Mawardi and Maududi : comparing the conception of justice between the traditional and reformist school in Islamic political theory

• Main Author: Husain Abdul Rahim
• Other Authors: Christopher Holman
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Religions::Islam; DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science::Political theory
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76710
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper will be comparing the conception of justice between the traditionalist and reformist schools represented by Mawardi and Maududi respectively in Islamic political theory. Justice for Mawardi, is ‘Adl in that one’s soul has the complete virtue of justice through the attainment of a form of natural (fitri) justice before externalizing itself through the just ordering of society. Maududi’s justice is Qist akin to equality or fairness focusing on distributive justice, implemented through the establishment of an Islamic state, a theo-democracy. Thus, the reformist version of justice was influenced heavily by the historicity of its time, in response to colonialism and loss of muslim power and prestige, therefore Maududi’s conception of justice cannot transcend its applicability and effectiveness as a suitable concept for current muslims. On the other hand, Mawardi’s conception of justice, is more applicable and relevant for implementation due its strong principles that can be adapted to changes socio-historical conditions. The traditionalist school works through harmonizing foundational principles derived through its long scholarly tradition with current situations without losing its essence. Therefore, I will provide reasons why we need to recuperate the past understanding of the traditionalists to provide important lessons and firm grounding to adapt and flourish in the future.