This book argues that the true understanding of Islamic civlization is possible only by having access to the soul of that civilization and its underlying fundamental principles--belief in God, the Angels, the Prophets, the Revealed Books and the Last Day--rather than to its manifestations in knowledge, literature, fine arts, refined living and system of governance.

Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi (1903-1979) was a leading Muslim intellectual and a chief architect of the Islamic revival in the twentieth century. In 1941 he founded Jama'at-i-Islami, a political party in Pakistan, which he led until 1972.