The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1512 page)

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Authors: John Bowker

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(1903–79).
Founder of the political party Jamaat-al-Islam (i.e.
Jam
‘at-i Isl
m
) in India and Pakistan. He wrote 138 major works in Urdu (much translated), the most influential being
al-Jih
d fi’l-Islam
(1927), and
Tafh
m al-Qur’
n
(Urdu version of the Qur’
n, 1947–72). He advocated a return to pure Islam, considering Islam to be a total system and rejecting anything extraneous.
Mawla
(Arab.). In early Islam, a ‘client’ or protected person, who was a convert to Islam and by this procedure was integrated into the existing Arab tribal and family system. Mawla also means ‘master’, and al-Mawla is a term for God.
Mawlaw
y(y)a
.
A Derw
sh order, known colloquially as ‘whirling dervishes’. The name is derived from
mawl
n
(‘our master’), a title of
Jal
l
al-D
n al-R
m
. The dance induces trance- and ecstatic-states, and is undertaken by pivoting on the right foot, while engaging in
dhikr
(concentration on God). The name of the Order is often transliterated as Mevlevi.

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