Sayyid Abul A'ala Maududi

Shaykh al-Islām Allamah Sayyid Syed Abul A'la Maududi
Born	(1903-09-25)25 September 1903 Aurangabad, Hyderabad State, British India
Died	22 September 1979(1979-09-22) (aged 75) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Nationality	British Indian (1903–1947) Pakistani (1947–1979)
Era	20th century
Region	Islamic world
Religion	Islam
Creed	Sunni Islam
Political Party	Jamaat-e-Islami
Main interest(s)	Islamic law Islamic philosophy Modern philosophy History
Notable idea(s)	Islamic state, jahilliyah (ignorance), Islamic economics islamic republic
Notable work(s)	The Meaning of the Qur'an The Islamic Law and Constitution The Qadiani Question The Finality of Prophethood
Influenced by Ibn Taymiyah, Moinuddin Chishti, Shah Waliullah, Muhammad Iqbal
Influenced Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Tufail Mohammad, Hassan al-Banna, Abdullah Azzam Dr. Israr Ahmed, Sayyid Qutb, Khalid Al Ghamdi, Hussain Ahmad, Ghulam Azam, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Abdul Quader Molla, Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Khurshid Ahmad, Muhammad Karakunnu, Abdul Qayyum, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, Abu Eesa, Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, Syed Ali Shah Geelani
Awards	King Faisal International Prize (1979)
Website	www.maududi.org

Syed Abul A'la Maududi (Urdu: ابو الاعلی مودودی‎ – alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi, Mawdudi, also known as Abul Ala Maududi; (1903-09-25)25 September 1903 – (1979-09-22)22 September 1979) was an Islamist philosopher, jurist, journalist and imam. His numerous works were written in Urdu, but then translated into English, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Burmese and many other languages. He strove not only to revive Islam as a renewer of the religion, but to propagate "true Islam", (which he saw as) a remedy for the weakness from which Islam had suffered over the centuries. He believed that politics was essential for Islam and that it was necessary to institute sharia and preserve Islamic culture from what he saw as the evils of secularism, nationalism, women's emancipation, and communist socialism as they were the results of Western colonial imperialism and the Islamic world needed to be intellectually independent often called intellectual decolonization.

He was the founder of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamic organisation in Asia. He and his party are thought to have been the pioneer in politicizing Islam and generating support for an Islamic state in Pakistan. They are thought to have helped inspire General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq to introduce "Sharization" to Pakistan, and to have been greatly strengthened by him after tens of thousands of members and sympathizers were given jobs in the judiciary and civil service during his administration. He was the first recipient of the Saudi Arabian King Faisal International Award for his service to Islam in 1979. After his death his Gayby Salat al-Janazah in Mecca, making him the second person in history whose prayer was observed in the Kaaba, succeeding King Ashama ibn-Abjar.