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Human Welfare Trust Publication No I 066 © Human Welfare Trust (Regd.) New Delhi
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Name of the Book: A Historic Address at Madras
(English Version of Urdu "Khutba-e-Madras") Pages: 39
Author Maulana Sayyid Abul A'la Maudoodi
Edition August 2009 1,100
Translated By Mohammad Siddiqui Naveed
Price: Rs. 20.00
Pub1ished by Markazi Maktaba lslami Publishers
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Printed at: Raheel Nasim Printing Press • New Delhi-2
The Islamic Movement ...................................................... 4
Circumstances ...........: ........................................................ 5
The Emerging Scenario .................................................... 6
The issues ......................................................................... 7
The Muslim Situation ...................................................... 8
Three Avenues ................................................................. 9
The Remedy ..................................................................... 11
New Era ........................................................................... 11
The Plight of Non-Muslims ............................................. 12
Tile Socialist Movement .................................................. 14
The Four Point Programme ............ .................................. 16
End of Communal Conflict.......................................... 17
Reforming the Muslim Society ........................................ 17
Role of Intellectuals ......................................................... 18
Regional Languages ......................................................... 19
The Promising Outlook .........................................: .......... 20
On the eve of Independence, the Jamaat-e-Islami held its public convention in the city of Madras. On that occasion, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Syed Abul A'la Maudoodi delivered a thought provoking lecture; in which he analysed the political and social situation of the country. This important address was published (in Urdu) as part of the proceedings of the convention (in Roodad Jamaat-e-Islami Volume -5). In spite of a lapse of several decades, the ideas presented by Maulana Maudoodi remain relevant today. As English translation of this important lecture is therefore being published.
The address contains valuable advice for Indian Muslims and presents them with a vibrant plan of action. Muslim intellectuals may develop this plan and make it more comprehensive and relevant but the basic analysis presented remains valid, even today and the thrust of the action plan should be the basis for the contemporary agenda of lndian Muslims.
Dr. Mohd Rafat
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
A Historic Address at Madras Concluding address of Maulana Maudoodi at the annual convention of the Madras zone of Jamaat-e-Islami on Saturday, the 26th April 194 7
All Praises be to Allah The Most Exalted, The Most Great. Blessings and Peace be upon the Noble Prophet.
Companions and friends! We are presently passing through a very delicate and decisive phase in the history of India and just as this phase is critical in shaping the destiny of its citizens, it will similarly be crucial for this movement of ours. It is thus necessary for us at this time to clearly understand the purpose of our work and the circumstances in which we would have to do this work. We have to comprehend the progress of events and then find our path through them. And let every worker understand with complete insight the correct approach to be adopted in the present circumstances and in foreseeable future.
The purpose of this movement of ours, as you all clearly know is to actively establish the correct way of life called Islam at an individual as well as collective level and demonstrate it through word and action. We try to convince the world that success and good fortune lie in following this way of life alone. We strive to establish a system of justice that is founded on this basis; in place of the present spurious systems. Though we have to work in the entire world and among the whole of mankind to achieve this goal; naturally the locus of our endeavor should be the place of our birth, where the language is ours, where the customs and ways are familiar to us, whose psychology we are well acquainted with and where our affinity with society exists since birth. Though their message was universal, even Prophets had their own region of jurisdiction fixed by Allah the Almighty for the call of Islam. It was not permissible for any prophet to abandon his initial place of duty and go someplace else, until his countrymen either expelled him or even after utmost efforts, he was left despondent in his propagation and calls. Thus the natural ambit of activities of our organization is this resident country which Allah the Almighty has chosen for us.
And again, although the boundaries of operation for the whole organization will be the entire country, but every member will endeavour in his own local region. And for every member of a city, town or village, the precincts of functioning are his respective native region. It is obligatory for each one of us to stand firm with fortitude and get absorbed in this call for reform and transformation and never move away from ones locale unless it becomes absolutely impossible to continue to live there or all hope is lost for this proclamation of truth bearing fruit. Impending circumstances will raise many voices of migration and it is not improbable that the general fervor or imaginary anxieties may alarm many of us to flee but the mission of which you are the bearer demands that each of you put up a courageous front and strive to make his call prevail in the lives of that region. You are to be like the brave captain who struggles to save his sinking ship until the end and is the last one to abandon it. The faith that you profess, compels you to strive to alter the order of existence in your environment and place it on the right path. Respective regions have rights on you as you have a right on them and these rights are fulfilled only when you exert sufficient efforts in uprooting the defects of society and impart paramount benefits to it from the correct guidance you have been bestowed with.
