Milestones (Ma'alim fi'l-Tariq (Signposts on the Road, or Milestones)) by Sayyid Qutb
Reviewed by Yvonne Ridley
A Fresh Look at Sayyid Qutb's Writing: An Executive Summary by M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Hadha'l-Din (This Religion), n.d. (after 1954) by Sayyid Qutb
The American I Have Seen by Sayyid Qutb
Remembering Sayyid Qutb:
A an Islamic intellectual and leader of rare insight and integrity
By Zafar Bangash
It is perhaps indicative of the present state of the Ummah that, outside his native Egypt and a small circle of Islamic activists, few Muslims are aware that August 29 marked the thirty-third anniversary of the martyrdom of Sayyid Qutb. He was no ordinary Muslim. A man of impeccable Islamic credentials, he made an immense contribution to Muslim political thought at a time when the Muslim world was still mesmerised by such western notions as nationalism, the nation-State and fathers of nations. Nationalist rhetoric laced with socialist slogans was the vogue.
It was in this atmosphere that Sayyid Qutb raised his voice - indeed his pen - against these false ideologies and in one clean sweep denounced them as the modern-day jahiliyyah (the primitive savagery of pre-Islamic days). In this Sayyid Qutb departed from Maulana Maudoodi's articulation of "partial jahiliyyah" in which the late Pakistani scholar was prepared to concede to the systems prevalent in Muslim societies some room for modification and hence a degree of respectability. Sayyid Qutb would have none of it; he insisted that, being a complete system of life, Islam needs no additions from man-made systems.
It was this forthright formulation which sent him to the gallows on August 29, 1966 together with two other Ikhwan al-Muslimoon leaders, Muhammad Yusuf Awash and Abd al-Fattah Ismail. The specific charge against Sayyid Qutb was based on his now-celebrated book, Ma'alim fi'l-tareeq ('Sign-posts on the Road', also translated as Milestones). The book denounced the existing order in Muslim societies as jahiliyyah, provides guidelines for Muslim activists, and describes the steps they must take to establish a society based on divine guidance.
The Ikhwan al-Muslimoon is no longer the movement that Sayyid Qutb had joined when he returned from the US in 1950. It has since been reduced to a shell, being little more than a political party with an Islamic flag. Even this mild version of Islamic expression is not tolerated by the pharaohs of Egypt, who are beholden to their masters in Washington and Tel Aviv. Yet it is the Muslim activists who are accused of 'intolerance.'
Sayyid Qutb was a prolific writer. His best works, however, were produced after his sudden return from the US. What disappointed him most there was the infatuation of American society with materialism and the widespread sexual anarchy. He could have gone on to study for his doctoral thesis, but decided instead to return to Egypt and devote his life to the Islamic movement.
If there was one particular moment in his life which proved crucial in this decision, it was his pain at the manner in which Hasan al-Banna's martyrdom was reported in the American press. Crescent International readers will not be surprised at the manner in which the New York Times reported the martyrdom of Imam Hasan al-Banna. It wrote: "In Cairo the leader of the outlawed terrorist Moslem Brotherhood Hasan el-Banna, was killed by an assassin" (February 13, 1949). It went on to say: "Sheikh Hasan el-Banna, 39-year-old head of the outlawed Moslem Brotherhood extremist Egyptian nationalist movement that was banned after authorities declared it responsible for a series of bombing outrages and killings last year, was shot five times by a group of young men in a car and died tonight in hospital."
The "terrorist" appellation for Islamic activity is not a phenomenon of the eighties or nineties. It has been in circulation for more than 50 years. One can immediately see the emotionally-loaded expressions - "terrorist", "extremist", "outlawed", etc - used for the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon by the mouthpiece of the zionist establishment in America. Qutb's disappointment at seeing the supposedly respectable organs of public opinion indulging in a vicious attacks on the character of a leading Islamic leader can be imagined.
