Sayyid Qutb is known as "the Trotsky of the modern Islamic [fundamentalist] movement." Qutb was an advocate for the radical transformation of Muslim society. The primary means of achieving this goal was through "missionary activity" and militant jihad, or holy struggle. He is also known for being "the most important and influential of the Islamic critics of the West" (quoting Dinesh D'Souza in his book "What's So Great About America). He promoted the purging of Western influence in Islamic society, because he though that the West "[had] been reduced to... jahiliyya - the condition of social chaos, moral diversity, sexual promiscuity, polytheism, unbelief, and idolatry" (again quoting D'Souza).
(Given what I state here, I think Qutb has some valid points, but his solution to these problems is where he went terribly wrong.)
During his visit to the United States, Qutb visited a number of cities... He observed the dynamics of American culture, and was shocked by the materialism, racism (of that period), and sexual permissiveness. His experience in the United States would have a profound influence on his life, and would lead him to his ultimate rejection of Western culture. He also became bitter of "the wide and unquestioning support of the American press (of that time) for Israel" and with what he felt to be denigration of Arabs. He wrote of this experience in America in his book America That I Saw" (Amrika allati Ra'aytu), in which he laid out his criticism of America.
Qutb returned to Egypt in 1950 after brief stops in England, Switzerland, and Italy. His stay in America had made him more sympathetic to a twenty-year-old fundamentalist movement in Egypt called the Muslim Brotherhood (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin). Two “incidents,” the “happy and joyous American reception” of the assassination of Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna in 1949, and a meeting with a “British agent,” who identified the Brotherhood as the only major movement that stood in the path of Western civilization in the Middle East, increased Qutb’s interest in the Brotherhood.
Qutb began writing for the Brotherhood’s journal, The Call (Al-Da’wa) in 1951. He also resigned from his new post as Advisor to the Egyptian Ministry of Education in this year. Two years later in 1953, Qutb officially joined the Muslim Brotherhood. He soon became an advisor to the Revolutionary Council of the Brotherhood, and was also a member of the Working Committee and the Guidance Council. He became head of the propaganda section of the Brotherhood, and edited the weekly journal The Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin) the Egyptian government banned it in 1954.
In this year, the Egyptian government under Nasir arrested Qutb twice, first in January 1954 on the charges of conspiracy against the government. He was arrested again in October 1954 after a member of the Brotherhood tried to assassinate the leader at a public rally in Alexandria. The government executed the attempted assassin and five other Brothers, and arrested 4,000 Brotherhood activists, including Qutb. In July 1955, Qutb was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. During his imprisonment, Qutb and other members of the Muslim Brotherhood were tortured mercilessly. The poor health in which he suffered from an early age was made worse during his time in prison, and his mental health also declined during this time.
Sayyid Qutb contributed much to the development of Islamic fundamentalism in the 20th century. As a religious and political thinker, Qutb was one of the first modern Islamic fundamentalists to compile a comprehensive fundamentalist ideology. One of the central principles of Qutb’s religious thought was the idea of the “universal Islamic concept” (al-mafhum al-kawni al-Islami). According to Qutb, Islam is a comprehensive way of living that encompasses all aspects of life, including the afterlife. It provides a meaning of life for Muslims. Seven characteristics make up this “universal concept,” according to Qutb. These characteristics are the oneness of God (tawhid), divinity (uluhiyya), fixity (thabat), comprehensiveness (shumuliyya), equilibrium (tawazun), positiveness (ijabiyya), and realism (waqiyya).
While Sayyid Qutb spent a lot of time expounding on the “universal Islamic concept,” he also wrote on a variety of other religious subjects. In these writings, the line between religious thought and political thought was often blurred. After his release from prison in 1964, Qutb began his last phase of writing, which was also his shortest, since it preceded his execution. The most significant work of this phase was his most controversial book, Signposts on the Road (Maalim fi al-Tariq). While this book outlined a radical plan for the transformation of Islamic society along political lines, it also outlined how this transformation was to take place along more religious lines.
The goal was the destruction of the jahili system, so Allah’s system could flourish. In this system, Islam would assume an exclusive role, since it is Allah’s vision for humanity. Judaism and Christianity corrupted the vision of God because their leaders allowed interpretation. Because of this, Qutb called on Muslims to reject the traditions of the West because it was modeled after those of the People of the Book. Within this context, Qutb was particularly critical of the Jews, due to the influence of the Zionist movement and the creation of the state of Israel. In his essay “Our Struggle With the Jews” (Ma’rakatuna Ma’a al-Yahud), Qutb stated that the Jews’ intention was “Islam’s destruction” and that natural disposition of the Jews was “evil.”