The circumstances being unveiled in India at this time are apparently highly despairing with respect to our movement and I see its grievous effects on all of you. Various communities of the nation have become extremely parsimonious and self-indulgent, and base emotions have attained such frenzy that actions committed by them if attributed even to a beast, would be found insulting by it. Communal conflicts have acquired horrific and ravenous forms. Initially it was limited to claims, counter claims and bitter verbalizations by every group, but now a stage has come when they are bent upon obliterating each other. They have entrusted their guidance to sycophants and scribes· who make them drink the wine of selfish conceit mixed with poison of aversion and enmity, who cross all boundaries of justice and morality in advocating their unlimited narrow demands. In reality there is no concept of righteousness in their hearts and all standards of morality are now subservient to communalism. Whatever is in accordance with the interests and demands of this communalism is considered to be of highest morality, including falsehood, breach of trust, oppression, callousness and tyranny or even anything that is accepted universally as evil. Contrarily, truth, justice, honesty, compassion, virtue and civility are all resolved to be sinful if they are opposed to group interests or hinder achievement of communal demands.
In these circumstances, it is very difficult to strive for a cause that ignores all group feelings and addresses mankind, which ignores sectarian demands and invites all towards righteous principle of truth, which breaks group conceit and establishes universal justice. In this period of frenzy neither Hindus nor Muslims are ready to hear the voice of this call. Muslims assert that you belong to our Faith, thus it is obligatory on you to stand under one banner and fight this religious conflict. "Why form a separate party that persists in principles of faith, ethics and truth? Strength of Muslims is dispersed by your untimely call and harms its religious interests, thus we consider you to be our adversary although your call is towards the same Islam in whose name we also are fighting this· religious conflict". On the other hand, if you approach the Hindus, they consider what is being· said to be appealing to the hearts but are wary because it comes from people of the same hostile religion. They suspect this moral appeal to be another policy promoting Muslim religious sentiment.
These circumstances may seem to be extremely · discouraging and
trying but are not permanent and will soon change. The correct course of
action for you at this time is to
The Emerging Scenario
The change that I am indicating is that the nation will be
partitioned shortly. Hindus will get the region where they enjoy a
majority and Muslims will get the region where they are in a majority.
Both will have complete freedom in their respective territories and will
administer their states accordingly. This enormous change will alter
the course of events that have been taking place until now. All issues
and their details pertaining to Hindus, Muslims and other faiths will
completely change and will have to be dealt with in an entirely
different situation. The manner in which people continue to sustain
their religious conduct, movement and collective activities would become
absurd and futile to a large extent. Under the changed circumstances,
they will have to reflect on where their actions have brought them and
what should be their plan of action in this new course of life.
Established doctrines of today would become ineffective and there would
be no place for present thoughts or concepts and slogans of today would
be like 'counterfeit currency, rejected by all. Foundations on which
religious movements and organizations have been established will be
razed automatically. Thus, not only will the leadership of today meet
its logical end, but also in all probability the same people who
consider these leaders to be their saviors today will see them as the
cause of all troubles and afflictions. Circumstances in Hindu-Hindustan
and Muslim Hindustan in the coming times will be absolutely disparate,
and because we have to work in both these regions, we have to have two
different approaches in our movement. In all probability, even
organizational set-up may have to be bifurcated so that each region can
function under appropriate respective policies and self-administer it.
