What is the Solution?
22. General Principles of Spending
Remembrance of God
Spending in the Way of Allah
Essential Prerequisite to Guidance
Spend Only to Please Allah
Do Not Stress Your Benevolence
Give Only Good Things
Give Unobtrusively and Secretly
Guard Against Misuse
Do Not Harass Debtors
Take Due Care of Family
Give to the Deserving
23. Specific Injunctions of Zakah
Produce of the Earth
On Wealth and Financial Assets
Jewellery
Who Are Entitled to Receive Zakah
Fuqarā’: the poor — Masākīn: the destitute and needy — ‘Amilīna ‘alayhā: who administer Zakah — Mu’allafatu ’l-qulūb: who need to be reconciled — Fī’r-riqāb: freeing from bondage — Al-gharimīn: overburdened debtors — Fī-sabīli ’llāh: in the way of Allah — Ibnu ’s-sabīl: travelers
Other Important Principles
Need For Collective System
PART VI: HAJJ
24. Origin and Significance of Hajj
Life and Mission of the Prophet Ibrāhīm
Ibrāhīm’s Times
Commitment to the Truth
Tribulations and Calamities
Migration
Raising a New Generation
The Greatest of Trials
The Universal Islamic Movement
Lūṭ in Sodom — Isḥāq in Palestine — Construction of the Ka’ba
Prayers of Ibrāhīm
25. Restoration of True Hajj
Idol Worship Among Ibrāhīm’s Descendants
How Corrupted Hajj Became
A Yearly Carnival — Perverse Rites — Sacrilege of Sacred Months — Self-imposed Restrictions
Restoration of Hajj
Fulfilment of Ibrāhīm’s Prayer — Revival of Ibrāhīm’s Ways — End of Idolatry — Prohibition of Indecent Acts — Bragging and Showing Off — End of Ostentatious Generosity — Spattering of Blood and Flesh Banned — Prohibition of Perverse Rites — Changing the Months of Hajj Forbidden — Hajj Provisions Made Obligatory — Permission to Work During Hajj — End of Other Customs — Fixing Boundaries — Ensuring Peace and Security
Importance of Hajj
26. Renewal of Self
The Journey
Virtue and Piety
Iḥrām and its Conditions
Talbiyyah: the Cry of Response
Ṭawāf: Walking Round the House
Sa’ī: Hurrying Between Ṣafā’ and Marwah
Wuqūf (Stay) at Minā’, ‘Arafāt and Muzdalifah
Ramī Jimār: Stoning the Pillars
The Impact of Hajj
Hajj, a Collective Worship
27. Renewal of Society
Growth in God-consciousness
A Season of Reawakening
Inspiring Spectacle of Unity
Greatest Movement for Peace
Centre of Peace and Equality
Our Lack of Appreciation
Deriving Full Benefit From Hajj
PART VII: JIHAD
28. Meaning of Jihad
The Ultimate Objective
Root of All Evil
The First Step
Origin of Corrupt Rule
God’s Lordship Over Man
Temptation of Power
Rituals, a Training Course
Governments Run by God-conscious People
29. Central Importance of Jihad
Din, Shari’ah and ‘Ibadah
Duality of Din
Every Din Wants Power
Popular Sovereignty — Monarchy — British Rule
Din of Islam
Jihad in Islam
Recognizing True Believers
Change Only Through Struggle
Preface to the Eighth Reprint
Index of Quranic Verses
I
Sayyid Abul A‘la Mawdudi’s Khuṭubāt, of which Let Us Be Muslims is the new and edited English translation, is no ordinary book.
A collection of ordinary, familiar themes and plain truths, expounded before ordinary, illiterate people in plain words from their everyday language, it has, by the mercy of Allah, stirred more hearts and impelled more lives to alter their course to live in commitment to their Creator than any of his more erudite works. Many, I am sure, would share this impression of mine who like me have been led by his inspiring writings to join the cause of Allah. For who can forget those gatherings where the participants often reminisced about things that had brought them to the Islamic movement. As one person after another rose to tell his story and mentioned Sayyid Mawdudi’s writings, I still vividly recollect, one answer overshadowed all others: the Khuṭubāt.
To express my own indebtedness to this book, I can do no better than to confess that I have now been reading it for nearly four decades and every time I have found it as fresh and inspiring as ever. Even today, I find myself speaking and writing, without the least embarrassment, words and ideas from the Khuṭubāt, as if they were my own.
How did this book come into being? As Sayyid Mawdudi tells in his Preface, soon after migrating to Darul Islam, near Pathankot (now in the Punjab, India) – on 16 March, 1938 – he started to gather the nearby villagers for the Friday Prayers. To them, in every congregational address (Khuṭubah), he tried to explain the essential message, the basic teachings, and the spirit of Islam. Those addresses were collected and published as Khuṭubāt.
First published in 1940,