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Editor’s Preface

Towards Understanding the Qur’an: Abridged Version is an English rendering of Tarjuma-’i Qur’an-i Majid ma[ Mukhtasar Hawashi, a translation of the Qur’an with short notes by Mawlana Sayyid Abul A[la Mawdudi (1903-1979), one of the most extensively read and influential Muslim scholars of the twentieth century. Though Mawdudi was born and lived throughout his life in the South Asian Sub-continent, his writings attracted Muslims as well as a fairly large number of educated non-Muslims across the globe. These writings also greatly contributed to that complex of feeling, consciousness, and activism that has come to be characterised during the last few decades as ‘Islamic resurgence’.

As a writer, Mawdudi was both prolific and versatile. His writings, which range from small articles and tracts to voluminous books, encompass almost all significant aspects of Islam. These works were generally well-received, especially by the educated Muslim readership and his articulation of the Islamic world-view won him considerable acclaim. Mawdudi’s presentation of the socio-economic and political doctrines of Islam in particular evoked much interest and appreciation. Likewise, Mawdudi distinguished himself by his forceful writings aimed at establishing that the principles propounded by Islam were intrinsically sound, that they were relevant for and viable in every age and clime, that they were intrinsically good and benevolent and conducive to the overall well-being of mankind.

Apart from focusing on subjects of relatively contemporaneous concern, Mawdudi also wrote on subjects that belong to the

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