Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami[b] is a far-right political party and the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. It emerged from the East Pakistani wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan in 1979. It is one of the two contemporary mainstream political parties in the country, alongside the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Traditionally, the party is guided by the Maududi's vision for a totalitarian Islamic state. The party has since sought to portray itself reformist. The party supports a welfarist economy, and runs charity programmes. The party is controversial for its role in the Liberation War, ideological links to Islamic extremism, human rights abuses, and contradictory positions on women and sharia. Shafiqur Rahman has been serving as the ameer (leader) and Mia Golam Parwar has been serving as the secretary-general of the party since 2019. The party maintains a network of affiliated organizations, including the Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir.
History
Origins
The origin of modern Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party lies in the historical Jamaat-e-Islami movement, founded by MaulanaAbul A'la Maududi during the British Raj.[2] The movement was established under the name of "Jamaat-e-Islami Hind" at Islamia Park, Lahore on 26 August 1941, as an "organizational platform" for promoting Maududi's vision of an Islamic state. Maududi was deeply concerned about the perceived decline of religious values due to the impact of Western secular ideologies on Muslim communities in India. Thus, he envisioned the Jamaat to be more than a political party – a "comprehensive Islamic movement" influencing all aspects of life through activities in social welfare, education, and political activism.[3] Though the movement's stated goal was to promote social and political Islam, many analysts think that it was mainly formed from as an anti-communist force, which received favour from the British rulers.[4]
Initially, Jamaat opposed the creation of a separate state of Pakistan for the Muslims of India, arguing that concept violated the Islamic doctrine of the ummah.[5] He saw the partition as creating a temporal border that would divide Muslims from one another,[6] while advocating for the whole of India to be reclaimed for Islam.[7] However, Maududi eventually concluded supporting the creation of a Muslim-majority Pakistan as an opportunity to establish his envisioned Islamic state.[3]
After the creation of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami divided into separate Indian and Pakistani national organisations. When East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh, the East Pakistan wing split out of the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and became Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.[3][8][9]
In East Pakistan (1955–1971)
Following the establishment of Pakistan, significant imbalance emerged between the eastern and the western wings of the country. The East Bengal (later East Pakistan) remained structurally disadvantaged comparing to it's western counterpart, in terms of both political and economic conditions. This also contributed to regional fractionalization of the party. For example, East Bengal chapter of Jamaat supported the Bengali Language Movement in 1952, which was opposed by the central party in West Pakistan as they classified it as "calls for a greater role for Bengali identity in the State".[3]
Though initially favouring martial law, the East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the democratic movement against president Ayub Khan following his government's family laws, which they deemed as un-Islamic.[3] Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami East Pakistan branch Ghulam Azam was a member of the all-party democratic alliance was formed in 1965 against Khan's regime, which also included Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[3][10][11][12]
During the late 1960s, Jamaat‑e‑Islami strongly resisted the rising socialist programs promoted by leaders such as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in West Pakistan and Bhashani in East Pakistan. The party actively campaigned against these agendas, organized a large coalition of Islamic scholars and clerics, over a hundred ulema, who issued statements denouncing the Pakistan Peoples Party's socialism as "atheistic" and "anti‑Islam".[13][14]
As the Six-Point Movement gained momentum in East Pakistan from 1966 onwards, Jamaat-e-Islami adopted a firm stance against it. The Six-Point Movement, put forth by the Awami League, demanded for extensive autonomy for East Pakistan and was viewed by Bengali nationalists as a charter for self-rule. The party viewed the movement as a divisive, secessionist agenda that threatened the solidarity of the Muslim nation and the integrity of Pakistan, as Jamaat-e-Islami's pan-Islamist ideology emphasized the unity of the country based on Islamic principles.[15]
In 1971, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the dismemberment of Pakistan. Ghulam Azam, then head of Jamaat-e-Islami East Pakistan, delivered several speeches after 25 March 1971, excerpts of which were regularly published in the party's mouthpiece, The Daily Sangram. On 30 June in Lahore, while speaking to journalists, Azam stated that his party was making every effort to suppress what he described as the activities of "miscreants" in East Pakistan, and that many Jamaat workers had been killed by these elements as a result of their efforts.[16]
