Sayyid Qutb (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈsajjɪd ˈqʊtˁb]) (also Said, Syed, Seyyid, Sayid, or

Sayed; Koteb, Qutub, Kotb, or Kutb) (Arabic: ‫ ;سيد قطب‬October 9, 1906[1] – August 29,
1966) was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist, poet, and the leading intellectual of the
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s.

Author of 24 books, including novels, literary arts’ critique, works on education, he is

best known in the Muslim world for his work on what he believed to be the social and
political role of Islam, particularly in his books Social Justice and Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq
(Milestones). His magnum opus, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the shade of the Qur'an), is a
thirty-volume commentary on the Qur'an that has contributed significantly to modern
perceptions of subjects such as jihad and ummah.[citation needed]

Even though most of his observations and criticism were leveled at his own society and
culture, Qutb is also known for his intense disapproval of the society and culture of the
United States[2][3] which he saw as obsessed with materialism and violence, "animalistic
desires," and "awful sins."[4]

Views on Qutb vary widely. He has been described by supporters as a great artist and
martyr for Islam,[5][6] but by many western observers as one who shaped the ideas of
Islamists[7] and particularly of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda[8][9][10][11] Today, his
jihadist supporters are often identified as Qutbists[12] or "Qutbee", though they do not use
the term to describe themselves.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Life and public career

o 1.1 Visit to America
o 1.2 Return to Egypt
• 2 Evolution of thought
• 3 Political philosophy
o 3.1 Jahiliyyah vs. freedom
• 4 Criticisms
• 5 Legacy
o 5.1 Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad
• 6 Works
• 7 See also
• 8 References
o 8.1 Bibliography

• 9 External links

[edit] Life and public career

Qutb was raised in the Egyptian village of Musha and studied the Qur'an from a young
age. He moved to Cairo, where he could receive an education based on the British style
of schooling, between 1929 and 1933, before starting his career as a teacher in the
Ministry of Public Instruction. During his early career, Qutb devoted himself to literature
as an author and critic, writing such novels as Ashwak (Thorns) and even helped to
elevate Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz from obscurity. In 1939, he became a
functionary in Egypt's Ministry of Education (wizarat al-ma'arif ).

From 1948 to 1950, he went to the United States on a scholarship to study its educational
system, studying for several months at Colorado State College of Education (now the
University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley, Colorado. Qutb's first major theoretical
work of religious social criticism, Al-'adala al-Ijtima'iyya fi-l-Islam (Social Justice in
Islam), was published in 1949, during his time in the West.

Though Islam gave him much peace and contentment,[13] he suffered from respiratory and
other health problems throughout his life and was known for "his introvertedness,
isolation, depression and concern." In appearance, he was "pale with sleepy eyes."[14]
Qutb never married, in part because of his steadfast religious convictions. While the
urban Egyptian society he lived in was becoming more Westernized, Qutb believed the
Quran taught women that `Men are the managers of women's affairs ...' [15] Qutb lamented
to his readers that he was never able to find a woman of sufficient "moral purity and
discretion" and had to reconcile himself to bachelorhood.[16]

[edit] Visit to America

This turning point resulted from Qutb's visit to the United States for higher studies in
educational administration. Over a two-year period, he worked in several different
institutions including what was then-Wilson Teachers' College in Washington, D.C. and
Colorado State College for Education in Greeley, as well as Stanford University[17]. He
also traveled extensively, visiting the major cities of the United States and spent time in
Europe on the return journey to Egypt.

On his return to Egypt, Qutb published an article entitled "The America that I Have
Seen." He was critical of many things he had observed in the United States: its
materialism, individual freedoms, economic system, racism, brutal boxing matches,
"poor" haircuts,[3] superficiality in conversations and friendships,[18] restrictions on
divorce, enthusiasm for sports, lack of artistic feeling,[18] "animal-like" mixing of the
sexes (which went on even in churches),[19] and lack of support for the Palestinian
struggle.[20] He noted with disapproval the sexuality of American women:

the American girl is well acquainted with her body's seductive capacity. She knows it lies in the
face, and in expressive eyes, and thirsty lips. She knows seductiveness lies in the round breasts,
the full buttocks, and in the shapely thighs, sleek legs — and she shows all this and does not hide
it. [3]

And American taste in music:

“Jazz” music is [the American's] music of choice. This is that music that the Negroes invented to
satisfy their primitive inclinations, as well as their desire to be noisy...[18]

One of the most popular of his books, Social Justice in Islam (1948), also reflects his
critical attitude to the West.

