JI and Maudoodi family lock horns over a publication’s royalty

LAHORE – Dark clouds of uncertainty hover over “Tarjaman-ul-Quran”, an interpretative journal of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), being published since May 1933. Five months ago, the publisher of this monthly magazine, Syed Hussain Farooq Maudoodi, the son of late Maulana Abu-ul-Aala Maudoodi, wrote a letter to Professor Khursheed Ahmed, the editor of Tarjaman-ul-Quran, and other senior members of Jamaat-i-Islami. In his letter, the US-based businessman, Hussain Farooq, raised the issue of royalty payments with the JI leadership. He set the following conditions for future cooperation:
I) Al-Iblagh Trust, currently responsible for publishing Tarjaman, will pay Rs 20,000 per month as royalty; 2) Al-Iblagh will have to honour royalty payments for the last 11 years amounting to Rs 1.1 million in four installments. By fulfilling these terms, Al-Iblagh Trust will be allowed to publish Tarjaman-ul-Quran for only one year and the renewal of the contract will be mandatory. This action sent tremors through the higher echelons of Jamaat-e-Islami and resulted in the exchange of a spate of letters between the publisher and the JI top brass. Even sarcastic letters from the JI district level office bearers were delivered at Hussain Farooq’s residence in Lahore.
Irked by this attitude, two months ago, the publisher decided to take decisive action. He wrote Senator Professor Khursheed Ahmad, “I will not surrender my publishing rights, but the issue of royalty only can be discussed. By establishing Al-Iblagh Trust, JI has stabbed Tarjaman-ul-Quran. Its profit has turned into loss. Now I have only one option to halt its publication and you will be held responsible for it. I have advised my lawyer to refuse printing rights until further orders.”
The Jamaat’s shoora, convened in January last, after discussing the conditions, mood of the publisher and its repercussions at length, decided to launch a new journal and applied for its declaration. According to a source privy to the matter, the declaration will be granted in a week. When contacted, a JI leader, on the condition of anonymity, told Pakistan Today that after the start of the story, the four sons and daughters of Maulana Abu-ul-Aala Maudoodi came to Mansoora to meet Syed Munawar Hassan and submitted a written statement to him that they wanted to continue the publication of Tarjaman-ul-Quran. This indicates an internal split in Maulana Maudoodi’s family over the issue.
The JI leader further said: “Most probably, we will launch our own journal. Tarjuman has around about 40,000 dedicated readers and we will not disturb them at any cost”. He revealed that the JI already had three declarations and the fourth one was in the pipeline. He went on to say: “No one has raised the issue after the death of Maulana Maudoodi during the last 30 years. Even Maulana Maudoodi’s wife who died seven years ago did not raise any objection in her life.”
Maulana Maudoodi bought the publishing rights of Tarjaman-ul-Quran in 1933 from a prominent scholar, Molvi Muhammad Abu Mosleh. Its prime purpose was dissemination of the teachings of the Holy Quran. Tarjaman-ul-Quran paved the way for the creation of Jamaat-i-Islami in 1941. Maulana Maudoodi was its first editor.