The document provides an overview and summary of the key concepts from Sayyid Abul A’la Mawdudi's book "Towards Understanding Islam". It discusses the meaning of Islam as submission to God, the nature of faith and obedience, articles of faith including tawheed and belief in prophets, acts of worship like prayer and hajj, and distinctions between din and sharia. The summary focuses on core Islamic concepts and beliefs as outlined in the book.

1. TOWARDS
UNDERSTANDING
ISLAM
Sayyid Abul A’la Mawdudi
(Book Author)
A presentation by Moazzam Shoukat
moazzamshoukat1@gmail.com

3. CONTENTS
• The Meaning Of Islam
• Faith And Obedience
• The Prophet Hood
• The Articles Of Faith
• Prayer And Worship
• Din And Shari’ah
• The Principles Of The Shari’ah

4. THE MEANING OF ISLAM

5. THE MEANING OF ISLAM
• Islam: What does it Mean?
• The Nature of Disbelief
• The Blessings of Islam

6. ORIGIN
Christianity
•After
Prophet
Jesus
Buddhism
•Founder
•Gautama
Buddha
Zoroast-
rianism
•Founder
•Zoroaster
Judaism
•Judah
•Judea

7. What
About
ISLAM?

8. • No association with
human or place
• Not a product of human
mind
• Universal
• ISLAM an attributive
title
ORIGIN

9. ISLAM - WHAT DOES IT
MEAN?
Islam is an Arabic word and connotes
submission, surrender and obedience. As
a religion, Islam stands for complete
submission and obedience to ALLAH. 1

10. SOME FACTS BY ISLAM
• Universe obeying laws of ALLAH
• See ordered universe
• Every thing in the world follows its own laws
• From electron to mighty nebulae.
• Air, Stones, Water, Trees, Heat, Animals
• Biological Laws
• Man’s Birth
• Plant’s growth
• In Sum
• Each and everything following its own laws by nature

11. DIFFERENT SPHERES OF HUMAN ACTIVITY
1st Sphere
• Totally Regulated
• Caught up in the grip of physical laws
• Bound to follow
2nd Sphere
• Embowed with reasoning and intellect
• Power to
• Think from judgement
• To choose to reject
• To approve to spurn
• Free to adopt
In short
Man is bestowed with free will

12. DIFFERENT SPHERES OF HUMAN ACTIVITY
Believer
• Born on Islam
• Each and every thing in his life based on
Islam
Non Believer
Under 2nd sphere from previous slide
• Free to choose Islam
• Can embrace any faith and live ideology
• May prepare his code of conduct

13. What
Is
Kufr?

14. KUFR
• Latterly means “To Cover” or “To conceal”
• The man who denies ALLAH’s message is called Kafir
• Because he/she disbelief with ISLAM
• Kufr is the form of ignorance
Is any ignorance is
greater then
ignorant of GOD?

15. BLESSINGS OF ISLAM
• L

16. FAITH AND OBEDIENCE
CHAPTER 2

17. FAITH AND OBEDIENCE
• Faith: What Does it mean?
• How to Acquire the Knowledge of God?
• Faith in the Unknown

18. FAITH

19. FAITH
• Unshakeable belief of existence of God
• Without above belief obedience is clearly impossible
• Must know the attributes of God
• Tawheed (Oneness of God)
• God is Omnipresent & Omniscient
• How a person could afford disobedience with this faith?
• Required full confidence and conviction in this faith
If a man has no knowledge
of the Divine Law, How can
he follow it?

20. FAITH
• If a man has no knowledge of the Divine Law,
• How can he follow it?
• Must know the consequences of
• Belief
• Disbelief
• Life after death

21. FAITH
WHAT
DOES
IT MEAN?

22. FAITH -WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
• Arabic word having meaning
• To know
• To believe
• To be convinced
• Beyond the least shadow of doubt
• Mu’min
The man who knows and reposes unshakable belief
in the unity of God, in His attributes, in His law and
the revealed guidance, and in the divine Code of
reward and punishment is called Mu'min (faithful).

