Some mistakes of Al-Mawdudi

Although Ustaz Al-Mawdudi opposed grave worship, and Shaykh Shams Al-Afgani
quoted some of his words refuting grave worship, yet Al-Mawdudi committed many
mistakes, mainly based on rationalism and lack of trust in Ahadith that oppose his weak
intelligence.

Al-Mawdudi’s allusion on being Al-Mahdi:

Al-Mawdudi wrote about the Dajjal:

“He will be a leader on modern ways, he will have knowledge of Mujtahid on all new
sciences…I fear that the Molvi and Sufi people will be first to speak against him…It is
possible that he himself has no information that he will be the promised Al-Mahdi, and
after his death people will know him with his actions, that this one was to put caliphate
upon Prophetic Manhaj. Al-Mahdi is not something to claim, but something to show…he
(Al-Mahdi) will create a school of though based on pure Islam, he will create a movement
to change people’s mind” ( “Tajdeed wa Ihya Deen” p 31 to 33 as quoted in “Tahrik
Jama’at Islami or Maslak Ahlul Hadith” by Allamah Dawud Raz Ad-Dehlawi.)

Comment: It is clearly told in authentic Ahadith that Al-Mahdi will be in Madinah, his name
will be same as the Prophet (saw) and he will be from his family, and he will fight Ad-
Dajjal with Prophet ‘Isa (aley salam). So how can his personality remain hidden, as he will
be leader of the Muslims at time of ‘Isa (aley salam) and Ad-Dajjal. Also there is a clear
hint that he is the Mahdi, and people will realize it after seeing his efforts, and scholars
and Sufis opposed him, and his Jamaat Islami’s aim is to re-establish caliphate.

Al-Mawdudi and rejection of Ad-Dajjal:

Al-Mawdudi wrote about Ad-Dajjal:

“This one-eye blind Ad-Dajjal and others, all of these are stories that have no Shar’i basis,
and there is no need to find them. The stories that are famous among laymen, Islam has
no responsibility of it, and if anything of that (about Dajjal) is not proved then it does not
give any defect to Islam” (“Tarjuman Al-Quran” Ramadan and Shawal 1364, as quoted in
“Tahrik Jama’at Islami or Maslak Ahlul Hadith” by “Allamah Dawud Raz Ad-Dehlawi)

Answer: Shaykh Dawud Ad-Dehlawi said that Ad-Dajjal is mentioned 8 times in Sahih Al-
Bukhari and 17 times in Sahih Muslim. And here Al-Mawdudi opposes the way of the
believers and does not take into account agreed upon Ahadith and the position of the
Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah. Shaykh ‘Abdullah Ar-Ropuri answered to Al-Mawdudi’s false
claims of contradictions in these Ahadith in his Risalah “Mawdudiat or Ahadith
Nabawiyah” and many other of his casting doubts on Hadith.

Mawdudi’s view on Hadith:

“Ahadith were transmitted by few men to few men, and the maximum on can get from
them is only hope of authenticity (Guman Sihat) and not knowledge of certitude (Ilmul
Yaqeen)” (“Tarjuman Al-Quran” Rabee’ Ul-Awal 1365, as in “Tahrik Jama’at Islami or
Maslak Ahlul Hadith” by Allamah Dawud Raz Dehlawi)

He also said in Takhfif (diminishing) of the Muhadiths: “These Hadhraat (referring to

 Muhadiths) used to criticise each others. They even would say to each other “This one
has no knowledge”, “Liar”, “Dajjal ud-Dajjajilah” then in their narrated Hadith, there is
nothing that is free of mistake.” (“Tafhimat” p 294)

He also said: “How can you say that what Muhadiths have declared to be authentic is
authentic in reality. They themselves did not have complete certitude (kamil Yaqeen) on
their authenticity.” (“Tafhimat” p 292)

Comment: Ahlul Hadith say that Sahih Hadith leads to certitude, specially those having
Talaqi bil Qabool, meanings that they have been accepted by the community without any
objection. If all Ahadith do not have certitude, then it means our prayer, Syam and Zakah
is all not based on certitude. This is why the famous Hadith rejector and apostate Ghulam
Ahmad Parweiz objected that his position was close to Al-Mawdudi that only Quran leads
to certitude as mentioned by Shaykh Dawud Raz Ad-Dehlawi.

Al-Mawdudi and the beard:

“But for me not only this definition of the Sunnah is false, rather I hold the belief that
declaring this kind of things (like beard) to be Sunnah and then insisting on this
understanding, is a serious kind of innovation and a dangerous deviation in religion”
( “Tarjuman Al-Quran” May June 1345)

Answer: Here Al-Mawdudi is opposing great majority of scholars who declared beard as
obligatory, like Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyah, and Shaykh Badi’ ud Din Shah Ar-Rashidi
has a Risalah on this topic called : “Islam mein Dhari ka Maqam” answering Mawdudi’s
invented view of the Sunnah.