As far as the Muslim region is concerned, I will not discuss it here
because the suitable place for it would be the assemblage of the
northwest region that is to take place shortly. Here I have to discuss
only the prospects in Hindu-Hindustan with respect to the conditions
Muslims and Hindus would confront
The Issues
First of all, consider the issues of Muslims. In the region of Hindu
majority, Muslims will soon experience that the foundation of their
collective disposition has suddenly disappeared, leaving them in a
lifeless wilderness. The communal conflict that they fought unthinkingly
with such fervor has culminated into nothing but destruction. The
democratic principles on which the evolution of Indian polity took place
(based on whose point of view, even Muslims had compiled their list of
demands) would be seen to work only for majority benefits. Minorities,
if even receive anything would be in the form of charity to beggars and
not as rights of peers or partners. This has been an obvious reality
from which Muslims have blinded themselves willfully. They committed a
dual folly of primarily accepting democratic principles of the West as
their system of governance and secondly presented the proposition for
partition of the nation that deemed that they would be rulers where they
were in a majority and would be subservient where they were in a
minority. After years of bitter and bloody struggle this composite
stupidity has reached the. stage of "success", and minority Muslims are
about to obtain everything they had fought for, that is to be subjugated
as a community in a liberated and independent government of the
majority community with whom they have had a religious conflict! The
state that is being created in the region of Muslim minority is going to
be a state of the Hindu society. Based on ideologies of religious
nationalism and democracy which Muslims and Hindus have together
accepted as basis of their respective movements, no religious state will
tolerate the existence of any other community which is a claimant to
its own permanent cultural entity separate from the ruling nationalism,
at the same time presenting its religious demands. This was practicable
only till the nation was under a foreign power and Muslims and Hindus
were subjects. It was possible only then that minorities claimed a
distinct nationalistic identity like the majority and more or less had
their permanent rights conceded. But when the citizens of the nation
form a ·democratic government, then Hindu-Hindustan will practically
become a religious state of the majority and there will be no room for
any Minority to have a distinct identity or special religious demands, A
religious State never concedes religious demands of any other
community, on the contrary it initially tries to assimilate it into
itself and if the community turns out to be obstinate .and does not get
assimilated, an attempt is made to suppress it so that separate
religious sentiments cease to exist and no voice is raised to demand
distinctive permanent religious rights. And ultimately if their outcry
of religious identity continues even under suppression
The same three practical surrogate avenues would be put forth before it: It has to either relinquish the assertion of a separate religious identity and demands for permanent rights and thus get absorbed into the religious identity of the state; Or if this were to be unacceptable then they would be deprived of all rights and placed along with the 'shudraas' and ·the untouchables;
Or else the process of their annihilation will be unleashed until there is no trace left of them in the confines of the religious state.
These are the compelling consequences of modelling political policies on foundations of communal identities in a western type democracy. An astute eye could visualize this \!at the time these policies were being adapted but none was permitted to foresee and people who tried were considered adversaries. Now these repercussions are about to become a reality and after all, we will not only have to witness them but endure them willingly or otherwise.
The Muslim Situation
One of the groups that are in the forefront presently for political
guidance of Muslims is of 'nationalist'. Muslims. In the coming days it
would play the same role that the Khan Bahadurs played during the
British era. It will invite the Muslims to actively accept the first
alternative, that is to relinquish the claims for religious
individuality as well as their demands for rights and unhesitatingly
merge into the religious identity of the state. This proposal has not
gained any impetus yet but I fear that it would do so in future because
these would be the influential people in the government. Jobs, contracts
and educational grants will be obtained only with their assistance and
they would come to be the agents and mediators between the ruling and
subjugated community. Their efforts would be successful in humiliating
Muslims to an extent where a substantial number will become 'Mahashai',
their wives and daughters 'Shrimati' and their dress, language, way of
life, thought process and everything else would be of the same
disposition as the ruling community. A large volume of the community has
already become 'Mister' and 'Miss', so why would this change be
impossible, especially when future livelihood, prosperity and progress
would depend on it. But I do not expect Muslims as a whole to accede to
this kind of surrender; Muslim community will try to oppose this
diffusion.