The party actively supported the military intervention in East Pakistan and participated in a variety of human rights abuses against the civilian population of the region.[3] It played a key role in organizing pro‑Pakistan collaborationist bodies. On 4 April 1971, twelve pro‑Pakistan leaders, including Nurul Amin, Azam, and Syed Khwaja Khairuddin, met General Tikka Khan of the Pakistan Army and assured him of their cooperation in suppressing the independence movement. Following a series of meetings, they announced the formation of the East Pakistan Central Peace Committee, which initially included 140 members, among them 96 Jamaat‑e‑Islami members who began training at an Ansar camp on Khanjahan Ali Road in Khulna.[17][18] The Committee was also alleged to have been involved in recruiting Razakar paramilitaries to assist the Pakistan Army.[19]
On 12 October 1971, President Yahya Khan declared that elections would take place between 25 November and 9 December. Jamaat‑e‑Islami East Pakistan decided that the party would participate in the local elections. According to a government declaration issued on 2 November, 53 candidates were to be elected without contest, and Jamaat‑e‑Islami secured 14 of these uncontested seats.[20][21]
On 2 December 1971, according to a report in The Daily Ittefaq, Azam held a one‑hour and ten‑minute meeting with President Khan in Rawalpindi. After the meeting, Azam addressed a press conference where he urged the public to give their full support to the armed forces in dealing with the ongoing crisis. He again described the Mukti Bahini as an enemy force and stated that the Razakars were sufficient to confront them, further calling for an increase in the number of Razakars.[22]
In Bangladesh (1971–present)
Ban (1972–1976)
Following the independence of Bangladesh, religion-based politics was banned by the government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, then-prime minister of Bangladesh.[4] Jamaat's top leaders fled to Pakistan, and Ghulam Azam's citizenship was scrapped by the Bangladeshi government.[23] Azam first fled to Pakistan and organized "East Pakistan Recovery Week". As information about his participation in the killing of civilians came to light "a strong groundswell of resentment against" East Pakistan JI leadership developed and Azam and Maulana Abdur Rahim were sent to Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, Azam and some of his followers successfully appealed for donations to "defend Islam" in Bangladesh, asserting that the ruling government was undermining Islam by imposing secularism and socialism, and the Hindu minority there were "killing Muslims and burning their homes."[24][3] Many of the Jamaat-aligned leaders in Bangladesh, hiding their identity, mixed with then-active opposition groups in Bangladesh, such as the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal.[4]
In 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated by a group of officers of Bangladesh Army, which resulted a drastic change in Bangladeshi politics. Post-Mujibur governments were immediately recognized by both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and Jamaat-e-Islami resumed political activities in Bangladesh.[23] In 1976, president ASM Sayem, lifted ban on religion-based parties in an ordinance. In the same year, Jamaat-aligned leaders, uniting with some other Islamist parties, formed a political platform named Islamic Democratic League (IDL). According to Jamaat's website, six Jamaat leaders were elected to the Jatiya Sangsad in 1979 general election from this platform.[4] President Ziaur Rahman also allowed Azam to return to Bangladesh as the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami.[23]
In May 1979, Abbas Ali Khan presided a convention of Jamaat-aligned IDL leaders under the name of "Jamaat-e-Islami". At the convention, Azam's speech was read out for the first time in independent Bangladesh. Jamaat's new constitution and the party's four-point programme was approved in the convention. On 27 May 1979, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh publicly appeared and officially revealed itself in Bangladesh. Azam was elected as the ameer of the party, but did not appeared in public until 1981. As he wasn't given citizenship of Bangladesh until 1991, Khan served as the acting leader of the party.[4]
Jamaat actively participed in the anti-Ershad movements throughout the 1980s. It participated in the 1986 general election and secured 10 seats, and boycotted the 1988 general election.[4]
Entry into mainstream politics (1991–2013)
After the end of Ershad's regime in 1990, Jamaat participated in the 1991 general election and secured 18 seats. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which won most seats, needed support from a party to form government. Jamaat extended support to the party on the condition of providing Azam with Bangladeshi citizenship.[4]
