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Sayyid Abū l-Alā Mawdūdı̄ (1903–79) From Our Message [Islam and secularism] Three Fundamental Principles Now I wish you further to understand clearly the principles of modern civilization which we desire to uproot and also the principles which we want to establish in their place. Modern civilization on which revolves the whole present-day organisation of the world (intellectual, moral, cultural, political and economic) is, in reality, based on three fundamental principles which are: 1. Secularism, that is irreligiousness or worldliness; 2. Nationalism; and 3. Democracy. Secularism Of these the first principle ‘‘secularism’’ implies that the Divine guidance, the worship of God, and obedience to Him should be confined to the personal life of each individual and except for the small sphere of a person’s private life, all the other affairs of this world should be settled purely from the worldly viewpoint according to our own wishes and expediency. In such matters it is out of question to think of what God may have commanded, what His guidance consists of and what the Divine books may lay down. This attitude owes its origin to the reaction that set in among Western peoples as a result of hatred of the man-made theology of Christian missionaries—a theology which had become a curse for them and which forged their shackles. Gradually, however, this attitude developed into an independent theory of life and then became the foundationstone of modern civilization. 115 116 Sayyid Abū l-Alā Mawdūdı̄ You must have quite often heard the utterance ‘‘Religion is a private affair between God and man.’’ This brief sentence is in fact the creed of modern civilization. It implies that if a man’s conscience bears witness to the fact that there is a God Who should be worshipped, he is welcome to do so in his individual and personal life. But God should have nothing to do with this world and its collective affairs. The system of life built upon the foundation of this creed seeks to free from the influence of God and religion all the relations between man and man and between man and this world. Culture, education, economics, law, parliament, politics, the administration of public affairs and international relations are all to be divested of this influence. Whatever is done in all these numerous aspects of life should be regulated by one’s own whims and knowledge. It would be irrelevant, nay, wrong in principle and even a sign of the utmost ignorance, to say that God has prescribed certain principles and laid down some commandments for us for the regulation of such matters.1 Irreligiousness Let us take first of all the irreligious or worldliness which is the first and foremost foundation-stone of this way of life. The theory that God and religion are concerned only with the individual life of a man is completely meaningless, having nothing to do with reason and argument. It is perfectly obvious that the relations of man and God cannot lie beyond either of two alternatives. Either God is the Creator of man and the world in which he lives, as well as being its Master and Sovereign, or He is not so. If He is neither the Creator nor the Master, nor again the Sovereign then it is entirely unnecessary to have even any private relations with Him. It is utterly absurd to worship a Being entirely unconcerned and having nothing to do with us. But if He is in reality our Creator, Master, and Sovereign, and so also of this universe, then it is equally meaningless that His jurisdiction should be limited to the private life of an individual and from the very point from which the contact of one person with another commences His jurisdiction should cease and come to an end. If this limitation has been imposed by God Himself then there should be some authority for it; but if man assumed this independence himself and discarded God from his collective life, then this constitutes an open rebellion against his Creator, Master and Sovereign. And only a lunatic can claim to combine with this rebellious attitude the claim that he accepts God, His religion , guidance and directions in his individual life. There can be nothing more absurd than that each person should claim individually to be the servant and slave of God but when these separate individuals collectively form themselves into a society, they should cease to be servants of the Almighty...

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