Three Avenues
It is said that there are three avenues of saving minority Muslims from this outcome: Government of Pakistan will strike a bargain with the government of India saying that Hindu minority of Pakistan would be treated the same way as the Muslim minority of India, thus Muslims would obtain the same constitutional safeguards as the Hindus of Pakistan. Though initially this proposal may seem to hold bright prospects, I am quite certain and experience will prove that it will be an absolute failure. We can clearly see that both India and Pakistan are on the path of a Western form of government and the fruits of this concept of governance that have come out in the West will also take place here. Distinct religious identity of a Minority, its religious rights and demands will not be endured for long by either a Muslim religious state or a Hindu religious state. This will be especially so when both Minorities would seek aid from their respective co-religious external states and show more intimacy, loyalty, interest and love towards the external State than to their own government. Their existence then will become intolerable to both India and Pakistan. Satisfactory constitutional rights may be given initially to respective Minorities, but they will be gradually terminated and a policy of destruction will come into being in the day-to-day treatment of minorities. Both governments will try to bring pressure on each other for the sake of their respective religious Minorities and finally it would either reach a stage of war (consequences of which cannot be_ predicted) or both will have to agree that Hindus will be treated by one government the way it wants and Muslims would be treated by the other government as it pleases.
The second course of protection would be to seek help of the United
Nations Organization but people who are even faintly aware of the
disposition of this system would easily guess as to how long a
suppressed community would survive on the tenacity of these safeguards.
First of all, the United Nations Organization can be petitioned only in
matters when extensive and conspicuous oppressive actions have
The third channel is said to be of migration and transfer of population. Migration means that Muslims should voluntarily leave India and start to settle in Pakistan and transf.er of population means that both governments with mutual resolution transfer their community to their respective regions in a prearranged fashion. The first course is practical but is not the solution to the issues of Indian Muslims because only the affluent or frustrated members of families or a few adventurous fortune seekers will adopt this. General Muslim population will continue to settle down where it is today and large scale migration on its part will be impossible unless, God forbid, they are presented with circumstances similar to Bihar (Where extremely violent riots took place). As far as the second alternate is concerned, I don't' think that for another fifty years’ governments of India and Pakistan will be in a position to mutually transfer forty-five million Muslims and twenty-five million non-Muslims to their respective regions even if they wished it from the bottom of their hearts. Yet if someone wants to live with this hope, they may certainly do so. This is the reality of all those approaches, based on which it is hoped that politics devoted to group interests will continue after the formation of an Indian religious state similar to the way .it did under British authority. Muslims due to their ignorance and short sightedness are unable to understand these facts today but very soon these will become conceivable and then they will surely have to · choose between three avenues.
One will be to accept the policies of 'nationalist' Muslims and be prepared to be absorbed into Hindu nationalism.
The next will be to continue with the same behaviour of present
Muslim religious nationalism till they are completely obliterated. Third
will be renunciation of religious
The Remedy
This was the only path of deliverance for Muslims 'in the past and it is even now and I have been inviting them to this path for many years. If they had opted for this approach, instead of the path of politics of communal fervor, and had exerted their strengths on the former path instead of the latter for the last ten years, then the political map of India would be quite different today. In place of two smaller Pakistans, they would have witnessed the possibility of entire India becoming Pakistan. But at that time, my call was perceived to be that of an adversary or an insane friend. Now events have besieged them to witness this situation of helplessness of Muslims. They have now been left with only one course in life and that is the original, true and sincere path of Islam; all other approaches are suicidal and fatal.
New Era
These times of which I am making you aware are impending. As soon as
the present era of Indian politics comes to an end and a new one.
commences, Muslims living in minority areas will start to generally
sense their actual position of despondency. This will be the time of
crumbling of a big movement which will be much more dangerous than the
period when the 'Khilafat movement' was stamped out. Although the
listlessness and confusion that had overtaken the Muslims due to the
failure of the 'Khilafat Movement' was detrimental, it was not
destructive. If that same state takes over now; it would definitely
prove to be destructive. After their disappointments with the present
leaders, if Muslims do not see a ray of hope or correct leadership,
confusion and political disorder will ensue. Some will run towards
'nationalist' Muslims, some will leap towards the communist party, some
will prepare to migrate, some will not stir in this state of dejection
and some, in a state of disgust or sheer foolish peevishness will revive
the lost religious conflict that would not only draw a storm of
destruction upon themselves but on thousands of innocent brothers. An
organized group has to be prepared now for this delicate period, which
can present a timely and correct course of
I want you to review the future of the majority in Hindu-Hindustan. I have often kept telling you that the possibility of accomplishing Islamic reconstruction in a Muslim majority region is nearly the same as doing it in a non-Muslim majority. Some people consider this to be the dream of a person drowned in imagination, and some think this to probably be a subtle point of mysticism beyond their understanding. For them it.is obviously evident that the non-Muslim majority in contrast to Muslims is a strong, unified and organized block, with no crack or flaw in it from where it can possibly be broken. Intoxication of religious fervor has completely set in, and the process of governance has come into its hands firmly and whatever little deficiency remains will be removed shortly. Looking at these conditions, they are unable to comprehend as to how an Islamic metamorphosis can take place here. But I say, let us try to understand the constituents of this intricate structure and the nature of adhesion of this strong block that apparently seems to be unshakable to us.