In 1992, however, mass protests began against Ghulam Azam and Jamaat-e-Islami. The protests were headed by Jahanara Imam, an author who lost her elder son, Shafi Imam Rumi in the Bangladesh War of Independence. Azam's citizenship was challenged in a case that went to the Bangladesh Supreme Court, as he only held a Pakistani passport. Absent prosecution of Azam for war crimes, the Supreme Court ruled that he had to be allowed to have a Bangladeshi passport and the freedom to resume his political activities.[25]
During the 2006–08 political crisis, police arrested Jamaat-e-Islami chief and former Industry Minister Nizami from his home in a graft case on 19 May 2008.[26] Earlier, two former cabinet ministers of the immediate past BNP-Jamaat led coalition government, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Shamsul Islam were sent to Dhaka Central Jail, after they surrendered before the court.[27][28]
In 2008 general election, the party only received two seats as a part of the alliance.[4] The Bangladesh Nationalist Party was concerned as Jamaat-e-Islami had been their primary political partner in the Four-Party Alliance.[29] At the same year, the party had to change it's name from "Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh" to "Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami" on the pressure of the Bangladesh Election Commission.[4] Meanwhile, by the time, it already had emerged as the largest Islamist party in the country.[30][31]
After Awami League formed government, it started to prosecute war crimes in the Liberation War. In 2011, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) was formed for the prosecution of war crimes. Many of the Jamaat's top leaders were jailed and executed on the verdict of ICT. In December 2013, Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla was executed for the war crimes. In 2014, Ghulam Azam died in prison. In 2015 and 2016, Mojaheed and Nizami were executed for war crimes, respectively. The detainment and execution of top leaders made the party functionally weak.[4] While international observers, including the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner, raised suspicions concerning the fairness of the trials, which targeted the ruling party's political opponents, the verdicts enjoyed widespread societal support. The condemnation of Molla was the key motivation for the Shahbag Movement in 2013, which demanded Molla's execution, ban on Jamaat, and boycott of affiliated organizations.[3]
However, the trial also received counter protests from Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the male student wing of Jamaat.[3] In February 2013, following the verdict by the ICT and the announcement of death sentence of Delwar Hossain Sayidee, a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami,[32][33] supporters of Jamaat and Shibir were involved in anti-Hindu violence; law enforcement killed 44 protesters and wounded 250.[c] More than 50 temples were damaged, and more than 1,500 houses and business establishments of Hindus were torched in Gaibandha, Chittagong, Rangpur, Sylhet, Chapainawabganj, Bogra and in many other districts of the country,[d] By March 2013, more than 87 people had been killed by law enforcement agencies.[40] During the violence, Jamaat-e-Islami supporters called for the fall of the Awami League regime.[citation needed]
On 27 January 2009, the Supreme Court issued a ruling after 25 people from different Islamic organisations, including Bangladesh Tarikat Federation's Secretary General Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, Zaker Party's Secretary General Munshi Abdul Latif and Sammilita Islami Jote's President Maulana Ziaul Hasan, filed a joint petition. Jamaat-e-Islami chief Nizami, Secretary Mojaheed and the Election Commission Secretary were given six weeks time to reply, but they did not. The ruling asked to explain "why the Jamaat's registration should not be declared illegal". As a verdict of the ruling, High Court cancelled the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami on 1 August 2013,[41][42] ruling that the party is unfit to contest national polls because its charter puts God above democratic process.[e] On 5 August 2013, the Supreme Court rejected Jamaat's plea against the High Court.[47] From that time, Jamaat became virtually absent from the mainstream politics.[4]
Following the cancellation of registration, the party could not participated in 2014, 2018 and 2024 general elections. Some of its leaders contested in the 2018 election from BNP's ticket, but could not secure any seats. The party boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections.[4]
The Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Shibir extended their support and actively participated in the July mass uprising in 2024.[48] On this pretext, Sheikh Hasina's regime banned the party on 1 August 2024.[f]
Following the mass uprising, with BNP, it came out as one of the two mainstream parties in the country.[55] It formed 11 Party Alliance with several Islamist parties and the National Citizen Party. The party secured 68 seats in 2026 general election, and became the main opposition for the first time.[4]
