towards understanding islam Author:abul a'la maududi Abu A'la Mawdudi (1903-1979), One of the chief architects and leaders of the contemporary Islamic resurgence; the most outstanding thinker and writer. He devoted his entire life to expounding the meaning and message of Islam, inviting indiviuals to renew their commitment to their Creator, and to organizing a movement to establish Islam fully. In... more » this struggle, he had to pass through all kinds of suffering: between 1948 and 1967, he was put behind bars on four occations, spending a total of five years in different prisons of Pakistan; in 1953 he was also sentenced to death by a martial law court for writing a 'seditious' pamphlet, this sentence later being commuted to life imprisonment. In 1941, he founded Jamaat Islami, of which he remained Amir (President) until 1972. Jamaat Islami is one of the most prominent Islamic movements of our day. He authored more than a hundered works on Islam, both scholarly and popular, and his writings have been translated into more than forty languages.
Towards Understanding Islam is one of the landmark books of our time. It has been used in all corners of the world for dawah purposes. More thean 1.4 million copies of this influential book have been printed in 30 languages. The purpose of the book is to provide both the Muslims as well as non-Muslims a brief but comprehensive view of Islam. The author sought to portray the entire picture of Islam in a holistic perspective. The book also tries to explain the rational basis of Islam beliefs.« less