When most of the activities had reached a standstill during the Covid-19 lockdown, MMI received massive demand for the Quran and other Islamic literature, resulting in a revenue boost for the publication. This also indicated people preferred to read books rather than waste their time on social media and watching programmes on TV channels.
Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—Markazi Maktaba Islami (MMI) Publishers, floated by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) and run by the Human Welfare Trust, is India’s leading publisher of Islamic books. JIH is the only Muslim organisation in India that has produced Islamic literature, particularly the translation and explanation of the Holy Quran, in almost all Indian languages.
MMI, set up initially at Malihabad, near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh in 1948, has 2100 titles to its credit in the last 75 years. More than 200 book titles are currently in the pipeline. The Maktaba, which presently operates from Delhi, plans to publish them once they are approved by its board of editors. This is apart from the books published in regional languages like Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Marathi and Punjabi.
When most of the activities had reached a standstill during the Covid lockdown, MMI received massive demand for the Quran and other Islamic literature, resulting in a revenue boost. According to MMI officials, the revenue earned after the discount during the lockdown year 2020-21 was about Rs. 5 crores. This was more than the revenue earned during the previous year. This showed that when people stayed at home due to the Covid lockdown, they preferred to read the Quran and religious literature at home rather than waste their time on social media and watch TV programmes. As a result, the revenue earned during the fiscal year 2022-23 has now grown to Rs. 7 crores.
Among the books published by MMI, 1400 titles are in Urdu, 441 in Hindi and 300 in English. In addition, publication divisions of the JIH units of respective states publish the books in regional languages. According to MMI officials, the Quran and other Islamic literature have been published in Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Assamese and Punjabi languages to propagate the teachings of Islam to as many people as possible within the boundaries of India.
But one would be anxious to know the MMI’s blockbuster, the best-selling book. Readers will be surprised that it is not the Tafhim al-Quran, the magnum opus of Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
However, it does not diminish the importance of the Tafhim because the reasons for the sale of the highest-selling book Adaab-e-Zindagi, or Etiquettes of Life in Islam by Maulana Mohammad Yusuf Islahi, are pretty different.
The reason for the high sale of Adaab-e-Zindagi, according to publishers, is that this book which explains how one should conduct as a Muslim in one’s individual and collective life, is gifted to newly wedded couples by educated Muslims. It is also prescribed as a textbook in students’ courses in many ‘madrasas’ nationwide, ultimately increasing circulation. The book is available in Urdu, Hindi and English languages.
Over 4.22 lakh copies of this book have been sold out so far in Urdu, more than 60,000 copies in Hindi, and over 72,000 in English. Adaab-e-Zindagi is a single-volume book.
Other books that are in maximum demand after Adaab-e-Zindagi are Deeniyat, or Towards Understanding Islam (2.64 lakhs in Urdu, 91,000 in Hindi and 1.17 lakh in English), Khutbaat-I, or Fundamentals of Islam-I (2.34 lakhs in Urdu and 20,000 in English), Purdah, or the Question of Dress in Islam (1.74 lakh in Urdu, 11,000 in Hindi, and 23,000 in English), Khutbat-2, or Fundamentals of Islam-II (1.43 lakhs in Urdu), Khutbaat-III (1.124 lakh) and Khutbaat Mukammal, the combined edition of all the three volumes of Fundamentals of Islam (1.23 lakh in Urdu and 42,300 in English).
The Tafhim al-Quran, or Towards Understanding Quran, a commentary on the Holy Quran by Maulana Maududi, has been published in six volumes in Urdu and Hindi languages each and 14 volumes in English. Maududi calls the Holy Quran a “master-key” because, according to him, the Quran solves every problem of human life. The Quran was also “the key to Maulana Maududi’s life and mission.” Maulana Maududi states, “Where the Muslims have failed is in the weakening or pollution of their relationship with the Quran. It was the Quran that made them masters of the world. It is the Quran which can once again set their house in order and enable them to win back their rightful place in the world.” The Quran transformed geography, language, culture, faith, mode of worship, conduct in individual and collective life, food, dress, principles of trade and economy, politics, philosophy, international relations and everything connected with human life. In a way, it is the greatest revolutionary book that the world has ever possessed.
If counted in terms of the number of copies of the six volumes in Urdu and Hindi and 12 volumes in English languages (two volumes in English are yet to be published), then Tafhim comes on top of all the books published and sold by MMI. According to details available with MMI, it published 8,55,905 copies of the Tafhim in Urdu, Hindi and English, incorporating all the volumes. Of this, 7,69,900 copies are of six volumes in Urdu, 17,735 copies of six volumes in Hindi and 68,270 copies of 12 volumes in English.
Mr Mohammed Shafi Madani, secretary of the Human Welfare Trust (HWT), says manuscripts of the 11th and 12th volumes of the Tafhim in the English language, translated in London, are ready. However, it has yet to reach the MMI so far. He hopes manuscripts of the 11th and 12th volumes will be available to MMI soon. “We will publish them also once they are available with us,” says Mr Madani.
Mr Madani says that MMI plans to convert the 14 volumes of the English language Tafhim into six volumes on the pattern of the Tafhim in Urdu and Hindi languages. But this will be done only after the 11 and 12 volumes are published.
MMI plans to evolve innovative methods like preparing e-books in digital form that can be read on computers or other devices. “We are planning this to further increase the sale and easy availability of our books,” says Mr Madani. Apart from this, MMI is also contemplating publishing lightweight books which are easier for people to hold in hand while reading or carrying during their journey.
MMI manager Mohammad Irshad Hussain says the biggest demand for the Tafhim al-Quran in the Urdu language is from Karnataka in the South, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. This is even though the Muslim population in Karnataka, according to the 2011 census, is almost one-fifth of the Muslim population in Uttar Pradesh and about half of the Muslim population in Maharashtra. This indicates the higher reading habit of Muslims in South Indian states. Likewise, the highest demand for Hindi books is from UP, Bihar and Rajasthan.
The translations of the Quran into Urdu, Hindi and English are also much in demand. MMI has so far published 1.09 lakh copies of the Quran’s Urdu translation, 52,750 copies in Hindi and 50,000 copies in English, apart from abridged editions or Talkhees of the Tafhim in Urdu (1.46 lakh) and over 13000 copies in Hindi.
According to Mr. Hussain, the demand for Urdu books is still much higher than those for Hindi and English. He says there is the least demand for religious books in English.