In 2012, Jamaat-e-Islami had to amend some fundamental principles of its constitution to meet the conditions for the registration of parties set by the Election Commission, as the previous version allegedly conflicted to the "democratic and noncommunal structure" of the Constitution of Bangladesh and Representation of the People Order, 1972. After the amendments, the party replaced the establishment of an "Islamic system" with the "democratic system" as its stated goal. Likewise, "efforts to establish Islam as given by Allah and shown by the Messenger" was replaced with "to establish a society based on equality and justice through a democratic system and to achieve the pleasure of Allah Almighty" as main objective.[69]
Following the execution and imprisonment of senior leaders convicted of involvement in the 1971 genocide, Jamaat experienced internal fragmentation.[70] The reformist factions proposed ideological moderation and democratic participation, while hardliners insisted on maintaining traditional Islamist aims. Multiple splinter groups emerged, some more radical, some abandoning formal politics.[71]
Social stance
In recent times, the party has become open on female-related issues, such as right to work outside and freedom of clothing.[72] Similarly, the party also expressed support to the rights of religious minorities and protection of their properties.[73] The party also retracted from its stated goal of the establishment of a sharia-based state, and focused on the creation of an "honest people's government".[64] Despite these initiatives, the party still officially rejects female leadership and continues to uphold its traditional philosophy of introducing sharia through "electoral process".[64]
Economic stance
Maududi was a staunch critic of capitalism.[74] According to a JI publication titled An Introduction to Bangladesh Jamaate Islami, the party aims to turn Bangladesh into an "Islamic welfare state".[75] It also runs charities that provide religious, social, food, and medical services at the local level, which helped the party build a strong network at the grassroots.[76]
Since the party's resurgence following the July Revolution, the party has focused on welfarist issues like social justice and anti-corruption.[77] The party supports extensive tax cuts, interest-free loans and public private ownership for factories with workers' ownership.[78] In its "Policy Summit 2026", the party emphasized on "reformism" focusing on economic issues like reducing VAT, interest-free loans, and anti-corruption.[79] Shafi Md Mostofa claimed that the party is rebranding itself in the aftermath of the revolution by putting itself in the "Islamic left".[77]
2026 manifesto
Before 2026 general election, the party unveiled its electoral manifesto under the slogan "An uncompromising Bangladesh in the national interest", which prioritises 26 points:[80]
Building an uncompromising state based on independence, sovereignty and national interest;
Establishing a humane Bangladesh free from discrimination, founded on justice and fairness;
Empowering youth and prioritising their role in state governance;
Creating a safe, dignified and participatory state for women;
Ensuring a drug-free, extortion-free and terrorism-free society through overall improvement in law and order;
Building a modern, smart, technology-driven society;
Creating large-scale employment in technology, manufacturing, agriculture and industry;
Free applications for government jobs, merit-based recruitment and elimination of all discrimination;
Reforming the banking and financial sectors to restore confidence and build a sustainable, transparent, business-friendly economy;
Ensuring a fair electoral environment, including elections under proportional representation (PR), strengthening the caretaker government system, and consolidating effective democracy;
Bringing about an agricultural revolution through technology use and increased support for farmers
Ensuring completely adulteration-free food security by 2030 and implementing the "Three-Zero Vision" — zero environmental degradation, zero waste and zero flood risk — to build a green, clean Bangladesh
Promoting small and medium enterprises and ensuring investment-friendly industrialisation and job creation;
Increasing workers' wages and living standards and ensuring safe, decent working conditions, especially for women;
Guaranteeing voting rights and all other rights of expatriates and ensuring their realistic participation in nation-building;
Establishing equal citizenship for all as Bangladeshis, not as majority or minority, and ensuring special support for disadvantaged groups;
Providing modern, universal healthcare and gradually ensuring free advanced treatment for the poor and helpless;
Fundamentally reforming the education system in line with global needs and gradually ensuring free education;
Keeping prices within people's purchasing power and ensuring access to all basic needs;
Overhauling transport systems and reducing travel time between the capital and divisional cities to two to three hours; improving regional and urban transport;
Ensuring low-cost housing for lower- and middle-income families;
Continuing trials and reforms to fully dismantle the fascist system and prevent its return;
Introducing a universal social security system to ensure safe working lives and international-standard protection for all citizens; and
Establishing good governance through transparency and accountability and building a happy, prosperous welfare state, with honest leadership and institutional reform to eliminate corruption.