Al-Mawdudi and Sahih Al-Bukhari:

Al-Mawdudi criticized many of its narrations on the sole basis that he claims they oppose
intelligence of common people, like the Hadith that the Prophet Ibrahim (aley salam) lied
three times or that the prophet Musa (aley salam) slapped the angel of death and his eye
fell down.

Now no Muhadith ever criticized these narrations as told by Shaykh Ismail As-Salafi in his
Risalah “Hujjiyat Hadith” none from the Salaf and in Khalaf, Fakhr Ar-Razi, the
philosopher of the Ashari sect objected to the Hadith of Ibrahim and the three lies.

Shaykh Ismail As-Salafi said that if these Ahadith were against intelligence of laymen,
then why did all Muhadiths agreed on these two Ahadith. He brought their explanations
that lying in such circumstances is permissible or other explanations, and also that Musa
(aley salam) did not recognize the angel of death. But Al-Mawdudi’s intelligence is
special, as he thought that the Hadith of Al-Bukhari about Ibrahim (aley salam) was
opposing the Holy Quran, while in the Quran also Ibrahim tells that the biggest of idols
destroyed the others. So even if the word lie is not used, then what is it? Will al-Mawdudi
reject the Quran? So why to attack Hadith and the Ummah of Muhadiths who accepted
this Hadith?

See in detail Shaykh Ismail As-Salafi’s wonderful answer to Al-Mawdudi and his theories
that Muhadith had no Fiqh and Dirayah (deep understanding) and other falsehood shared
by many Mouta’assib Hanafi like Shibli Nu’mani and many Deobandis.

Al-Mawdudi and revilement of the Sahabah:

Al-Mawdudi wrote about the Sahabah:

“But after these two (Abu Bakr and ‘Umar) Hadhrat ‘Uthman became their successor and
little by little he went away from their policies” (‘Khilafat wa Mulukiyat’ of Mawdudi, as
quoted in book of Hakeem Ajmal Khan called “Jama’at Islami ko pehchanie” and which
 has articles from ‘Abdullah Ar-Ropuri, Muhammad Gondahlwi, Ismail As-Salafi,
Thanaullah al-Amritsari and others)

Al-Mawdudi further wrote:

“There was without doubt a mistake in one aspect of Hadhrat Uthman’s politics, and a
mistake is a mistake, …and trying to prove at any cost that it was correct by forcing minds
is not the requirement of intelligence and justice, neither it is the requirement of religion to
say that the mistake of a Sahabi is not a mistake.” (“Khilafat wa Mulukiyat”)

”What Hadhrat “Ali did in times of Fitnah was what was required from a guided caliph. But
there is one thing that is difficult to defend and one can object to it, and it is that after
battle of Jamal, he changed his mind about the killers of ‘Uthman. In all Hadrath Ali’s time
of caliphate, there is only one thing about which I have no other solution except to say it
was wrong” (“Khilafat wa Mulukiyat”)

Al-Mawdudi wrote about Mu’awiyah:

“Mu’awiyah acted on ways of old Jahiliyah” ( Khilafat wa Mulukiyat)

He added:

“ I do not doubt that that he ( Mu’awiyah) did a mistake based on good intentions that he
thought he was rightful, but I think it is a mistake, and I am reluctant to think it was an
Ijtihadi mistake” ( Khilafat wa Mulukiyat)

Al-Mawdudi’s takhfeef (diminishing) of scholars:

“Saving from the mistakes of Imam al-Ghazali, the one who did his true work was Ibn
Taymiyah, although it is true, that he also did not bring any political movement which
brought revolution in political system” (“Tajdeed wa Ihya Din”)

Answer : Did any scholar reproach this to Shaykh ul Islam?

Secondly, Shaykhul Islam’s teaching influences Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdil Wahhab,
who’s followers and family fought Shirk and grave worship and established after many
struggles the Land of Tawhid, Saudia Arabia, who is propagating Tawhid and the creed of
Ahlus Sunnah is the whole world.

While the Jamaat Islami, despite Al-Mawdudi opposing grave worship, has in it grave
worshipers like Brawlis. So what change do they want to bring while they for Maslahah
close their eyes on the greatest of all crimes being Shirk.

May Allah send Salah and Salam on the Prophet (saw), his family, companions and those
who follow the.

Compiled by Ali Hassan Khan