Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives - Islamic Books ...

D e bati ng Ort h o d ox y, Contesting Tr a d i t i o n 1 1 5abiding tribute to Mawdudi’s revivalist vision. On the whole, however, Mawdudiwas more concerned with the imperative for individual moral reformthan with the details of political and institutional reconstitution.M a w d u d i ’s ideology struck a chord throughout the Muslim world, having animpact on prominent European and American converts as well. Mary a mJameelah is a Jewish American convert to Islam who, on the invitation ofMawlana Mawdudi, moved to Pakistan in 1962. Born Margaret Marcus in 1934in New Rochelle, New York, Jameelah felt deeply alienated from U.S. culturefrom a young age. Significantly, her own spiritual journey to Islam was deeplyinfluenced by yet another Jewish convert to Islam: Muhammad Asad(1900–1992). Asad (born Leopold Weiss) was an itinerant writer, activist, anddiplomat. Born in Austria, he too became disillusioned with Judaism and We s t-ern civilization as a young man. Leaving home, he traveled widely in the Muslimworld, living for extended periods in Saudi Arabia, India, and Pakistan,where he eventually served as a civil servant and diplomat to the United Nations.As a journalist and scholar, Asad wrote everything from newspaper articlesand political tracts to an English translation of the Qur’an. He is perh a p sbest known, however, for his famous spiritual autobiography, The Road to Mecca(Asad [1954] 2000).As a convert and political activist, Muhammad Asad offered an alternativemodel for a socially engaged, internationalist Islam. Maryam Jameelah wasclearly inspired by Asad’s story of disillusionment, spiritual searching, and politicalengagement. As a prominent ideologue in her own right, Jameelah’s voluminouswritings offer a conservative defense of Islamic tradition and a sharpindictment against materialism, secularization, and the mores of We s t e r nm o d e r n i t y. Jameelah is equally critical of Islamic modernism, which she viewsas a total betrayal of Islamic teachings. In her view, Islam prescribes a completeway of life, and she insists that practices such as veiling, polygamy, and p u rd a h(gender segregation) are mandated by the Qur’an and s u n n a of the Prophet.M a ryam Jameelah still lives in Lahore, and her influence continues to have animportant impact on the development of revivalist thought throughout theMuslim world.The Tablighi Jama’at offers another model of South Asian revivalism.Founded in 1926 by the Deobandi scholar and Naqshbandi Sufi MaulanaMuhammad Illyas Kandhlawi (1885–1944), it has rapidly expanded into aglobal grassroots Islamic movement. In many ways, the Tablighi ideology parallelsthe neotraditionalism of the Deobandis. Critical of such popular expressionsof religion as the veneration of Sufi saints and the visiting of saint’sshrines, Tablighis champion a purified Islam based on a strict adherence tothe sunna of the Prophet and the dictates of the shari’a. What distinguishesthe Tablighi Jama’at, however, is its staunchly apolitical stance and unique organizationalframework. Focusing on missionary work (dawa), the movement