Voter base
Following the July Revolution, surveys show that the Jamaat-e-Islami's strongest demographic base are younger and more educated voters, who are likely to be impressed by the perceived discipline and integrity of the party.[63] A June 2025 conducted survey by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) on the Bangladeshis aged between 15 and 35 found that the Jamaat's projected vote share was comparatively high among the young males, comparing with the young females of the country. The survey found that 22.21% males and 20.57% females intended to vote the party in 2026 general election. The survey also found that 21.45% youths overall in the country intended to vote the party.[81]
Organization
The party has a three-level decision-making body – Central Executive Council, Central Majlis-e-Shura and Central Working Council. Executive Council is the highest organ of the party, which is responsible for reviewing and executing the policies made by the Majlis-e-Shura and the Working Council. As of 2026, there is no women in the Central Executive Council.[82]
Leadership
Ameers
The Ameer of the Jamaat (Bengali: আমীরে জামায়াত) is the title of the head of the party. The position is de facto preserved for male only.[83] The ameer is assisted by a group of deputies known as nayeb-e-ameer (deputy ameer). As of February 2026, four nayeb-e-ameers include A. T. M. Azharul Islam, Mojibur Rahman, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, and A. N. M. Shamsul Islam.[82] Following is the chronological list of emirs since formation of the East Pakistani wing of Jamaat-e-Islami:
The Secretary General of Jamaat (Bengali: জামায়াতের সেক্রেটারি জেনারেল) is the chief administrative officer of the party. The following is the chronological list of Secretaries General since the formation of the East Pakistani wing of Jamaat-e-Islami:
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has been the subject of extensive controversy since the country's independence, largely due to its documented opposition to the 1971 Liberation War, convictions of its senior leaders for war crimes, allegations of violent extremism, repeated involvement in political violence, and sustained criticism from human rights groups, international observers, and the Bangladeshi public.[84] According to Ankita Sanyal, though the incumbent party chief Rahman reportedly sought "unconditional apology" multiple times for the mistakes committed since 1947 (including 1971), its leaders continue to indulge in historical negationism related to 1971.[85]
Allegations of militant links and ideological extremism
Bangladeshi security agencies have repeatedly reported ideological ties between Jamaat, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, and extremist organizations such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI-B).[86] Historically, the Islami Chhatra Shibir has frequently been labeled one of the most violent student organizations in South Asia.[87] Although Jamaat denies institutional ties,[88] extremism investigations have reported overlaps in recruitment patterns, ideological messaging, and activist networks.
Violence and human rights abuses
Following the war-crime verdict by ICT, Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir engaged in violent street movements, including arson attacks, clashes with police, vandalism, and shutdowns of transportation networks during 2013–14 violence.[89] Jamaat–Shibir activists were widely reported to have engaged in firebombing, destruction of public property, and violent attacks on security forces.[90] It's supporters were accused of murdering opponent political party activists and instigating religious riots by spreading fraudulent news.[91][92]
Activists from Jamaat and particularly Islami Chhatra Shibir have been implicated in violent attacks, hacking assaults, extortion, and intimidation of rival student groups and journalists.[93] Reports by Human Rights Watch document repeated incidents in which Jamaat–Shibir supporters engaged in election-period violence, intimidation, and attacks on minority communities during political unrest.[94]
International condemnation and public perception
Jamaat's wartime role and ideological positions have attracted global criticism. Pakistan and Turkey condemned executions of Jamaat leaders, while India supported the war-crimes trials.[95] Western governments expressed due-process concerns but acknowledged the severity of the crimes associated with Jamaat leadership.[96]
Public perception of Jamaat declined sharply after the rise of the Shahbag movement in 2013, in which millions demanded a ban on the party and harsher punishment for convicted war criminals.[97]
Contradictory positions
The party has been accused of "doublespeak" on minority, women and sharia-related issues. In 2008, the party amended it's constitution to include non-Muslims as "associated members" in the pressure of the Election Commission. Yet, full membership or rukon is constitutionally restricted for the non-Muslims, means that the non-Muslims cannot participate in the decision-making, leadership or policy formulation, which challenges the party's claimed so-called "inclusive politics". Besides, it's constitution continue to advocate for the implementation of sharia, yet, in recent times, the party's top leaders have shown tendency of avoiding the issue in formal statements. Despite this, such advocacy continue to surface in the grassroots level, and, even, there have been accusations against the party of describing voting as a "religious duty" and linking it to the attainment of paradise.[83]
Although not stated in the constitution, the party de facto bars women from leadership position, arguing religious obligations. This contradictory stance doesn't only come to challenge the Constitution of Bangladesh, but also questions it's alignment with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government between 2001 and 2006 under the female leader Khaleda Zia.[83]
Natun Kishore Kantho (Bengali: নতুন কিশোরকণ্ঠ, lit.'New Teenage Voice')[107] is a monthly youth-oriented magazine published since 1984.[108] The magazine has been linked to Islami Chhatrashibir.[108]
Bangladesh Chasi Kalyan Samiti
Bangladesh Chasi Kalyan Samiti is a non-governmental organization and peasant wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. It was established in 1977 by Jamaat leader AKM Yusuf.[109][110] It and other Jamaat-linked NGOs were under pressure due to crackdowns launched under the Awami League regime from 2018 to 2019 and 2024.[111][112]
Bangladesh Mosque Mission functions as the mosque wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.[114] It is also registered as a social welfare organisation and non-governmental organisation.[115]
↑Oh, Irene (2007). The rights of God: Islam, human rights, and comparative ethics. Georgetown University Press. p.45. ISBN978-1-58901-463-3. In the debate over whether Muslims should establish their own state, separate from a Hindu India, Maududi initially argued against such a creation and asserted that the establishment of a political Muslim state defined by borders violated the idea of the universal umma. Citizenship and national borders, which would characterize the new Muslim state, contradicted the notion that Muslims should not be separated by one another by these temporal boundaries. In this milieu, Maududi founded the organisation Jama'at-e Islami. ... The Jama'at for its first few years worked actively to prevent the partition, but once partition became inevitable, it established offices in both Pakistan and India.