[edit] Return to Egypt

Qutb concluded that major aspects of American life were primitive and "shocking", a
people who were "numb to faith in religion, faith in art, and faith in spiritual values
altogether". His experience in the U.S. is believed to have formed in part the impetus for
his rejection of Western values and his move towards radicalism upon returning to Egypt.
Resigning from the civil service, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1950s[21]
and became editor-in-chief of the Brothers' weekly Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin, and later head
of its propaganda [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] section, as well as an appointed member of the
working committee and of its guidance council, the highest branch in the organization.[32]

In July 1952, Egypt's pro-Western government was overthrown by the nationalist Free
Officers Movement headed by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Both Qutb and the Muslim
Brotherhood welcomed the coup against the monarchist government — which they saw
as un-Islamic and subservient to British imperialism — and enjoyed a close relationship
with the movement prior to and immediately following the coup. Many members of the
Brotherhood expected Nasser to establish an Islamic government. However, the
cooperation between the Brotherhood and Free Officers which marked the revolution's
success soon soured as it became clear the secular nationalist ideology of Nasserism was
incompatible with the Islamism of the Brotherhood. Nasser's regime refused to ban
alcohol, or to implement other aspects of Islamic law.

After the attempted assassination of Nasser in 1954, the Egyptian government used the
incident to justify a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, imprisoning Qutb and many
others for their vocal opposition to various government policies. During his first three
years in prison, conditions were bad and Qutb was tortured. In later years he was allowed
more mobility, including the opportunity to write.[33]

This period saw the composition of his two most important works: a commentary of the
Qur'an Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the Shade of the Qur'an), and a manifesto of political Islam
called Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones). These works represent the final form of Qutb's
thought, encompassing his radically anti-secular and anti-Western claims based on his
interpretations of; the Qur'an, Islamic history, and the social and political problems of
Egypt. The school of thought he inspired has become known as Qutbism.

Qutb was let out of prison at the end of 1964 at the behest of the then Prime Minister of
Iraq, Abdul Salam Arif, for only 8 months before being rearrested in August 1965. He
was accused of plotting to overthrow the state and subjected to what some consider a
show trial.[34] Many of the charges placed against Qutb in court were taken directly from
Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq and he adamantly supported his written statements. The trial
culminated in a death sentence for Qutb and six other members of the Muslim
Brotherhood. He was sentenced to death as the leader of a group planning to assassinate
the President and other Egyptian officials and personalities, though he was not the
instigator or leader of the actual plot.[35] On 29 August 1966, he was executed by hanging.

[edit] Evolution of thought

Different theories have been advanced as to why Qutb, turned from secular reformism in
the 1930s to Islamic extremist in the 1950s and 1960s. One common explanation is that
the conditions he witnessed in prison from 1954-1964, including the torture and murder
of Muslim Brothers, convinced him that only a government bound by Islamic law could
prevent such abuses. Another is that Qutb's experiences in America as a darker skinned
person and the insufficiently anti-Western policies of Nasser demonstrated to him the
powerful and dangerous allure of jahiliyyah — a threat unimaginable, in Qutb's
estimation, to the secular mind. However, there are indications his feelings about the
West had developed before he ever set foot in America. On his boat trip to America in
1948 he wrote:

Should I travel to America, and become flimsy, and ordinary, ... Is there other than Islam that I
should be steadfast to in its character and hold on to its instructions, in this life amidst deviant
chaos, and the endless means of satisfying animalistic desires, pleasures, and awful sins? [4]

Finally, Qutb offered his own explanation in Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq, arguing that anything
non-Islamic was evil and corrupt, while following Sharia as a complete system extending
into all aspects of life, would bring every kind of benefit to humanity, from personal and
social peace, to the "treasures" of the universe.[36]

In general, Qutb's experiences as an Egyptian Muslim—his village childhood,

professional career, and activism in the Muslim Brotherhood—left an unmistakable mark
on his theoretical and religious works. Even Qutb's early, secular writing shows evidence
of his later themes. For example, Qutb's autobiography of his childhood Tifl min al-
Qarya (A Child From the Village) makes little mention of Islam or political theory and is
typically classified as a secular, literary work. However, it is replete with references to
village mysticism, superstition, the Qur'an, and incidences of injustice. Qutb's later work
developed along similar themes, dealing with Qur'anic exegesis, social justice, and
political Islam.