The Plight of Non-Muslims
The issue that has unified and organized millions of non-Muslims of
Hindustan is not any perennial doctrine of life, a strong philosophy of
existence or some conscious goal that cannot be changed or shaken. On
the contrary, it is merely a religious passion that has been flared up
to oppose a foreign power on one side and confront Muslim religious zeal
on the other. An inherent distinct trait of this kind of passion is
that it manifests only against a hostile, obstructive and challenging
force, its intensity flares up with increased resistance and is alive
till these forces of confrontation remain. This desire is automatically
suppressed, the moment resistance ends and the purpose of the passion is
achieved. More important problems of life then start to draw the
attention of people and elements that were linked to each other purely
due to religious passion begin to scatter. The issue of Hindu religious
passion is also similar to this. One of the two legs on which it stands
is the passion of freedom from British authority that is to collapse
shortly. After this the other leg that would remain is the sentiment to
oppose Muslim religious allegiance. It would be difficult for this to
continue after the formation of Pakistan,
The economic order to a large extent is also similar to the social setup and distinct features of Capitalism have been added to this age-old oppression. These classes who have occupied the upper rungs of society with the help of ancient social traditions and metaphysical philosophies, have not been content with special positions of superiority but have also taken possession of national wealth, power and resources. And the general population living on the lower rungs has not been left with any other way of living their lives other than to serve and toil for them with indignity. The injustices and excesses that are meted out to the deprived and working classes in this economic order, are difficult to estimate. Further, upper classes have themselves adopted numerous forms of transgressions and injustices so that only an insignificant number of people are prosperous and most live in a quandary. Their system of usury, the joint family, laws of primogeniture and many such customs are such that resources and wealth is amassed only in the hands of a few and most are left deprived and dependent. Hands that have amassed wealth using this system have acquired methods of modem capitalism and now rule over the industry, trade and finance of the nation. Exquisite conceptions of democracy, social justice, equality and equal opportunities are being put down in a very minstrel and alluring language iri elaborating the present political order, but obviously the real worth of these words is not merely in pronouncements but in their actual practice. What is seen in practicality is that the same Class of people who occupy the upper rungs of social and economic order - or rather who have been born into these Classes, control the formation and building of this political order as well. And experience has shown us that God has given everything to these classes, except a large heart and magnanimity. Their narrow mindedness has already done much damage to India and considering this it is difficult to hope that these people would use their political power to establish real justice.
These circumstances carry so much bitterness within themselves ·that
general population in the country feels its severity. Till now the
intoxication of religious fervor had subdued it and people were living
in the hope that these injustices would end when the administration of
the country would come into their hands. Now when the administrative
authority is actually being shifted towards the countrymen, the question
of how to utilize this authority to establish true justice in the
country, cannot be evaded for long. The reins of India's future are
being put into the hands of people who seem to be combining the former
traditions of Hindu culture with the way of life of Western Europe and
America. If my estimation is correct, they will certainly succeed in
The Socialist parties are preparing to take advantage of this state· of affairs. The instant present religious’ fervor is fatigued, after attaining its objective; they will try to make inroads using the fissures created due to conflict of interests and flaws in the class system. They will offer hopes of justice to the common man, in order to attain political power. But these parties have no program which can put an end to these injustices and which in itself is free of oppression, injustice, massacre, disorder, coercion and cruelty. They will present India with altercations and hatred of classes in place of the present hostility and disputes of religions. Until now people killed and burned homes in the name of Hindus and Muslims; now they would start killing for livelihood. Each class of people will rage in aversion and anger over another, similar to the manner in which one religion Fages over the other today. Sectarian and religious devotion will give way to class interests. The manner in which hearts are devoid of the true spirit of justice in these days of religious conflict, will be the same during the conflict of classes. The classes that wield power will grapple to keep the deprived in continuous deprivation, while these deprived classes will struggle to remove them from positions of power and occupy their places. This way for many years India will long for a state of peace and ultimately if, God forbid, the Socialist revolution is successful then like Russia severe bloodshed, oppression and tyranny would be the order of the day for a further long period in order to evict the upper class from their lands, estates and factories. Establishment of a Socialist order will result in a dictatorship similar to the one in Russia and this tyrannical and totalitarian authority would bind the whole population. This way people will be deprived of the freedom of speech, writing and thought.
