Civilizational Problem or Political Crisis?: Comparative Analysis of Malek Bennabi and Syed Maududi’s Methodological Approach to Renaissance

Renaissance, both conceptually and practically, is a constructive but complex social process. In the progress and development of any civilization, the process of renaissance is profoundly important. And, in case, if any civilization or nation is devoid of that ‘intrinsic capacity’ to allow the structural elements of renaissance to operate, then there is no other ‘social force’ that would resist enduring the decadence of that civilization or nation. However, in different time periods, various personalities and movements have emerged and engaged in making efforts to revive and reform Islamic civilization, if not in totality, but certainly some of its characteristic values. Among the contemporary reformist voices, two stalwarts, namely Malek Bennabi from Algeria and Syed Mawdudi from Pakistan, stand distinctive by virtue of their contribution, both at theoretical and practical levels, while dealing with the problem of ‘Muslim stagnation’ in their respective societies and in the whole Muslim world in general. Although, the nature and consequences of the problem were fundamentally same, but, being socialized in different socio-political contexts, there are obviously some differences between their understanding of the problem and the methodological construction to come out of the problem, i.e. the renaissance. In Malek Bennabi’s context, the problem is fundamentally civilizational, i.e. a crisis within civilizational relations between man, place, and time. In Syed Mawdudi’s context, the problem is fundamentally political, i.e. a crisis within the political relation between state, society, and religion. Against this backdrop, I intend to, first, present a brief analysis of Malek Bennabi’s civilizational approach and Syed Mawdudi’s political approach in order to examine their methodological engagement with the problem, i.e. the decline and the renaissance. Second, I juxtapose three key concepts: civilization, religion, and revival used by both Bennabi and Mawdudi, to critically examine the differences and similarities in their methods and approaches, and present a constructive synthesis, if possible.