When Sayyid Qutb returned to Egypt, he started working with the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon, which he had not previously been a member of, as well as continuing to think and write. At the time, the Ikhwan were working with the 'Free Officers' plotting to overthrow the monarchy of king Farouk. Among the Free Officers were such figures as colonel Gamal Abd al-Nasser and colonel Anwar Sadat. According to the Sadat's own account, Sayyid Qutb was the main ideologue of the Free Officers' 'revolution.' Had the coup failed, it is clear that Sayyid Qutb would have paid with his life. Sadat, again according to his own account, had gone to the cinema on the day of the coup in order to have an alibi in the event that 'things went wrong.' He went on to become the president of Egypt after Nasser's death from a heart attack in September 1970.
The Free Officers, however, soon fell out with the Ikhwan. That can be no surprise to those with even a superficial familiarity with such institutions as the military in the Muslim world. The coup-plotters were young and inexperienced; they needed a father-figure and an intellectual guide; Sayyid Qutb fit the bill well. But once the coup had succeeded, the Free Officers had other plans.
Within two years of the coup, Nasser had taken full control of the state. He then came down hard on the Ikhwan. Two events in particular contributed to the break: the Ikhwan's insistence on an Islamic constitution and a free press; and their denunciation of the July 1954 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement pertaining to the Suez Canal. This totally exposed Nasser's false revolutionary credentials. The treaty allowed British troops to enter Egypt if British interests were threatened in the Middle East. In fact, it actually permitted the presence of British troops on the Suez Canal.
From the beginning of 1954 until his execution, Sayyid Qutb spent most of his time in prison. In early 1954, when the Egyptian secret service came to arrest him, Sayyid Qutb was running a high fever. They insisted on putting the handcuffs on him and forcing him to walk to prison. On the way, he fainted several times from weakness. Once inside the prison compound, a specially-trained dog was unleashed upon him which dragged him around for more than two hours. He was then interrogated for seven hours without a break.
At his 'treason' trial in 1966, he was accused of plotting to bring about a Marxist coup in the country. This ludicrous charge was made by a regime that was already a close ally of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The rulers of Egypt knew that they were trying a man on wholly false charges. The real reason for the prosecution was Sayyid Qutb's denunciation of the system and regime as jahiliyyah. Nasser knew that if such ideas were allowed to circulate, they would threaten his rule and ultimately lead to his overthrow. Sayyid Qutb had to be eliminated.
Shortly before his scheduled execution, an emissary of Nasser came to Sayyid Qutb asking him to sign a petition seeking mercy from the president. Sayyid Qutb's reply was forthright: "If I have done something wrong in the eyes of Allah, I do not deserve mercy; but if I have not done anything wrong, I should be set free without having to plead for mercy from any mortal." The emissary went away disappointed; Nasser was denied the pleasure of turning down Sayyid Qutb's 'appeal' for mercy.
Sayyid Qutb wrote a number of books, including the well-known tafseer, Fi Zilal al-Qur'an ('In the shade of the Qur'an'), in which he explains Qur'anic ayaat with references to other ayaat of the noble Book. This he compiled during his long confinements in prison on spurious charges. Similarly, his contribution to Muslim political thought was immense. He categorically rejected any borrowings from the west and insisted that Islam is self-sufficient.
That such a worthy son of Islam should be so mistreated and humiliated in a Muslim country shows the depths of depravity to which the regimes in the Muslim world have sunk. Perhaps this was partly the reason that Nasser's army faced such an ignominious defeat at the hands of the zionist forces a year later, in the 'Six Day war' of June 1967.
Sayyid Qutb lives in the hearts of millions of Muslims worldwide. His books have been translated into virtually every language that Muslims read, and remain hugely influential. The main translations into Farsi have been done by the Rahbar of the Islamic Republic, Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, himself. This is a great tribute to the martyred scholar of Islam.
Zafar Bangash is Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT).