Similarly, the subsistence of all people will come into the hands of a
few and the servants of God will not even have the freedom to raise
their voices in disgust at the hardships of this order nor attempt to
change this state through a political organization
A socialist revolution is an operation that severs away a big portion of ones health along with the disease, and people tolerate it only when there remains no hope of the illness being cured by any medicine. Wherever in the world people have adopted this course of operation, it is because there never was a third path which would save them from the evils of oppressive capitalism or socialism and provide hope of obtaining justice. If a third path' of this nature is presented in the manner that is due -then neither are the people of India foolish nor is there any reason to presume that inhabitants of other countries are stupid enough to unnecessarily insist on an operation instead of trying out an effective medicine.
The Four Point Program
The question is, can Muslims present this third path? If they can and if Islam is the name of the third path, then I say this with conviction that the chances for the success of Islam as opposed to socialism are at least 60% more in the future of India. It would be highly unfortunate and Muslims would be extremely incompetent if they retreat in the face of Socialism even in the presence of a complete and true ideology like Islam with them.
1. End of Communal Conflict
Priority will have to be given to end the religious conflict that has taken place between Hindus and Muslims until now. From the beginning in my opinion it was not correct for Muslims to be fighting for their community interests and demands instead of working for Islam, put to continue this struggle now would not only be wrong but suicidal. It is extremely important for Muslims to completely alter their course of action. Demands of proportionate representation in assemblies, raising a hue and cry about elections, struggle for employment opportunities or cri.es of demands for community rights will not only be useless in the ensuing times but may also prove detrimental. It would be useless because those in power have decided to put an end to a distinct political existence of Muslims by insisting on "qualifications" only in elections or employment and there is no way to stop this decision. It would be detrimental because the harder Muslims struggle for the confirmation of their rights, more it would provoke Hindu religious prejudice. And if they seek the assistance of Pakistan to settle their grievances, this will become the cause for an • international complication and turmoil, adding strength to the life of Hindu religious fervor. Thus we have to prepare general opinion on a large scale among Muslims so that as a community they adopt complete indifference towards power and administration in the government. Confidence is to be reposed in the Hindu religious nationality movement, through our course of actions that there is no other religion competing with them politically. This is the only way to end the extraordinary prejudice that presently exists in the non-Muslim majority against Islam. The fear among them of another demand of Pakistan, by Muslims of an area where Islamic propagation is given increased opportunity, can only be removed in this manner.
2. Reforming the Muslim Society
The second important task for us is to spread Islamic knowledge on a
wide scale among Muslims, create in them a general desire for the
propagation of Islam and reform their character and social lives to an
extent where non-Muslims will feel their society to be clearly better
than their own. And when people among them agree to partake in our
society, they are to be absorbed at an absolutely equal, status
notwithstanding the
Therefore, Muslims - if not all, at least a substantial chunk of them - should undergo moral, ethical and social reformation. Otherwise, the Islamic call will not move ahead and it is not possible to create a separate society consisting exclusively of new converts. Even if we attain limited success in this reformation of Muslims and create a general awareness of Islam among Muslims, and at the same time incite a strong desire in them to present Islam to the non-Muslims with whom they interact in their daily lives, then the pace of this appeal will be so swift that no other movement in India would be able to compete with Islam. Muslim population here is about four to five crores. Even if twenty percent of them understand Islam and start to propagate, about twenty to twenty-five lakh Muslims will be propagating, Is there any other movement that has so many people available for this kind of work? Muslims are completely integrated with the non-Muslim population of India and they have an opportunity to make an impression on them with their behaviour and convey their thoughts to others in every ramification of life at all times and places. Does any other movement have this opportunity? And moreover, no other movement has its own independent society and social set up. Suppressed classes and people who seek refuge with these movements may be able to fulfil the demands of their livelihood but will not be able to eradicate the social evils and hardships in their lives. In contrast, Muslims have their own independent society and if it becomes a little receptive in accordance with our goals, it would become a refuge to all those people who have been suppressed socially or who are troubled by this uncivilized order of society and other social evils.