Qutb's career as a writer also heavily influenced his philosophy. In al-Taswiir al-Fanni
fil-Quran (Artistic Representation in the Qur'an), Qutb developed a literary appreciation
of the Qur'an and a complementary methodology for interpreting the text. His
hermaneutics were applied in his extensive commentary on the Qur'an, Fi zilal al-Qur'an
(In the Shade of the Quran), which served as the foundation for the declarations of
Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq.

Late in his life, Qutb synthesized his personal experiences and intellectual development
in the famous Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq, a religious and political manifesto for what he believed
was a true Islamic system. It was also in this text that Qutb condemned Muslim
governments, such as Abdul Nasser's regime in Egypt, as secular with their legitimacy
based on human (and thus corrupt), rather than divine authority. This work, more than
any other, established Qutb as one of, if not the premier Islamists of the 20th century.

[edit] Political philosophy

Part of the Politics series on

Islamism

Basic topics[show]

Movements[show]

Goals[show]

Manifestations[show]

Concepts[show]

Key texts[show]

Islam Portal
Politics portal

v•d•e

Whether he espoused dictatorship,[37] or later rule by Sharia law with essentially no

government at all,[8] defensive jihad or later offensive jihad, Sayyid Qutb's mature
political views always centered on Islam — Islam as a complete system of morality,
justice and governance, whose Sharia laws and principles should be the sole basis of
governance and everything else in life. In an earlier work,[38] Qutb described military
jihad as defensive, Islam's campaign to protect itself.[39]
On the issue of Islamic governance, Qutb differed with many modernist and reformist
Muslims who claimed democracy was Islamic because the Quranic institution of Shura
supported elections and democracy. Qutb pointed out that the Shura chapter of the Qur'an
was revealed during the Mekkan period, and therefore, it does not deal with the problem
of government. It makes no reference to elections and calls only for the ruler to consult
some of the ruled, as a particular case of the general rule of Shura.[40]

Qutb argued (at that time) that a 'just dictatorship' would be more Islamic than a
tyrannous one.[41] Qutb also opposed the then popular ideology of Arab nationalism,
having become disillusioned with the 1952 Nasser Revolution and having been exposed
to the regime's practices of arbitrary arrest, torture, and deadly violence during his
imprisonment.

[edit] Jahiliyyah vs. freedom

This exposure to abuse of power undoubtedly contributed to the ideas in his famous
prison-written Islamic manifesto Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones), where he advocated a
political system the opposite of dictatorship — i.e. one with no government. There Qutb
argued:

• Jahiliyyah is the worship of some people by others; that is to say, some people
become dominant and make laws for others, regardless of whether these laws are
against God's injunctions and without caring for the use or misuse of their
authority.
• The Muslim world had ceased to be and reverted to pre-Islamic ignorance known
as jahiliyyah, because of the lack of sharia law. Consequently all states of the
Muslim world are not Islamic and thus illegitimate, including that of his native
land Egypt.
• Rather than support rule by a pious Muslim(s), (either a dictator(s) or
democratically elected[42]), Muslims should resist any system where men are in
"servitude to other men" — i.e. obey other men — as un-Islamic and a violation
of God's sovereignty (Hakamiyya) over all of creation. A truly Islamic polity
would have no rulers — not even have theocratic ones — since Muslims would
need neither judges nor police to obey divine law. [43][44] It was what one observer
has called "a kind of anarcho-Islam."[8]
• The way to bring about this freedom was for a revolutionary vanguard [45] to fight
jahiliyyah with a twofold approach: preaching, and abolishing the organizations
and authorities of the Jahili system by "physical power and Jihad."
• The vanguard movement would grow with preaching and jihad until it formed a
truly Islamic community, then spread throughout the Islamic homeland and
finally throughout the entire world, attaining leadership of humanity. While those
who had been "defeated by the attacks of the treacherous Orientalists!" might
define jihad "narrowly" as defensive, Islamically-correct Jihad (according to
Qutb) was in fact offensive. [46]
Qutb emphasized this struggle would be anything but easy. True Islam would transform
every aspect of society, eliminating everything non-Muslim.[47] True Muslims could look
forward to lives of "poverty, difficulty, frustration, torment and sacrifice." Jahili ersatz-
Muslims, Jews and Westerners would all fight and conspire against Islam and the
elimination of jahiliyyah.

