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Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist movement founded in 1941 in British Raj by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Islamist organisations, and was the first to develop an ideology based on the modern revolutionary conception of Islam. Its founding branch in Pakistan is the nation's largest fundamentalist party.
Jamaat-e-Islami was founded to spread Islamic values across the Indian subcontinent and advocate for an Islamic political system. It was formed on 26 August 1941 in Lahore under the leadership of Maududi, who believed that contemporary political ideologies resulted from Western imperialism, and that it was necessary to implement Sharia law to preserve Muslim culture. Maududi believed politics was "an integral, inseparable part of the Islamic faith," and that Islamic ideology and non-Islamic ideologies (such as capitalism and socialism, liberalism or secularism) were mutually exclusive. He saw the creation of an Islamic state as both act of piety, and a cure for social and economic problems faced by Muslims, which he attributed to Western influence.
Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan and actively worked to prevent it. After the partition of India, the organisation spearheaded the movement to transform Pakistan from a Muslim homeland into an Islamic state. Madudi's efforts focused on transforming to a "theo-democracy" based on the Sharia which would enforce things like abolition of interest-bearing banks, sexual separation, veiling of women, hudud penalties for theft, adultery, and other crimes. Jamaat seeks to spur an Islamic revival, implementing Islam as a universal religion.
Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir movement is banned in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India, while the movement in Bangladesh has faced bans historically, most recently in 2024, although the decision was later reversed by the interim government. Since 2003, the organisation is designated as a terrorist organisation by Russia for its close relations with the Muslim Brotherhood.Ayoob, M. (2008). The many faces of political Islam: religion and politics in the Muslim world. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p36
In 1940, the Muslim League met in Lahore and passed the Lahore Resolution, calling for autonomous states in the Muslim-majority areas of India. Maududi believed that Islam is a universal religion that calls for a single, globally unified government and therefore nationalism in any form was un-Islamic. In response he launched his own party, Jamaat-e-Islami, founded on 26 August 1941, at Islamia Park, Lahore.Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism, 2012:pli Seventy-five people attended the first meeting and became the first 75 members of the movement.
Maududi saw his group as a vanguard of Islamic revolution following the footsteps of early Muslims who gathered in Medina to found the first "Islamic state". Members uttered the Shahada, the traditional statement of conversion to Islam, when they joined, implying to some that Jama'ati felt they had been less-than-true Muslims before joining.Nasr, Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism, 1996: p.110 Jamaat-e-Islami was and is strictly and hierarchically organised in a pyramid-like structure. All supporters work toward the common goal of establishing an ideological Islamic society, particularly through educational and social work, under the leadership of the emir.Kepel G. Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam. I.B.Tauris, 2006 p.34 , 9781845112578. Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World, Richard C. Martín, Granite Hill Publishers, 2004, p.371 Being a vanguard party, not all supporters could be members, only the elite. Below members were/are "affiliates", and "sympathisers" beneath them. The party leader is called an Emir (commander).Adel G. H. et al. (eds.) Muslim Organisations in the Twentieth Century: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press, 2012 p.70 , 9781908433091.
Maududi sought to educate the elite of the Muslim community in the principles of Islam and correct "their erroneous ways of thinking" both because he believed societies were influenced from the top down.
In his view, Muslims were not one religious or communal group among many working to advance their social and economic interests, but a righteous ideological group capable of transforming India into Dar al-Islam.Adams, Maududi and the Islamic State, 1983: p.104 He believed that a government based on the tenets of Islam would be benevolent to its constituents and would avoid falling into tyranny and oppression, unlike the fascist and communist government structures that were gaining popularity at the time.Charles J. Adams (1966), "The Ideology of Mawlana Maududi" in D.E. Smith (ed.) South Asian Politics and Religion (Princeton) pp.375, 381–90.
At the time of the Indian independence movement, Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Isami actively worked to oppose the partition of India. Maududi argued that the division of India violated the Islamic doctrine of the ummah and believed that the partition would separate Muslims by a temporal boundary. As such, before the partition of colonial India happened, the Jamaat-e-Islami actively worked to prevent it, as he feared the liberalism of its founders and the British-trained administrators. However, when the partition went ahead, Maududi viewed it as a gradual step to the Islamisation of its laws and constitution even though he had earlier condemned the Muslim League for the same approach. Jamaat's Pakistan branch would actively oppose the split between East and West Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh.
During the years before the partition of India, Jamaat-e-Islami stood aloof from the intense political fights of the time in India, concentrating on "training and organising" and refining and strengthening the structure of Jamaat-e-Islami.Adams, "Maududi and the Islamic State", 1983: p.105-6
The Pakistani branch of the movement has remained the most prominent, due to both their prominence in electoral politics and repression of the group in other countries. In the 1950s, a student wing ideologically linked to JI, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, was launched. It successfully gained control of many urban colleges and universities.
The group has had a presence in Europe since the 1960s. The Jamaat-e-Islami parties maintain ties internationally with other Muslim groups.: p.171
Since 2003, the organisation is designated as a terrorist organisation by Russia for its close relations with the Muslim Brotherhood.
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