Maudoodi and Jameelah

The correspondence between Maudoodi and Jameelah is an important study in studying the relationship between Islam and modernity. Throughout the course of semester, the question of whether Islam was compatible with modernity was frequently questioned. The exchange of letters between the modern worlds highlights some of the answers to this question. Both writers speak from a Muslim perspective and advocate Islam should not be considered modern but a field separate from modernity.
                The conversion of Maryam Jameelah from Judaism to Islam seems have been an odd move, not only because of the feud and disagreement between the two religions, but more importantly because Judaism  has been able to integrate into the modern world, while Islam has not.  When Jameelah converted to Islam, in terms of modernity, it was a step backwards. However, her decision to convert came in the 1960’s, a time when America was going through a major transformation in terms ideology and ideas. It seems that Jameelah’s conversion came as a consequence from not fitting in with her surrounding environment, which raises the question if her conversion was a matter of isolation or because she truly found the Islamic ideology logical to the world she lived in.

I believe it is both, but one as the consequence of the other.  Because of her state of isolation and her parent’s liberal values, she found refuge in the ideology of Islam. Her conversation was a direct result of the modern world that she rejected. The conversion to Islam seems to have been an attempt to get away from the modern world and go back to Islam. However, this does not mean that Islam is not modern.  She rejects comparing Islam from a western perspective and rejects that Islam is modern, not because she thinks Islam is not modern, but because she thinks Islam is not a modern phenomenon. She argues that true Islam is pure because it advocates for peace and unity. Her conversion to Islam and immigrating to Pakistan shows that the modern can be compatible with Islam, but Islam is not compatible with modernity.
                While both Jameelah and Maudoodi reject the practices of the modern world, there are many instances where their rejection of modernity does not fit with the ideology of modern practices. Maudoodi and Jameelah seem to criticize every aspect of the modern world, from its practices of the economic system to the secularism of the state to the idea of nationalism itself. However, for both Jameelah and especially Maudoodi, It is difficult to ignore what the modern world offers. Not only was Maudoodi treated for his medical condition in a hospital, a modern structure, but also for planning to build a university with Islamic values. The university whether it has an Islamic religious agenda or not is also a modern phenomenon. Also, encouraging his daughters to seek degrees in modern subjects seems to be inconsistent with his rejection modernity. Jameelah also seems to have been inconsistent with her rejection to modernity and modern practices. If it were not for modern technology she would not have been able to write the letters to Maudoodi, or even travel to Pakistan, not only did she use ships, but also a train both a modern technology to travel to Pakistan. Despite their inconsistency, their overall argument seems to be that modernity is corrupting the world and it is important that Muslims stick to Islamic tradition so they could not become corrupt.

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