Main article: Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq

Among these enemies Qutb was particularly enraged by Jews, whom he saw as a great
menace to Islam despite their small numbers. Qutb repeatedly talked of "the wicked
opposition of the Jews to Islam," their "conspiracies" and "scheming against Islam" over
the centuries.[1] [2]

[edit] Criticisms
Qutb, greatly admired by many,[48][49] also has several critics. Following the publication of
Milestones and the aborted plot against the Nasser government, mainstream Muslims
took issue with Qutb's contention that "physical power" and jihad had to be used to
overthrow governments, and attack societies, "institutions and traditions" of the Muslim
— but according to Qutb jahili — world.[50] The ulema of Al-Azhar University school
took the unusual step following his death of putting Sayyid Qutb on their index of heresy,
declaring him a "deviant" (munharif). [51]

Reformist Muslims, on the other hand, questioned his understanding of sharia, i.e. that it
is not only perfect and complete, but completely accessible to mortals and thus the
solution to any of their problems.[52][53] Also criticized is his dismissal of not only all non-
Muslim culture, but many centuries of Muslim learning, culture and beauty following the
first four caliphs as un-Islamic and thus worthless.[54]

Conservative/puritan criticism went further, condemning Qutb's Islamist/reformist ideas

— such as social justice and redistributive economics,[55][56][57] banning of slavery, — as
"western" and bid'ah or innovative (innovations to Islam being forbidden ipso facto).
They have accused Qutb of amateur scholarship, overuse of ijtihad, innovation in Ijma
(which Qutb felt should not be limited to scholars, but should be conducted by all
Muslims[58]), declaring unlawful what Allah has made lawful,[59][60] assorted mistakes in
aqeedah (belief) and manhaj (methodology)[61], and of lack of respect for Islamic
traditions, for prophets and for early Muslims. Supporters have also defended him from at
least some of these and other charges.[62][63]

And finally, following the 9/11 attacks, Westerners looking for who and what may have
inspired Al-Qaeda discovered Qutb and found many of his ideas not too Western, but too
anti-Western.[64] Complaints here include that contrary to what Qutb preaches, neither the
Jews nor the West are conspiring against Islam; that the West is neither "evil and corrupt"
nor a "rubbish heap;" that an offensive jihad to establish Islamic rule (or "the sovereignty
of God and His Lordship") "throughout the world," would be aggression, not liberation;
and finally that Qutb's call for the destruction of jahili Muslim governments may have
roused terrorist jihadis to attack Western countries, thinking that Western support for
these "jahili" governments stands in the way of their elimination.[65][66][67]

[edit] Legacy
Alongside notable Islamists like Maulana Mawdudi, Hasan al-Banna, and Ruhollah
Khomeini, Qutb is considered one of the most influential Muslim thinkers or activists of
the modern era, not only for his ideas but for what many consider his heroic martyr's
death.[34][68]

His written works are still widely available and have been translated into many Western
languages. Qutb's best known work is Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones), but the majority of
Qutb's theory can be found in his Qur'anic commentary Fi zilal al-Qur'an (In the Shade
of the Quran). This 30-volume work is noteworthy for its innovative method of
interpretation, borrowing heavily from the literary analysis of Amin al-Khuli, while
retaining some structural features of classical commentaries (for example, the practice of
progressing from the first sura to the last).[citation needed]

The influence of his work extends to issues such as Westernization, modernization, and
political reform and the theory of inevitable ideological conflict between "Islam and the
West" (see Clash of civilizations), the notion of a transnational umma, and the
comprehensive application of jihad.[citation needed]

Qutb's theoretical work on Islamic advocacy, social justice and education, has left a
significant mark on the Muslim Brotherhood (at least outside of Egypt).

