After that, I sent the following letter to Maulana Maududi.

Rampur–August 14, 1963

Your letter, dated August 5th, has been received. I thought you had become so displeased with me that this correspondence might not continue in the future. However, upon reading your latest letter, I am hopeful that there is still a ‘possibility’ that you may engage with me on the issues I raised in my article.

Respected Maulana, if I know myself—and perhaps the greatest reality a person can know in this world is his own self—then I would say that your perception of me is completely opposite to the facts. It is far from the truth to think that I am caught up in ‘arrogant pride’ and have such a strong aversion to the viewpoint I criticized that I have sunk to ‘debating for the sake of argument,’ to the point that my ability for ‘self-critique’ might now be questionable. While I am not shocked by your disagreement with my perspective, your remarks are surprising because, upon self-reflection, I find my inner state to be completely opposite to what, unfortunately, you have assumed. This is something I can state with the utmost certainty about myself.

I remember very well that four months ago, when it was decided in Delhi that I should send a copy of my writing to you for comments, several of my colleagues advised me against sending the entire text. They suggested that I only send the portions containing the theoretical and scholarly discussions, or even, as Maulana Abu’l Lais proposed, that I prepare a separate questionnaire with my questions in a purely inquisitive tone regarding the relevant verses, and send that instead. They believed that since Maulana Maududi is not personally familiar with you, he might misunderstand your intentions when reading the whole text. However, I did not follow their advice. I thought it was better to send the entire document to give the full context, so you could respond more clearly. Regarding the risk of misunderstanding, I said that I know Maududi Sahib to be a man of considerable openness. He is also one of those who can perceive a person’s intent through their writing. Therefore, he would not form a negative opinion of me simply because of a few words or a particular style. But perhaps it is a universal truth that nothing is without exceptions.

I recognize that my writing style might seem harsh. However, if you looked beyond my words, you would see only a broken heart, a deeply concerned soul, and a strong sense of humility. You say that if I step down from the ‘elevated position’ I imagine myself in, a conversation could happen. But, in reality, there is no question of ‘descending;’ I see myself very much in a low position. My inner state and true feelings are so different from your view that I am repeatedly amazed that such a misjudgement could occur in this world.

The reality of this situation has made me realize that if someone can make such a major mistake in understanding another human being, then it is even more likely that they could misunderstand God’s religion.

Please consider this: if I were motivated by a sense of self-pride, would I be so eager to learn your opinion? For the past two years, I have been engaged in ongoing discussions on these issues with the top leaders here (in Jamaat-e-Islami). I have been putting my thoughts into writing and sharing them with others, preparing copies of such a long article and sending them to knowledgeable colleagues for their review. Is this the behavior of someone suffering from conceit?

If I were driven by false pride, I would have done this instead: as soon as my article was finished, I would send it to one of the many journals that seem eager to publish pieces like this. But I honestly say that the very idea disgusts me—that I should be published in rival journals and engage in shallow publicity against the Jamaat-e-Islami that so many people have been participating in for quite some time.

Honestly, my only focus is to understand what true Islam really is. Now that you’ve given me hope, with certain conditions, that you might comment on my thoughts, I am willing to accept all your conditions without hesitation. I assure you that I am completely free from any fear of ‘winning or losing.’ I see it as a victory if I discover the truth, whether it matches my viewpoint or someone else’s.

Lastly, let me clarify my main concern. The main difficulty I face is that, in your various writings and speeches, the concept of the Islamic goal or the mission of the prophets—as you have described it to be clear, the issue is the idea of considering politics as the mission of Islam, not the claim that politics or government has no place in Islam—is something I have not found in any verse or hadith. So far, none of the arguments I’ve seen seem to support the core issue at hand.

It is specifically this doubt that I seek your response to. The other points you mentioned in my writing are not my main concern. Instead, all these elements came up as I tried to understand the core issue. You are free to respond to them or not. If the meaning of the verses becomes clear, the other issues will sort themselves out.

Sincerely,

Wahiduddin