Sayyid qutb

1. Sayyidqutb International Islamic University Malaysia Presented by AlparslanBilir ‘Izzati Ismail Ahmad Nashriq Shah MohdNaifRodzi Muhammad IkhmalJamil Edited by Dr. Md. MahmudulHasan 2010

2. SAYYID QUTB (1906-1966) • Educationalist, Islamic scholar, poet, and a leading intellectual of the Muslim Brotherhood. • Author of 24 books, including Ma’alim fi-l Tariq(Milestones) and Fi Zilal al Qur’an  (In the shade of the Qur'an) – a 30-volume commentary on the Qur'an.

3. BOOKS MILESTONES IN THE SHADE OF THE QUR’AN • First published in 1964 • 12 chapters, 160 pages • He lays out a plan and makes a call to action to re-create the Muslim world on Qur'anic principles. • A highly influential commentary of the Qur'an, written in 1951-1965 during his imprisonment. • It also outlines Qutb's vision of an Islamic state and society.

4. QUTB’S LIFE • SayyidQutb was born in 1906 in the province of Asyut, which is located in southern Egypt. His parents were deeply religious and well-known in the area. From childhood until the age of 27, he had a rigorous education. • Qutb’s evident desire for knowledge continued throughout his life. He received elementary education in a religious school located in his hometown village. By the age of 10, he had already committed the entire text of the Qur’an to memory. •  He then moved to a more modern, government-sponsored school and graduated primary school in 1918. Due to his interests in education and teaching, Qutb enrolled into a teacher’s college and graduated in 1928. Next, he was admitted to Dar al-Ulum what is now part of Cairo University.

5. After his graduation from Dar al-Ulum in 1933, Qutb entered teaching career and eventually became involved in Egypt’s Ministry of Education. The Ministry sent him to the United States to research Western methods of teaching. He spent a total of two years in the United States from 1948 to 1950. • During that time, Qutb studied at Wilson’s Teachers’ College on the east coast before moving west and earning an MA in education at the University of Northern Colorado. Qutb’s strong conviction that Islam is superior to all other systems became clearer. • Many scholars believe that it was during his trip to the United States that Qutb became more aware of the West’s spiritual and moral bankruptcy. In "The America I Have Seen," a personal account of his experiences in United States, Qutb expresses his admiration for the great economic and scientific achievements of America, yet he is deeply dismayed that such prosperity could exist in a society that remained "abysmally primitive in the world of the senses, feelings, and behaviour."

6. “The America I Have Seen” • On his return to Egypt, Qutb published the long article "The America I Have Seen”. •  He talks about America’s materialism, individual freedoms, economic system, racism, brutal boxing matches, "poor" haircuts, superficiality in conversations and friendships,restrictions on divorce, enthusiasm for sports, lack of artistic feeling, "animal-like" mixing of the sexes and strong support for the newly created Israeli state. • Qutb concludes 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."

7. Milestones • Ma'alim fi al-Tariq or Milestones was first published in 1964. He urges the Muslims to re-create the Muslim world on Qur'anic values, casting off what Qutb calls Jahiliyyah, the pre-Islamic ignorance into which that the world has lapsed. • In this book, Qutb seeks to set out "milestones" or guiding markers along a road that will lead to the revival of Islam from its current ‘extinction’.

8. IN THE SHADE OF THE QURAN • It is a highly influential commentary of the Qur'an written during 1951-1965. • Most of the original 30 volumes (114 Surahs) were written (or re-written) while in prison. • It has much influence throughout the Islamic world, especially among the Muslims in the Arab world.

9. POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY • His political views are always centered on Islam. • Islamic revolution would only succeed if Islam is a “living reality” in the people’s heart. • He is against Arab nationalism, as he believes that Islam is for all. • He regards the following 3 as the biggest enemies of Islam: International Zionism, Crusaderism and Communism

10. He argues that the Muslim world is going back to the pre-Islamic stage (Jahiliyyah) because of the lack of the application of Islamic law. • He puts emphasis on: “No servanthood to another men in Islam but only to Allah” • He emphasizes the importance of a revolutionary vanguard to fight Jahiliyyah.

11. EVOLUTION OF THOUGHT • Secular reformism • 1930 Islamic revivalism 1950 and 1960

12. TWO MAIN REASONS WHY HE SHIFTED 1.Time in prison (1954-1964) • The conditions he witnessed in prison, especially the torture and murder of Muslim Brothers, convinced him that only a government bound by Islamic law could prevent such abuses. • Then he wrote the Islamic manifesto Ma'alimfi-l-Tariq (Milestones) to advocate a political system that is opposed to dictatorship, which obviously outraged the Egyptian regime.

13. 2. His time in America • He was sent to the United States for higher studies in educational administration for two years. • He found Western society materialistic, corrupt, morally loose, and ridden with injustices.

14. He was especially distressed by the disrespect shown to Arabs in the United States and the overwhelming support of majority Americans for the unlawful state of Israel. • One of his most popular books, Social Justice in Islam (1948) reflects his critical attitude to the West.

15. Qutb offers his own explanation in his many books, arguing that anything non-Islamic is evil and corrupt, while following Sharia as a complete system extending into all aspects of life, brings every kind of benefit to humanity including personal and social peace.

16. Reviews • Qutb’s Milestones received rave reviews from several quarters for its daring facts and inspiring words. • Some comments read: • “[U]nmasking" the socialist and "nominally" Islamic "faces" of the Egyptian regime – Gilles Kepel • “[A] matchless writer, ... one of the greatest thinkers of contemporary Islamic thought” – Islamists

17. Excerpts from Milestones • “[T]he Western world realizes that Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind" (p. 7). • “[T]he American people blush" with shame when confront with the "immoralities" and "vulgarity" of their own country in comparison with the superiority of Islam's "logic, beauty, humanity and happiness" (p. 139).

18. LEGACY • Alongside notable Islamic revivalist leaders like Syed Abul A’la Maududi, Hasan al-Banna and Ruhollah Khomeini, Qutb is considered one of the most influential Muslim thinkers and activists of the modern era, not only for his ideas but for what many consider his heroic martyrdom. • Qutb's theoretical work on Islamic advocacy, social justice and education, has left a significant mark on the Muslim Brotherhood.

19. MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD • The Society of the Muslim Brothers, often simply الإخوان Al-Ikhwān (The Brotherhood or MB) is a transnational movement and the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. Founded in 1928, it is the oldest and largest Islamic political group in today’s world.

20. Brotherhood's goal is to instill the Qur’an and Sunnah as the "sole reference point for ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community and state”.

21. Western writers in recent years have focused on Sayyid Qutb as one of the two most influential Muslim thinkers of the twentieth century, the other being Syed Abul A’la Maududi. • He left behind a total of 24 books, including several novels, several books on literary criticism, on the education of adults and children, and several religious books, including the 30 volume Commentary of the Qur’an.

22. Sayyid Qutb will always be remembered for his legacy of clearly defining the basic ideas of the Oneness and sovereignty of Allah as the only hope for salvation of humanity.