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.