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Sayyid Qutb (also Seyyid, Sayid, Sayed; also Koteb, Kutb) ( Arabic : ??? ??? ; 9 October 1906 [1] � 29 August 1966 ) was an Egyptian author, Islamist , and the leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 60s. He is best known in the Muslim world for his work on the social and political role of Islamic fundamentalism , particularly in his books Social Justice and Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq ( Milestones ). His extensive Quranic commentary Fi zilal al-Qur'an ( In the shades of the Qur'an ) has contributed significantly to modern perceptions of Islamic concepts such as jihad , jahiliyyah , and ummah . He is best known in the West as "the man whose ideas would shape Al Qaeda ." [2] Alternative spellings of his first and last names include Saïd, Syed, Koteb (rather common), Qutub, Kotb, etc.
Qutb was raised in the Egyptian village of Musha and educated from a young age in the Qur'an. He moved to Cairo , where he received a Western education 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 elevating 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 the educational system, receiving a master's degree from the 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 overseas.
Aside from his untimely end, Qutb's personal life was not always happy. Though Islam gave him much peace and contentment, [3] 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." [4] 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 (Surat al-Nisa, 4:32) taught women that `Men are the managers of women's affairs ...' [5] 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. [6]
Qutb was extremely critical of many things in the United States: its materialism, individual freedom, economic system, racism , brutal boxing matches, poor haircuts, [7] triviality, restrictions on divorce, enthusiasm for sports, "animal-like" mixing of the sexes (which went on even in churches), [8] and lack of support for the Palestinian struggle. In an article published in Egypt after his travels, he noted with disapproval the sexuality of Americans:
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. [9]And their taste in music :
Jazz is his preferred music, and it is created by Negroes to satisfy their love of noise and to whet their sexual desires ... [10]Qutb concluded that major aspects of American life were "primitive" and shocking. His experiences in the U.S. partly formed 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 [11] and became editor-in-chief of the Brothers' weekly Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin, and later head of the propaganda section, as well as an appointed member of the Working Committee and of the Guidance Council, the highest branch in the Brotherhood. [12]
In June 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. [13]
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. 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. [14] On 29 August 1966 , Sayyid Qutb was executed by hanging.
Different theories have been advanced as to why Qutb turned from secular reformism in the 1930s to radical Islamism in the 1950s and 1960s (the latter clearly evidenced in Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq ). [15] 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 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. This is problematic however as Qutb's writings indicate a strong Islamist streak before setting foot in America. On his boat trip over 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? [16]
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. [17]
In general, Qutb's experiences as an Egyptian - 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 radical 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 radical Islamists of the 20th century.
Whether he esposed dictatorship, or later rule by Sharia law with essentially no government at all, 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 [18] , Qutb described military jihad as defensive, Islam's campaign to protect itself. [19] 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. [20] 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 , [21] and argued a `just dictatorship` would be more Islamic. [22] 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.
This exposure to abuse of power undoubtedly contributed to the ideas in his famous prison-written Islamic manifesto Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq where he advocated a political system the opposite of dictatorship. There Qutb argued:
The vanguard movement would grow until it formed a truly Islamic community, then spread throughout the Islamic homeland and finally throughout the entire world. Islamically-correct Jihaad now being interpreted by Qutb as offensive, no longer "narrowly" defensive as those "defeated by the attacks of the treacherous Orientalists!" believe. [27]
Qutb emphasized this struggle would be anything but easy. True Islam would transform every aspect of society, eliminating everything non-Muslim. True Muslims could look forward to lives of "poverty, difficulty, frustration, torment and sacrifice." Jahili erzatz-Muslims, Jews and Westerners would all fight and conspire against Islam and the elimination of jahiliyyah.
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. [3] [4]
Although earlier Muslims ( Ibn Taymiyya , Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi and Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab ) had used jahiliyyah to refer to contemporary Muslim societies, no one before Qutb had applied it so widely, nor had such popular response. While Islam had seen many religious revivals urging a return to religious fundamentals throughout its history, Qutb was the first thinker who paired them to a radical, sociopolitical ideology. [28]
Criticism of Qutb's ideas comes from several, sometimes opposite, directions.
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. [39] [40] 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).
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 .
