With the launch of the journal Mithaq, Maulana Islahi acquired an excellent platform through which he could both offer constructive critique and present proposals for the moral and intellectual betterment of the community. In its editorials, he articulated his vision with great clarity, and in this connection, he wrote a number of seminal essays. Among them, the following are particularly noteworthy:
− Maʿashray ki Islah (The Reform of Society), − Ahl-i Siyasat ke Tor Ṭariqe (Methods and Conduct of Political Actors), − Inqilabi Ṭariqa-e-Kar (The Revolutionary Method), − Taḥrik aur Propaganda (Movement and Propaganda), − Din ke Karm ke Liye Iltizam-e-Jamaat (Organizational Commitment for Religious Work), − Dini Talim o Tarbiyat ke Idaron ka Qiyam (The Establishment of Institutions for Religious Education and Training), − Tahaffuz-e-Din ka Ek Mansuba (A Plan for the Protection of Religion). The essence of Maulana Islahi’s position in these writings may be summarized in the following points:
It is imperative, given the concrete and prevailing circumstances of Pakistan, that political stability be established in the country. No existing political party possesses the capacity to form a government that can genuinely secure such stability. For religious parties and the various groups and personalities engaged in religious work, electoral politics is a futile and ultimately harmful pursuit. Their primary task, in his view, should be to work positively for the dissemination of religious consciousness among the people. For this purpose, they ought to establish institutions in which Islam can be taught free from factional and partisan biases. Such groups can never hope to acquire the kind of political clout that would carry them to the corridors of power. If they plunge into fruitless electoral contests, they will inevitably be driven into all manner of dubious compromises, unethical tactics, and shameful accommodations. In doing so, they will ruin their hereafter and, at the same time, lose dignity and credibility in society.
Not only in different cities of Pakistan but also among Muslim communities abroad, modern-educated young people should be given such an understanding of Islam as is genuinely serviceable for them, so that, in their respective professions and fields, they may be able to provide exemplary guidance and work for constructive change in every stratum of society.
In this connection, we reproduce below an excerpt from his article Tahaffuz-e-Din ka Ek Mansuba:
We appeal to every Muslim in this country who is concerned about the future of Islam to reflect on this issue above and beyond all group and party prejudices, and to withhold nothing—by way of effort or sacrifice— that he can contribute to this cause… At this juncture, it is also necessary that an educational and training council be established which, for the time being, should devote itself to the following tasks:
1. The establishment of a college or training institute which integrates both Arabic and English, whose faculty comprises scholars of both the traditional and modern sciences who are at the same time conscious of the religious significance of their disciplines.
2. The establishment of a Dar al-Tasnif (center for authorship and research) which would prepare high-quality works on all those questions that arise today from the encounter and conflict between modern thought and philosophy and Islam, and which would further undertake their publication and dissemination.
3. The establishment of a center for the reform of society which would adopt all appropriate measures currently possible to arrest the moral decline of society and to work for its rectification.
For these tasks, cooperation is required from three categories of people. First and foremost, from those who fully appreciate the importance of this objective and are prepared to devote their full effort and energy to realizing it. Second, from such men of learning as possess the intellectual capacity for any one of the activities mentioned above and are ready to dedicate their abilities to it, irrespective of whether their background is in traditional or modern education. Third, from those who are in a position to provide capital and resources for these objectives and are willing to expend their wealth and deploy their means lillah wa fi sabilillah for them.
Although, outwardly, these appear to be three distinct kinds of work and require three different categories of personnel, the spirit animating all these endeavors and the ultimate objective of all these individuals will be one and the same: that we should renew our covenant of servitude to God ourselves and invite His servants to renew theirs. Whether it is education and training, or writing and authorship, or preaching and daʿwah, or the struggle for social reform, in every activity the same spirit ought to permeate.” (Maqalat-e-Islahi 1/313)
Maulana Islahi’s proposals were taken very seriously by like-minded scholars and his perceptive friends. They invited him to found a nationwide organization on these very foundations. In the light of his bitter earlier experience with Jamaat-i Islami, however, he excused himself and stated that he did not consider it appropriate for himself to assume responsibility for such an enterprise. Under the title Ek Nayi Dini Tanzim ki Zarurat (The Need for a New Religious Organization), he wrote in one of his articles:
In any case, we regard the need for such an organization as a natural demand of the times. If some of God’s servants take steps in this direction, we shall gladly welcome them. We will cooperate with them, and we shall join forces with them by contributing whatever capacities and abilities we possess. At the same time, we wish, without any reserve, to state that the religious tasks which we currently have in view do not permit us to go beyond participation and cooperation to the point of directly assuming responsibility for such an organization. The work that we have already taken upon ourselves is quite sufficient to exhaust our energies. In our own estimation, these are not tasks that can be set aside or treated as secondary. At present we regard the completion of the exegesis Tadabbur-e-Quran and the endeavor to equip intellectually capable, modern- educated young people with religious knowledge as absolutely indispensable undertakings. Our impression is that God Almighty has granted us a modest measure of aptitude for these tasks.
