Jamaat-e-Islami

Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the author of Tafhim-ul-Quran, Syed Abul Ala Maududi, that developed a conception of God's governance through Theodemocracy. While its founding branch in Pakistan has been labelled fundamental, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami remains politically dominant, serving as the country’s main opposition party and previously holding ministerial positions through coalition governments.

One of the most influential and powerful Islamist organisations, Jamaat-e-Islami was founded to revive Islamic values across the Indian subcontinent and advocate for an Islamic political system. It was formed on 26 August 1941 in Lahore under the leadership of Maududi, who believed that contemporary political ideologies resulted from Western imperialism, and that it was necessary to implement Sharia law to preserve Muslim culture. According to some scholars, the events following the death of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir and loss of his Sharia code of Fatawa Alamgiri, weakened the Muslim authority in the subcontinent, creating an environment in which later thinkers argued for restoring strength through Sharia based governance. Maududi believed politics was "an integral, inseparable part of the Islamic faith," and that Islamic ideology and non-Islamic ideologies (such as capitalism and socialism, liberalism or secularism) were mutually exclusive. He saw the creation of an Islamic state as both act of piety, and a cure for social and economic problems faced by Muslims, which he attributed to Western influence. For his service to Islam, Mawdudi became the first recipient of the Saudi Arabian King Faisal International Award in 1979. Wilfred Cantwell Smith described the ideology as "the most systematic thinker of modern Islam".

Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan and actively worked to prevent it. After the partition of India, the organisation spearheaded the movement to transform Pakistan from a Muslim homeland into an Islamic state. Mawdudi's efforts focused on transforming to a "theo-democracy" based on the Sharia which would enforce things like abolition of interest-bearing banks, gender separation, veiling of women, hudud penalties for theft, adultery, and other crimes. Jamaat seeks to spur an Islamic revival, implementing Islam as a universal religion. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami initially formed a government coalition with the BNP, where it held two ministries. Later, the party was suspended for some time and its leaders were judicially hanged during the Awami League rule, but re-organised under the Yunus interim government, and has re-entered as a contender in the 2026 Bangladeshi general election. In terms of social reach and membership growth, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is currently larger and more powerful than any of the Islamic parties in the Asian continent and as of early 2026, the United States of America actively engaged with Jamaat-e-Islami and strengthened its diplomatic ties.

India's Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir movement is banned in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Since 2003, part of the organisation is designated as a terrorist organisation by Russia for its close relations with the Muslim Brotherhood.