3. Role of Intellectuals
Instead of creating an outcry over proportionate percentage in employment or wailing over the Hinduization of Government departments, principled criticism of the prevalent system is to be carried out. Every defect is to be identified and shown to the public. They should then present to them a better way of life and create public opinion in its favour. Similarly, we would like our young writers to abandon their fancy world and utilize their literary capabilities to produce constructive literature of superior quality that would awaken the consciousness of mankind and generate in their minds a desire for a virtuous order and healthy practices. We would then like to show the path of intellectual leadership, to people whom God has given a greater degree of intellectual capability. These people are to be the sincere students of the Qur'an, who would examine every item of knowledge, in its light. In all aspects of life; with study and research they would present to the world the complete image of the Islamic way of life. One would easily understand completely the application of this system of life in the world. In addition, this intellectual group will also have people with leadership qualities. It is necessary to prepare such people who take the responsibility of guiding a general movement, calling people to Islam.
4. Regional Languages
The fourth important task is that all our workers and those people,
who are associated with the movement in the future; should learn local
Indian 36 A Historic Address At Madras languages and acquire competency
as good speakers and writers. And utmost efforts are. to be put in, to
transfer important Islamic literature into these languages at the
earliest. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Marathi in the South,
Gujarati in the West, Bengali in the East and Hindi in the rest of India
will now be the languages of education. These will be the official
languages of respective regions and all literature of
The Promising Outlook
All our energies are to be spent during the next five years on these
four tasks. It is needless to discuss at this time as to what is to be
done at the next stage; for the goal of Islamic revolution. Later,
guidance for this may be provided as and when the situation arises. But
be well aware that no worthwhile future program may evolve until these
four tasks are accomplished substantially. Therefore, members of our
"Jamaat' in India and sympathizers should spend all their resources,
energies, diligence and intellect in this primary program. It will now
be criminal if you squander even a single moment carelessly. The storm
that I have been warning about for the last ten years has now risen. If
precautions are not taken now, you too will drown alongside all Muslims.
The state of affairs in this country will be a severe trial of your
patience, perseverance and resolve, of your wisdom, sagacity and
willpower. On one hand you will witness the paradise of the anti-Christ
('Dajjaal').'To enter it and ascend to its superior ranks one would have
to forgo even the faintest trace of Islam or Islamic sense of honour.
And you will see Muslims all around you tempted by it for the sake of
worldly gains. On the other side., you will see the banner of 'Hammer
and Sickle' flying high, under whose shade will be sketched the
imaginary paradise of 'Shaddad' (the Adermite ruler who claimed
divinity). The admirers of this would be administered an oath to purge
their hearts of any devotion to God, or to integrity and morality. You
will witness a milling crowd of famished Muslims also rushing towards
it. You will find yourself standing between these two delusive
paradises. People who remain steadfast on Islam and who work towards its
Five years that are to be decisive for Islam, Muslims and you too - has to accomplish a Herculean task. You will have to change the direction of the general· opinion and attitude of Muslims and reform the actions and beliefs of Muslim society. You will have 1o penetrate the intellectual class of Muslims, save it from the present state of mental and intellectual disarray and set them on the path of Islamic reconstruction. You have to arrange for the publication of Islamic literature in different languages of the country. All this has to be done only with trust in God and in your own strength. There is no hope of any help or encouragement from any other quarter. How will this task be accomplished if you do not stand up with courage and spend with full concentration, the collective energies of your Jamaat. Remember the covenant you took with Allah when you were admitted to the Jamaat; revive and strengthen your Faith and step forward with trust only in Allah's assistance. When you work to please Allah, I anticipate that He will intercede in ways that are inconceivable, to us.