[edit] Al Qaeda and Islamic Jihad

Qutb had influence on Islamic insurgent/terror groups in Egypt [50] and elsewhere. His
influence on Al Qaeda was felt through his writing, his followers and especially through
his brother, Muhammad Qutb, who moved to Saudi Arabia following his release from
prison in Egypt and became a professor of Islamic Studies and edited, published and
promoted his brother Sayyid's work.[69][70]

One of Muhammad Qutb's students and later an ardent follower was Ayman Zawahiri,
who went on to become a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad [71] and later a mentor of
Osama bin Laden and a leading member of al-Qaeda.[72] Zawahiri was first introduced to
Qutb by his uncle and maternal family patriarch, Mafouz Azzam, who was very close to
Qutb throughout his life. Azzam was Qutb's student, then protégé, then personal lawyer
and executor of his estate — one of the last people to see Qutb before his execution.
According to Lawrence Wright, who interviewed Azzam, "young Ayman al-Zawahiri
heard again and again from his beloved uncle Mahfouz about the purity of Qutb's
character and the torment he had endured in prison."[73] Zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in
his work Knights under the Prophet's Banner.[74]
Osama Bin Laden was also acquainted with Sayyid's brother, Muhammad Qutb. A close
college friend of bin Laden's, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, told Wright, that bin Laden
regularly attended weekly public lectures by Muhammad Qutb, at King Abdulaziz
University, and that he and bin Laden both "read Sayyid Qutb. He was the one who most
affected our generation."[75]

[edit] Works
Literary:

• Mahammat al-Sha'ir fi'l-Hayah wa Shi'r al-Jil al-Hadir (The Task of the Poet in
Life and the Poetry of the Contemporary Generation), 1933
• al-Shati al-Majhul (The Unknown Beach), 1935
• Naqd Kitab: Mustaqbal al-Thaqafa fi Misr (Critique of a Book by Taha Husain:
the Future of Culture in Egypt), 1939
• Al-Taswir al-Fanni fi'l-Qu'ran (Artistic Imagery in the Qur'an), 1945
• Al-Atyaf al-Arba'a (The Four Apparitions), 1945
• Tifl min al-Qarya (A Child from the Village), 1946
• Al-Madina al-Mashura (The Enchanted City), 1946
• Kutub wa Shakhsiyyat (Books and Personalities), 1946
• Askwak (Thorns), 1947
• Mashahid al-Qiyama fi'l-Qur'an (Aspects of Resurrection in the Qu'ran), 1946
• Al-Naqd al-Adabi: Usuluhu wa Manahijuhu (Literary Criticism: Its Foundation
and Methods'), 1948

Theoretical:

• Al-Adala al-Ijtima'iyya fi'l-Islam (Social Justice in Islam), 1949

• Ma'arakat al-Islam wa'l-Ra's Maliyya (The Battle Between Islam and
Capitalism), 1951
• Al-Salam al-'Alami wa'l-Islam (World Peace and Islam), 1951
• Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the Shade of the Qur'an), first installment 1954
• Dirasat Islamiyya (Islamic Studies), 1953
• Hadha'l-Din (This Religion is Islam), n.d. (after 1954)
• Al-Mustaqbal li-hadha'l-Din (The Future of This Religion), n.d. (after 1954)
• Khasais al-Tasawwar al-Islami wa Muqawamatuhu (The Characteristics and
Values of Islamic Conduct), 1960
• Al-Islam wa Mushkilat al-Hadara (Islam and the Problems of Civilization), n.d.
(after 1954)
• Ma'alim fi'l-Tariq (Signposts on the Road, or Milestones), 1964 [3] (Reviewed by
Yvonne Ridley)
• Basic Principles of Islamic Worldview
• The Islamic Concept and Its Characteristics
• Islam and universal peace