A System of Life

Reviews / Votes

'A System of Life reinvigorates Mawdudi's place in the pantheon of twentieth century ideological figureheads and makes a convincing case for regarding him as being just as important as many of the Arab ideologues - if not more so. Hartung proves himself a master at unsettling conventional wisdoms. A must read for anyone interested in Islamic political thought and the history of modern Islamism.' * Peter Mandaville, George Mason University, author of Islam & Politics * 'How do communism and fascism, as also liberalism and democracy, mesh with Islamic ideals and become the basis for a new worldview that also has sociopolitical traction in the Muslim world? This is the question posed, pursued, and answered by Jan-Peter Hartung in the most comprehensive, and insightful, study of Mawdudi since Charles Adams' 1966 article: The Ideology of Mawlana Maududi. Recommended for all who engage the range of reflection about politics, society, culture and religion in the 21st century.' * Bruce B. Lawrence, Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Professor, Duke University, and of The Qur'an: A Biography * 'In this carefully crafted investigation, Hartung identifies the multiple sources at the heart of Mawdudi's reconstruction of an elaborate alternative Islamic scientific path, and its political impact on the Muslim, South Asian, and Arab worlds. The author demonstrates how Mawdudi's system was fashioned by a rereading of religious texts and a critical assessment of Western philosophers, as well as by the early twentieth century European ideologies against which he reacted. Students of Islam and of comparative political thought will find this study exceptionally valuable, not least its analysis of the cultural filters through which truth, text, meaning and context renegotiate their interrelationships.' * Michael Freeden, Professor of Political Theory, University of Nottingham * '[A System of Life] is a detailed study of [Mawdudi's] thought and legacy was long overdue, and Hartung's book certainly fills that gap... the book is clearly based on a deep knowledge of Islamic thought in both pre-modern and modern times. More than that, in placing Mawdudi's thinking within the wider context of modern political ideologies - Western as well as Muslim - it contributes to a healthy trend of seeing Islamic thought as a fully pledged participant in the global contest of ideas.' -- Asian Affairs Journal