23. FAITH -WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
With the Islam and Iman point of view men may be classified into 4 categories
1. Those who have firm faith
2. Those who do have faith
3. Those who do not possess faith at all
4. Those who neither possess faith nor do good deeds

24. REMEMBER
• Where there is no
ISLAM
• There is
Kufr

25. HOW TO ACQUIRE THE
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD?

26. HOW TO ACQUIRE THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD?

27. FAITH IN UNKNOWN

28. FAITH IN UNKNOWN
• If you don’t know a thing Then?
• You will ask from someone who best knows
• If you are ill
• You will move to doctor
• Who best knows/can diagnose
• In Educational matters
• You trust in your teachers
• In short, Each matter of life which you don’t know
• Requires a person who knows best

29. FAITH IN UNKNOWN
• Who knows best God?
• We need Prophets
• Direct Contact with Devine
What
About
GOD?

30. THE PROPHETHOOD
CHAPTER 3

31. THE PROPHETHOOD
• Prophet hood: Its Nature and Necessity
• Brief History of Prophet hood
• The Prophet hood of Muhammad
• Muhammad’s Prophet hood: A Rational
Vindication
• Arabia: The Abyss of darkness
• The Savior is born
• Diamond in a Heap of Stones
• A Revolution Comes
• Why all the Enmity?
• A Changed Man at Forty - Why?
• His All embracing Message
• His Contribution to Human Thought
• The Greatest Revolutionary
• The Final Testimony
• The Finality of the Prophet hood

32. PROPHET HOOD
ITS NATURE AND NECESSITY

33. PROPHET HOOD
ITS NATURE AND NECESSITY
• Basic need of Man as Others (To Recognize God)
• Like mother
• Father
• Air
• Each and every thing

34. BRIEF HISTORY OF
PROPHET HOOD

35. BRIEF HISTORY OF
PROPHET HOOD
• Adam and Eve
• Adam
• 1st man on earth
• 1st prophet of God
• Religion Islam
• More prophets all peoples
• Fundamental teachings for all religions were same

36. A MISCONCEPTION
• There is a common misconception, mostly among Western writers. that Islam owes
its origin to the Prophet Muhammad (Blessings of Allah and peace be upon him) and
some of the writers even go to the extent of calling him ‘the founder of Islam’. This is
a travesty of the truth. Islam has been the religion of all the Prophets of God and all
of them have brought the same message from Him, Prophets have not been the
founders of Islam, they have only been the messengers of it. Islam consists of the
Divine Revelation conveyed to mankind by the truthful Prophets.

37. THE PROPHET
HOOD OF
MUHAMMAD
(P.B.U.H)

38. THE PROPHET HOOD OF
MUHAMMAD (P.B.U.H)
• Arabia Central Region of the world
• Arabs : More Suited People
• Arabic most powerful language to express

39. MUHAMMAD’S PROPHET HOOD:
A RATIONAL VINDICATION

40. MUHAMMAD’S PROPHET HOOD:
A RATIONAL VINDICATION
• Let Close Your Eyes
• Think about 1400 years ago world
• Think differences bwt now and that times
• Think all developments for human being

41. ARABIA
THE ABYSS OF DARKNESS

42. THE SAVIOUR IS BORN
• Orphan
• Completely Illiterate
• Having Few Opportunities to go out of countries
• Syria & Nothing more then it

43. THE SAVIOUR IS BORN
• Diamond in a Heap of Stones
• A Revolution Comes
• Why all the Enmity?
• A Changed Man at Forty - Why?
• His All embracing Message
• His Contribution to Human Thought
• The Greatest Revolutionary
• The Final Testimony
• The Finality of the Prophet hood

44. THE ARTICLES OF FAITH
CHAPTER 4

45. THE ARTICLES OF FAITH
• Tawhid: Faith in the Unity of God
• The Meaning of the Kalimah
• Effects of the Tawhid on Human Life
• Belief in God’s Angels
• Faith in the Books of God
• Faith in God’s Prophets
• Belief in Life After Death
• The Need of this Belief
• Life After Death: A Rational Vindication.

46. THE ARTICLES OF FAITH
• Tawhid: Faith in the Unity of God
• Fundamental teaching of Prophet
Mohammad (P.B.U.H)
• The Meaning of the Kalimah
• Arabic the word “ilah” means ‘one who is
worshipped’
• ALLAH is personal essential name of God
• “La” means ‘Not’
• Means Completely accept by mind and
soul …

47. EFFECTS OF TAWHID
ON HUMAN LIFE

48. EFFECTS OF TAWHID ON HUMAN LIFE
• All things created by ALLAH
• This belief produces in man the highest degree of
• Self-respect
• Self-esteem
• Generates in man a sense of
• Modesty
• Humbleness
• Makes man
• Virtuous
• Upright