When a person works in accordance with his God-given abilities and is sincere, God bestows blessing upon that work. In our judgment, it is not possible for ordinary people to rise, in the manner of prophets, bearing the whole of religion upon their shoulders; to speak frankly, we consider such an ambition to be a kind of delusion. For people like us, it is quite enough if we can render some small service to the religion and the community in proportion to our abilities. If, through this, we are able with our own hands to fix even a single dislodged brick in the foundation of the ummah, that may perhaps suffice for our salvation. You may call this narrowness of ambition or the bitterness of experience, but rather than losing everything in the pursuit of ‘having it all,’ safety seems to lie in this: that, out of the innumerable avenues of service to the Muslim
community, we take up only that work for which we feel some capacity within ourselves. (Maqalat-e-Islahi 1/96–97)
At this point we cannot refrain from adding that, if only Maulana Islahi had thought in precisely these terms at the time when he left Madrasat al-Islah to accept Maulana Sayyid Abu al-Ala Maududi’s invitation to Pathankot. By all means, he might have joined the Jamaat, but it would have been better had he cooperated in the very manner that he later chose in 1962. At the same time, it is a harsh reality that the atmosphere of the madrasa had ceased to be congenial for him, and that Maulana Maududi’s insistence had become so intense that, albeit with some reluctance, he agreed to leave Madrasat al-Islah.
By that time, that is, by 1961, Maulana Islahi had already begun teaching according to his own carefully designed plan and curriculum to Khalid Masud and his associates. In this regard he wrote a full article in Mithaq under the title Halqa-e Tadabbur-e-Quran. An excerpt from this piece is presented below:
The ‘Circle for the Contemplative Study of the Quran’ is the realization of a long-standing dream of ours. For many years we have held the view that, if there is any viable strategy left to protect religion in our country from the new dangers that threaten it, it is that we should produce such scholars who possess insight into both religion and the world, and who, armed with modern intellectual tools, are able to serve the cause of religion on every front. The older generation of scholars in our community who, in terms of their learning and erudition, were truly reliable are departing from this world one by one. Those few who remain are now in the position of the fading light of dawn. The traditional institutions from which such scholars once emerged have, it is true, always been in a pitiable state, but now their helplessness and marginalization have reached such a point that their existence and non-existence are almost equivalent.
The entire attention of our community has shifted to modern education and, through it, to government employment. These religious seminaries have been reduced to refuges for orphans and the destitute who have nowhere else to go. The administrators of these institutions are, for the most part, so rigid that they are not readily prepared to accept any change or reform. Even if some of them do become willing, their resources are so meagre that they are unable to implement even the most modest reform program in practical terms…
Because of my other preoccupations, I avoided for a long time taking direct responsibility for this kind of work. Yet the sheer gravity of this need finally compelled me to devote some time to it. Accordingly, I formed a circle consisting of those appreciators of religious knowledge who constantly used to visit me. Without any invitation on my part, a substantial number of students joined this circle, most of whom are highly educated. Not more than six months have elapsed since the establishment of this circle, and I myself do not devote more than two hours a day to it, and yet the results I see before me lead me to conclude that, if these students are able to remain associated with me for three years, then, within the limited time I give them, I shall at least be able to bring them to a level where they can directly benefit from those sources and grapple with those problems in reflection, research and critical inquiry from which I myself benefit.
During this period I have taught them Arabic in a simple manner and, alongside it, a number of suras of the Quran and selected ahadith from Sahih Muslim. In the Quranic lessons, I have dealt with all the discussions that are indispensable at the introductory stage: lexical analysis, grammar, language, style, coherence (nazm), interpretation of verses, and derivation of legal rulings. The more subtle discussions concerning proofs and wisdom I have not yet raised; life permitting, I intend to include them to an appropriate extent in the second and third years so that they may also become acquainted with the Quran’s philosophy, its theology, and its wisdom.
In the hadith lessons I chose Sahih Muslim because, for the understanding of its contents, its arrangement is exceptionally wise. In these lessons I have discussed all the topics necessary for students of hadith. I have also, as needed, introduced them to the terminology and principles of the discipline. In matters of creed and law, I have familiarized them with the perspectives and arguments of the jurists and the theologians. The doubts and objections that are levelled nowadays against hadith have been kept especially in view during the lessons, and I have tried to dispel them. Since the minds of these students are free and independent, they present their doubts and questions with complete openness, and I actively encourage this freedom.
By God’s grace, in this period every kind of question has been raised, yet on no issue have they remained unconvinced. To assess the results of my efforts, I have myself, from time to time, put questions to them, and, by way of expressing gratitude for God’s favor, I state that their answers have proven far more promising than I had expected. I have taught advanced students of Arabic and the religious sciences Quran, literature, and the philosophy of history for something like fourteen years, yet I was never as satisfied with the outcomes as I am with the results of this modest endeavor. (Maqalat-e-Islahi 1/317–318)
[To be continued]