Who was Sayyid Qutb?
This is not an altogether idle question. To Abu Noor (it is enough that he speaks for himself, although I am sure others share his view), Qutb opposed the injustice and oppression of the corrupt and tyrannical Egyptian government, calling for a return to a pure form of Islamic society. I, of course, have taken a somewhat different view. I have referred to him as the brain of bin Laden (a phrase I borrowed more or less from Dinesh D’Souza), the ideological inspiration for al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, and so on. The members of the 9/11 Commission, in their report, bolster this argument; I’m not entirely in accord with their summation of his thought, but I shall let that pass: Three basic themes emerge from Qutb’s writings. First, he claimed that the world was beste with barbarism, licentiousness, and unbelief (a condition he called jahiliyya, the religious term for the period of ignorance prior to the revelations given tot he Prophet Mohammed). Qutb argued that humans can choose
“Sayyid Qutb had no knowledge of the fundamental or subsidiary matters of Islam.” – Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ad-Deen al-Albaanee Sayyid Qutb (1906-66) was born in a small town in Upper Egypt and moved to Cairo as an adolescent in order to further his education. Qutb began to write in the late 1920s as a poet and literary critic, writing about social and political matters from a secular standpoint. By 1948, Qutb changed his mode of writing, and began to write from a more Islamic perspective, according to the limited knowledge of Islam that he had. Social Justice, his first Islamic book, was published in 1949. After his return from a two-year study tour in the United States that ended in 1950, Qutb joined al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (the Muslim Brotherhood), becoming one of their leading spokesmen. After the movement openly opposed the government of Jamal Abdul Nasser, Qutb essentially spent the rest of his life in prison after 1954, except for a brief period in 1964-65. After being temporarily
Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), was born in Egypt in 1906. He first become prominent as a poet and literary critic. However, with growing criticism of the Islamic world and the alleged immorality of the west, Qutb early developed militant views. By the late nineteen-twenties Qutb had become an active member of the Wafdist nationalist party which called for complete independence from Britain, even legitimizing the use of force to achieve this goal. In 1933, having gained a degree in Arabic language and literature, Qutb worked as a school teacher teaching Arabic. From 1940 Qutb worked in the ministry of education first as supervisor of education, then as an inspector, and later in 1945 becoming the directorate general of Culture.
Sayyid Qutb’s ignorance of the fundamentals of Islam led him to utter the following statements of perilous excess, “Today, we are in jahiliyah (the days of ignorance), like that which was prevalent at the dawn of Islam, in fact more severe. Everything around us is jahiliyah ” Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, one of the great scholars of this time, was asked whether it is permissible to use the term jahiliyah in an unrestricted manner upon the present-day Islamic societies, to which he answered: The general jahiliyah went away when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) was sent. So it is not permissible to employ it upon the Islamic societies in a general sense. As for applying something from its affairs upon individuals or upon some groups and societies, then this is permissible and allowed. Indeed, the Prophet (may Allah raise his rank and grant him peace) said to one of his companions, “Verily you are a man who has jahiliyah in him.” And he (may Allah raise h
Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), was born in Egypt in 1906. He first become prominent as a poet and literary critic. However, with growing criticism of the Islamic world and the alleged immorality of the west, Qutb early developed militant views. By the late nineteen-twenties Qutb had become an active member of the Wafdist nationalist party which called for complete independence from Britain, even legitimizing the use of force to achieve this goal. In 1933, having gained a degree in Arabic language and literature, Qutb worked as a school teacher teaching Arabic. From 1940 Qutb worked in the ministry of education first as supervisor of education, then as an inspector, and later in 1945 becoming the directorate general of Culture. In 1948-1950 Qutb spent time in America, mainly at Greeley, Colorado State Teachers College, now the University of Northern Colorado where he studied for a Masters degree in Education. Qutb condemned the USA as immoral and materialistic. Being coloured himself he was und
