Islamic Political Philosophy With Special Focus on Shah Wali Allah & Mawdudi

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This work focuses on the Islamic political philosophy in India in general and that of Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi (1703-1762) and Mawlana Mawdudi (1903-1979) in particular as the two great scholars are the most eminent contributors in the area. In the Indian subcontinent, Abu al-A'la Mawdudi is regarded as the originator of the idea that Islam should play a central role in the political system. This work tries to examine whether Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi has similarly applied Islamic principles in the political realm. The Quran and Sunnah do not contain a clear, structured political philosophy, but only its fundamentals. The scholars of Islam pondered over these and interpreted them according to their time and context. There are exhaustive studies on the political ideas of Islamic scholars of the classical period, especially on Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Al-Mawardi etc. but nothing has been published yet on the Islamic political philosophy in India.

Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi (1703-1762) is a well-known Islamic scholar of India. His intellectual contribution and successful attempts at reformation brought him great much recognition in academic circles. His contribution to Islamic political philosophy appears coherent, comprehensive and valuable, but unfortunately they are mostly obscured due to the wide acceptance of his ideas on sufism.

Abu al-A'la Mawdudi (1903-1979) is another well-known Indian scholar who presented a coherent system of Islamic political philosophy relevant to his times. Both Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi and Abu al-A'la Mawdudi, the two great contributors to Islamic political philosophy in the Indian Subcontinent, belonged to different periods, but their major concern was reforming the prevalent conditions of their society. Since their thought was oriented according to traditional sources of Islam, and reason, it probably shares several similarities. Hence a comparative study is relevant.

This work first evaluates Islamic political philosophy in India in order to examine whether it evolved with the changing time and context; further to analyze salient features of the political philosophy of Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi and Abu al-A'la Mawdudi and finally to compare their political philosophy. Thus it aims to point out similarities and dissimilarities between their political ideas and to analyze whether Abu al-A'la Mawdudi's philosophy exhibits a continuity with Shah Wali Allah Dehlawi.

**Contents and Sample Pages**