that such ages of restlessness have also been periods of birth for new movements
and cultures. The world is in the grip of a tension and awaits a twentieth-century
renaissance of man.
A significant feature of the present century is the new and wide-spread trend of Islam
revival. After a long period of stagnation the world of Islam is rising from its stupor. A
new awakening has appeared on the horizon; a new life is being infused into the
community of Islam. This trend is visible in every country and at every place and has
within it the possibilities of its becoming the harbinger of a new age.
But this revivalist trend can become the messenger of a New only if is accompanied by
an intellectual revolution-a thorough appraisal of the intellectual and cultural heritage of
Islam and its representation to the world in the language of today. Thus the importance of
Dr. Muhammad Iqbal and Maulana Maududi as the authors of this new intellectual
awakening is immense. Maulana Maududi is the author of more than eighty books and
pamphlets on Islam and has written more or less on each and every aspect of Islamic
culture. His writings have provided the present-day revival of Islam with its intellectual
foundations.
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM also is one of his important book. It is an
elementary study of Islam and a simple, understandable and unsophisticated
interpretation of the religion for the younger folk. It has not been written in the brow-
beaten style of theology books, through which the reader gets enmeshed in a quagmire of
legal quibbling and is unable to understand the real spirit and message of Islam. The work
is simple exposition of Islam, its approach to life, the articles of faith, its worships and
prayers and the scheme of life which it envisages. The method of exposition used in the
book is the same as adopted in the Qur'an itself and an attempt has been made to present
in it a summary of the teachings of Islam. And as the book is primarily for the students
and younger people, the discussion has been made to burden the mind of the reader with
difficult or philosophic dissertations.
Originally the book was written in 1932 in Urdu and was intended as a test-book for
students of the higher classes and the general public. It filled an important gap and
became a primer of Islam. Most of the schools and colleges of the indo-Pakistan sub-
continent adopted it as a text- book in theology and made its study a part of their
curricula. It has been translated into Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Gujrati, Sindhi, Tamil,
Turkish, Japanese and French languages. Realizing its importance for the English-
reading public, the late Dr. Abdul Ghani translated it into English in 1940. But for a
number of reasons, including the fact that in the latest editions of the Urdu text the author
had made certain additions and alterations the need has long been felt for a new
translation. I have made an attempt to fulfill this need. The present translation is
altogether a new one and only a few pages of the earlier translation have been embodied
2
, TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
in it, and these too with necessary changes and alterations. The text on which it is based
is that of the sixteenth (revised) edition of the Risala-e-Diniyat.
Strictly speaking it is not a literal world-for-word translation of the original text. I have
tried to follow the original as faithfully as possible, but have departed from a strictly
literal rendering wherever necessary in the interest of the language. I have also added
explanatory notes wherever necessary.
The learned author has, however, been kind enough to go through the translation, which
therefore has his approval and the reader can rest assured that the translation is a faithful
one.
I am grateful to all those friends who have kindly helped me in the preparation of this
book. I am particularly grateful to khwaja Abdul wahid who went through the manuscript
and gave me very helpful suggestions and to my friend Mr. Ansar Azam who assisted me
in the translation of Chapters 5 and Chapters 6. My thanks are also due to Mr. Shahzad
Muhammad who ungrudgingly typed form my badly written manuscript again and again.
KHURSHID AHMAD
1,New Queens Road
Karachi
23rd March, 1959
3