↑Rasheed, Nighat (2007). A critical study of the reformist trends in the Indian Muslim society during the nineteenth century(PDF) (PhD). Aligarh Muslim University. p.336. Retrieved 2 March 2020. The Jama'at -i-Islami was founded in 1941. Maulana Maududi being its founder strongly opposed the idea of creating Pakistan, a separate Muslim country, by dividing India, but surprisingly after the creation of Pakistan, he migrated to Lahore. Again in the beginning, he was opposed to and denounced the struggle for Kashmir as un-Islamic, for which he was imprisoned in 1950, but later on in 1965, he changed his views and endorsed the Kashmir war as Jihad. Maulana Maududi took an active part in demanding discriminative legislation and executive action against the Ahmadi sect leading to widespread rioting and violence in Pakistan. He was persecuted arrested and imprisoned for advocating his political ideas through his writings and speeches. During the- military regime from 1958 the Jama'at-iIslami was banned and was revived only in 1962, Maududi was briefly imprisoned. He refused to apologize for his actions or to request clemency from the government. He demanded his freedom to speak and accepted the punishment of death as the will of God. His fierce commitment to his ideals caused his supporters worldwide to rally for his release and the government acceded commuting his death sentence to a term of life imprisonment. Eventually, the military government pardoned Maulana Maududi completely
↑Esposito, John L.; Sonn, Tamara; Voll, John Obert (2016). Islam and Democracy After the Arab Spring. Oxford University Press. p.96. ISBN978-0-19-514798-8. Mawdudi (d. 1979) was opposed to the partition of India, preferring that Muslims reclaim all of India for Islam.
↑Muldhara '71 (মূলধারা '৭১ Mainstream '71) by Moidul Hasan, page. 128, footnote. 177. published by University Press Limited.
↑Browne, Malcolm W. (4 November 1971). "53 Pakistan Assembly Seats To Be Filled Without a Vote". International Herald Tribune. p.5. Nov 3 ... The Pakistani government announced yesterday that 53 of the National Assembly seats taken away from members of the outlawed Awami League in East Pakistan will be filled without contest ... The party getting the biggest bloc of seats from the 53 ... is the Jamaat-Islami ... to get 14 seats.
↑"Bangladesh's election: The tenacity of hope". The Economist. 30 December 2008. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2015. [The BNP] seems also to have been hurt by its alliance with Islamist parties, the largest of which, Jamaat-e-Islami, was reduced from 17 seats to just two.
↑"Bangladesh and war crimes: Blighted at birth". The Economist. 1 July 2010. West [Pakistan]'s army had the support of many of East Pakistan's Islamist parties. They included Jamaat-e-Islami, still Bangladesh's largest Islamist party ... [R]einstating and enforcing that original constitution might amount to an outright ban on Jamaat, the standard bearer in Bangladesh for a conservative strain of Islam.
↑Liton, Shakhawat (14 February 2026). "A verdict of the hour". The Business Standard. Archived from the original on 15 February 2026. Retrieved 15 February 2026. Yet the results also indicate a significant consolidation of far-right voters. Jamaat now emerges as the principal opposition force, a development that will reshape parliamentary dynamics.
↑Purohit, Devadeep (29 December 2025). "How things have got worse for women of Bangladesh in Muhammad Yunus's regime". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 December 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026. Not just a western educated liberal woman, the turn of events -- which can be linked to the rise of far-right political forces like the Jamaat-e-Islami and its associates -- has begun affecting ordinary women, many of whom had hit the streets against Hasina.
↑Billah, Masum (21 January 2025). "What is Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami party? Could it lead the country next?". Al Jazeera. He also rejected the "conservative" label placed on Jamaat, describing his party as a "moderate Islamist force" that seeks to govern through constitutional reforms rather than ideological enforcement.
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