49. EFFECTS OF TAWHID
ON HUMAN LIFE

50. EFFECTS OF TAWHID ON HUMAN LIFE
1. All things created by ALLAH
2. This belief produces in man the highest degree of
1. Self-respect
2. Self-esteem
3. Generates in man a sense of
1. Modesty
2. Humbleness
4. Makes man
1. Virtuous
2. Upright
5. Believer never becomes despondent

51. EFFECTS OF TAWHID ON HUMAN LIFE
6. This belief produces in man a very strong degree of
1. Determination
2. Patient perseverance
3. Trust in God
7. This declaration inspires bravery in man
8. The belief in La ilaha illallah creates an attitude of
1. Peace and contentment
2. Purges the mind of jealousy
3. Envy and greed
4. Keeps away the temptations of resorting to base and unfair means for achieving
success
9. The most important effect of La ilaha illallah is that it makes man obey and
observe God’s Law

52. BELIEF IN
GOD’S ANGELS

53. EFFECTS OF TAWHID ON HUMAN LIFE
• Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) instructed
• 2nd Article of Faith
FAITH IN THE BOOKS OF GOD
• Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) instructed
• 3rd Article of Faith
• 4 Books revealed by God
• Taurat
• Zaboor
• Injeel
• Quran Majeed

54. FAITH IN GOD’S PROPHETS
• Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) instructed
• 4th Article of Faith
BELIEF IN LIFE AFTER DEATH
• Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) instructed
• 5th Article of Faith
• Last day of this world “Qiyamah”
• The Need of This Belief?

55. LIFE AFTER DEATH
A RATIONAL VINDICATION
• Some people say that there is nothing left of man after death, and that after
this life ending event there is no other life.
• Other people maintain that man, in order to bear the consequences of his
deeds, is repeatedly regenerated in this world.

56. PRAYER AND WORSHIP
CHAPTER 5

57. LIFE AFTER DEATH
A RATIONAL VINDICATION
• The Spirit of ‘Ibadah’ or Worship
• Salah
• Fasting
• Zakah
• Hajj or Pilgramage
• Defense of Islam - Jihad

58. THE SPIRIT OF ‘IBADAH’
• ‘Ibadah’ is an Arabic word derived from ‘Abd’ (a slave) and it means
submission

59. SALAH
• Salah is the most fundamental and the
most important of these obligations.
Salah are the prescribed daily prayers
which consist in repeating and refreshing
five times a day the belief in which you
repose your faith

60. FASTING
• What prayers seek to do five times a day,
fasting in the month of Ramadan (the
ninth month of the lunar year) does once
a year. During this period we eat not a
grain of food nor drink a drop of water
from dawn to dusk, no matter how
delicious the dish or how hungry or
thirsty we feel.

61. ZAKAH
• The third obligation is Zakah. Every
Muslim whose finances are above a
certain specified minimum must pay 2.5
per cent of his cash balance annually2 to
a deserving fellow-being, a new convert
to Islam, a traveler or a person with
debts.3 This is the minimum. The more
you pay, the greater the reward that Allah
will bestow on you.

62. HAJJ
• The pilgrimage is, in a way, the biggest of
all ‘Ibadah.
• Makkah today stands at the site of a small
house that the Prophet Abraham (God’s
blessings be upon him) built for the
worship of Allah.


63. JIHAD
• Jihad is part of this overall defense of
Islam. Jihad means to struggle to the
utmost of one’s capacity. A man who
exerts himself physically or mentally or
spends his wealth in the way of Allah is
indeed engaged in Jihad. But in the
language of the Shari’ah this word is used
particularly for a war that is waged solely
in the name of Allah against those who
practice oppression as enemies of Islam.


64. DIN AND SHARI’AH
CHAPTER 6

65. DIN AND SHARI’AH
• Distinction between Din and Shari’ah
• The Source of Shari’ah
• Fiqh
• Fiqh Hanafi: - This is the Fiqh compiled by Abu Hanifa Nu’man bin Thabit
• Fiqh Maliki: This Fiqh was derived by Malik bin Anas Asbahi.
• Fiqh Shafi’i: Founded by Muhammad bin ldris al-Shafi’i.
• Fiqh Hanbali: Founded by Ahmad bin Hanbal.
• Tasawwuf

66. DIN AND SHARI’AH
CHAPTER 6

67. DIN AND SHARI’AH
• The Shari’ah: Its nature and Purport
• The Shari’ah: Rights and Obligations
• 1. The Rights of God
• 2. The Rights of Ons’s Own Self
• 3. The Rights Of Other Men
• 4. The Rights of All Creatures.
• Shari’ah: The Universal and Eternal Law.

68. THE END