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Those of us who have been familiar with Maulana Maududi's writings from the beginning are aware that,
at the start, he confined himself mainly to the fundamentals, trying to scrub away the centuries old
crusts which had dimmed the true Islamic concepts and to remove the misunderstandings that had spread gradually regarding the basic principles and purpose of Islam. His book,
Qur'an Ki Char Bunyadi Istilahen, which originally appeared in his monthly Urdu magazine,
Tarjuman-ul-Qur'an, was one such effort, the intention being to remove the misunderstandings which had come to prevail widely concerning four basic Qur'anic terms,
Ilah, Rabb, Deen and 'Ibadah, and to bring out their true connotations by reference direct to the Qur'an itself.
Although it took us some time to get round to the job, we on our part were able to start bringing out an English translation of the book in the Academy's monthly journal,
The Criterion. We are glad that it has since been possible for us to bring out the whole translation in book form, after an extensive revision which we hope would have helped in improving the sense and making it clearer.
I feel sure that this book will help all those who wish to acquaint themselves with Qur'anic teachings as to the sense in which Muslims should regard Allah Almighty as the
Ilah and the Rabb, His Deen as the way of life meant by Him for man, and
'Ibadah as the primary purpose of His creation of man.
Brother Abu Asad, a research fellow in the Academy has done a nice job-and quite painstaking too in rendering the book into English. May Allah accept and reward his efforts.
A.H. Syed Manawar Hasan
C.E. Secretary General
Islamic Research Academy
Karachi
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