Sayyid Qutb was not only a leading religious ideologue, but was an influential political philosopher. Just as there was a thread of political thought within Qutb’s religious writings, there is a significant thread of religious thought within Qutb’s political writings. According to Ahmad S. Moussalli, “the theme that underlines Qutb’s political thought is that Islam accepts only a virtuous and good society and demands absolute obedience to God’s teachings.”
Qutb’s political ideology can be summarized into four simple statements. The first is that “the dominant sociopolitical system of the contemporary Islamic and non-Islamic world is that of al-jahiliyya [h] - a condition of sinfulness, injustice, suffering, and ignorance of Islam’s divine guidance.” Jahiliyya was traditional interpreted to “characterize the Arab tribes before the advent of Islam.” But Qutb “popularized” the conception, and it is now used in a negative fashion to refer to the state of the modern world. All societies that do not follow the “universal Islamic concept” are in a state of jahiliyya. A state of constant struggle exists between the “universal Islamic concept” and the state of jahiliyya: “a struggle between faith and disbelief, faith in the one God and polytheism.” The only way jahiliyya can be effectively replaced is through Islam.
The second summary statement says that it is “the duty of the faithful Muslim to revive Islam in order to transform the jahili society through proselytization (dawah) and militant jihad.” This statement is Qutb’s basic goal of political action, which is revolution (al-thawrah) against the state of jahiliyya in its political manifestations. “Missionary activity,” or dawah, is the first step in the revolution. The aim of dawah is “to teach Muslims and others the ‘true essence’ of Islam.” Dawah is not exclusively for non-Muslim societies, but it is also an activity that is required for Muslim ones, because the “absence of activism… leads society to stagnate.”
But dawah isn’t the only step in the revolution. While Qutb affirmed the "peaceful character" of the Islamic faith in one of his books, he doesn’t rule out the use of militant jihad, or holy struggle, in the battle against jahiliyya. While jihad’s goal is victory over any organization that opposes Islam or stifles its free practice, it is “neither suicide nor a campaign of atrocities.”
Qutb’s conception of jihad is complex. Jihad has four characteristics to Qutb. Serious realism is the first characteristic. In this, he rejects the “traditional” notion of a defensive jihad, since he believes that “Islam is not defensive but is a defense of humans against aggression.” Qutb also thinks that a major goal of Islam is “to establish the Islamic order wherever possible and to abolish the jahili society.” The second characteristic is active realism, and this means that jihad “cannot be fought with words only but requires much more preparation.” A continuous movement is the third characteristic of jihad, and this doesn’t have a set form or procedure. The last characteristic is the regulation of the relations between the Islamic and non-Islamic societies. This has two stipulations: one is that Islam is the foundation of international affairs; and the second is the free proselytization of Islam without regulation.
The third summary statement is “the transformation of the jahili society into a genuinely Islamic polity is the task of a dedicated ‘vanguard’ (taliah) of Muslims.” This vanguard, or taliah, is a significant part of activism to Qutb. Its purpose is to lead the revival of Islam. The members of the taliah would be knowledgeable of both their religion, as well as modernity. Qutb’s book Signposts on the Road detailed the mission of the taliah, which was to “carry out in an exclusive and uncompromising attitude with respect to all other ideologies, societies, and ways of life.”
The fourth summary statement maintains that “the ultimate aim of committed Muslims should be the establishment of al-Hakimiyyah - the reign of Allah’s sovereignty on earth to end all sin, suffering, and repression.” The two principles of al-Hakimiyyah are the shari’a law and the principle of social justice. The first principle, shari’a law, “sets both social and political systems on broader moral order and on universal divine laws, as outline in the Qur’an.” Shari’a law is at odds with human-made law. Since Islamic law is “an eternal manifestation of the divine will,” shari’a law is to be preferred over human law, according to Qutb. Shari’a law defines the moral, social, and political order in Islam.
The second principle is social justice. A large part of this principle is linked to economics. In Qutb’s time, communism and capitalism challenged Islam as an economic ideology. Qutb rejects capitalism because of the exploitation and injustice in the system. While socialism and Islam are in agreement on many points, Marxism/communism and Islam are in disagreement, due to Marxism’s rejection of God. With both of the opposing ideologies, the issue between Islam and the other ideology is the conflict between spirituality and materialism. Qutb criticizes both capitalism and Marxism for being materialist ideologies. The alternative ideology for Qutb is Islam, in which social justice is essential. It has also “stipulated equal opportunity but has made piety and morality rather than material possession the basic values of society.”
