Syed Abul Ala Maududi

Syed Abul Ala Maududi was born in 1903 AD, and correspondingly in 1321 AH, at Orang Abad, Deccan, India, in a Syed Family, whose founder was Khawaja Qutbudin Maudud Chishti---a confirmed Saint, of his day, and spiritual teacher of Usman Harooni, Khawaja Moeenuddin Chishti Ajmeri’s Shaikh, another divine of his times. Syed Abul Ala being descent of Syed Qutbudin Maudud Ahmad Chishti, takes the suffix of Maududi. He was reared in a profoundly religious family both his mother and father were very pious and devout Muslims. Therefore they brought up Syed Abul Ala Maududi in a environment, tenaciously religious in tone and tenor. As such, he was tutored at home by his father himself instead of sending him to a formal School. Syed Maududi was taught Urdu, Persion, Arabic, Islamic Jurisprudence, Hadith(Saying of the Prophet PUBH), by a Private tutor at home. His education at home spans over 11 years.

Up Bringing

His father paid special attention to his Character building and brought him up, in line with principles of Quran and Sunnah. He also was very particular about the language of young Syed Maududi. He never passed a slang words to him nor allowed his pronunciation deviate slightly from the standard one, and if ever Syed Maududi uttered a word in conflict with the standard he was corrected then and there. Syed Maududi’s father was wont to tell him stories of the Prophet PBUH and historic facts with a message from the annals of Islamic and Indian history. Apart from this, he was familiarized with the lives of the Saints and spiritual leaders. All this impressed young Maududi a lot and ingrained concepts of good and evil, moral values of sacrifice, greatness and superiority of Islam, in him inspiriting him to follow the path of Good.

Formal Education

For formal education Syed Maududi was admitted to eight class directly in Madrassa Furqania, Orang Abad. Where he excelled his class mates, in all respects, despite being the youngest of the all. It was the time when Syed Maududi was attracted to Physic, Chemistry and Mathematics, and he studded the subjects in depth. He passed the examination of Molvi (Metric), and got admission in Molvi Alam (Intermediate). Meanwhile his father shifted to Bhopal where he suffered a severe paralysis attack and died leaving no property or Bank Balance, as he belonged to a middle class family. Therefore, Young Maududi had to dissever his education due to financial hardship.