Qutb’s writings have influenced many Islamic fundamentalist movements. In the late 1970s, the future leaders of al-Gama’a al-Islamiyaa, a militant group in Egypt, adopted the teachings of Qutb. One of the current groups that emulate Qutb’s teachings is Egyptian/Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. His books are primary sources for the movement in the education and indoctrination programs. The organization sees itself as part of the “Islamic vanguard” Qutb wrote about in his political tracts. It also sees Qutb as a model leader, and as “a true symbol of revolutionary Islam.”
Thanks for posting the excerpts from yout term paper. Too many people think that the terrorists have some limited objective, like getting the US to stop funding Israel or something.
No, their goal is world rule under shar'ia. (And the elimination of all those opposed.)
(Here I usually go into my Signs of Qiyamah rant.)
Signs Before the Day of Judgement
The Hour is one of the things which nobody knows except Allah
[snip]
What follows is a small sample of the signs which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) enumerated for us.... [Editors notes in brackets]
-The coming of the last Prophet, Mohammad (SAW). [This has already happened of course.]
-The slave will become the master.
-The disappearance of knowledge and the appearance of ignorance. The leaders of the Muslims will be chosedn from ignorant people, and they will rule according to their whims. (Bukhari & Muslim) [Today, studying Islam is formally considered to be an inferior career in most of the Muslim world. The leaders of the Muslim world are more known for their political or military prowess rather than knowledge of Islam.]
-Adultery and fornication will be prevalent. (The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that this has never happened without new diseases befalling the people, which their ancestors had not known.) (Bukhari & Muslim) [Aids?]
-Adultery and fornication will be performed in the open.
-The consumption of intoxicants will be widespread. (Bukhari & Muslim)
-Women will outnumber men......eventually 50 women to 1 man. (Bukhari & Muslim)
-Killing, killing, killing. (Bukhari & Muslim) Killing will increase. [Look at news]
-The children will be filled with rage. (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim) [Look at todays society]
-Rain will be acidic or burning. (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim) [The increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will inevitably result in the increase of acid rain.]
-Children of fornication will become widespread or prevalent. (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
-When a trust becomes a means of making a profit.
-Gains will be shared out only among the rich, with no benefit to the poor.
-Paying zakat (alms) becomes a burden and miserliness becomes widespread.
-When a man obeys his wife and disobeys his mother; and treats his friend kindly while shunning his father.
-When voices are raised in the mosques. [This is happening a lot at mosques these days.]
-People will walk in the marketplace with their thighs exposed. [Skirts?Shorts?]
-Great distances will be traversed in short spans of time. [Planes, trains and automobiles.]
-The people of Iraq will receive no food and no money due to oppression by the Romans. (Europeans) (Muslim)
-People will hop between the clouds and the earth. [In space-astronoughts.]
-The leader of a people will be the worst of them. [Look at all the corrupt leaders of the world.]
-People will treat a man with respect out of fear for some evil he might do.
-Men will begin to wear silk.
-Female singers and musical instruments will become popular. [Just look at the current records being releast at the moment.]
- People will dance late into the night. [Clubs are busier than ever before]
-When the last ones of the Ummah begin to curse the first ones.
-People will believe in the stars.
-People will reject al-Qadr. (the Divine Decree of Destiny)
- Time will pass rapidly. (Bukhari)
-Good deeds will decrease. (Bukhari)
-Miserliness will be thrown into the hearts of people. (Bukhari)
-Smog will appear over cities because of the evil that they are doing.
-People will be carrying on with their trade, but there will only be a few trustworthy persons.
- A man will pass by a grave and wish that he were in their place.
-Earthquakes will increase. [More earthquakes are happening now]
-The appearance of false messengers (30 dajjals).
-Women will be naked in spite of being dressed. [See Through dresses.]
-The conquest of Constantinople by the Muslims. [This has happened and has been renamed Istanbul.]
-When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and begin to compete with others in the construction of taller buildings. (Bukhari) [The modern ex-nomads of Saudi Arabia are an excellent example of this.]
-The truthful person will not be believed and the liar will be believed.
-When men lie with men and women lie with women.
-Trade will become so widespread that a woman will be forced to help her husband in business. [There are more women working now than ever before]
-A woman will enter the workforce out of love for this world.
-Books will be widespread and knowledge will be low. [very true of todays life]
-Arrogance will increase in the earth. (at-Tabarani, al-Hakim)
-Family ties will be cut. [In western cultures this is happening.]
-Men will begin to look like women and women will begin to look like men. [Transexuals?]
And people wonder why I come here.
I have learned more and read far more high quality artices here than any other source on the web.
Yours is a sterling example.
Cheers,
knews hound
P.S. Did the paper pass muster?