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) and on Islamic insurgent/terror groups in Egypt [41] and elsewhere. His influence on Al Qaeda was felt 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. [42] [43] One of Muhammad Qutb's students and later an ardent followers was Ayman Zawahiri , who went on to become a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terror group [44] and later a mentor of Osama bin Laden and a leading member of al-Qaeda. [10] Zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in his work Knights under the Prophet's Banner. [45]
Literary:
Theoretical:
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Ma'alim fi al-Tariq ( Arabic : ????? ?? ??????) or Milestones , first published in 1964, is a book by Egyptian Islamist author Sayyid Qutb in which he lays out a plan and makes a call to action to re-create the Muslim world on strictly Qur'anic grounds, casting off what Qutb calls Jahiliyyah , the pre-Islamic ignorance that the world has lapsed to.
Ma'alim fi al-Tariq is probably Qutb's most famous and influential work and one of the most influential Islamist tracts written. It is also the most important ingredient making up the ideology of Qutbism . Commentators have both praised Milestones as a ground-breaking, inspirational work by a hero and a martyr, [1] and reviled it as a prime example of unreasoning entitlement, self-pity, paranoia, and hatred that has been a major influence on Islamist terrorism [2] .
The title Ma'alim fi al-Tariq translates into English as "Milestones Along the Way" or "Milestones Along the Road." English translations of the book are usually entitled simply "Milestones;" the book is also sometimes referred to as "Signposts."
Ma'alim fi al-Tariq marked the culmination of Qutb's evolution from modernist author and critic, to Islamist activist and writer, and finally to Islamist revolutionary and theoretician. It was written in prison where Qutb spent 10 years under charges of political conspiracy against Egypt's Nasser regime and first published in 1964 . Four of its thirteen chapters are originally from Qutb's voluminous Quranic commentary, Fi zilal al-Qur'an (In the shades of the Qur'an). [3]
Less than a year after its publication, Qutb was again arrested and brought to trial in Egypt under charges of conspiring against the state. Excerpts from the book were used to incriminate Qutb and he was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging in 1966. [4] His death elevated his status to Shaheed or martyr in the eyes of many Muslims. Milestones became a bestseller and widely distributed across the Arab speaking world. To date, close to 2,000 editions of the work are said to have been published. [5]
In his short (12 chapters, 160 pages) 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."
According to Qutb, "The Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries" and reverted to Jahiliyyah ( "The state of ignorance of the guidance from God" (p.11, 19)) because those who call themselves Muslims have failed to follow "the laws of God" or Sharia (also Shariah, Shari'a, or Shari'ah), traditional Islamic law. (p.9) [6] Following the Sharia is not just important but a defining attribute of Muslims, more necessary than belief itself (p.89), because "according to the Shari'ah, 'to obey' is 'to worship'." This means Muslims must not only refrain from worshipping anything other than God, they must not obey anything other than God: "anyone who serves someone other than God" � be that someone (or something) a priest, president, a parliament, or a secular legal statute � "is outside God's religion, although he may claim to profess this religion." (p.60)
Qutb sees Sharia as much more than a code of religious or public laws. It is a complete "way of life ... based on submission to God alone," (p.82) crowding out anything non-Islamic. Its rules range from "belief" to "administration and justice" to "principles of art and science." (p.107) Being God's law, Sharia is as much a part "of that universal law which governs the entire universe, ... as accurate and true as any of the laws known as the 'laws of nature,'" like gravity or electricity. (p.88, also p.45-46)
"The establishment of God's law on earth" will lead to " blessings" falling " on all mankind." (p.90) Sharia is "the only guarantee against any kind of discord in life. " (p.89) and will "automatically" bring "peace and cooperation among individuals." "Knowledge of the secrets of nature, its hidden forces and the treasures concealed in the expanses of the universe," (p.90) will be revealed "in an easy manner." Its "harmony between human life and the universe" will approach the perfection of heaven itself. (p.91)
Just as Sharia is all encompassing and all wonderful, what is non-Muslim (or Jahiliyyah) is "evil and corrupt," and its existence anywhere intolerable to true Muslims. "Islam cannot accept or agree to a situation which is half-Islam and half- Jahiliyyah ... The mixing and co-existence of the truth and falsehood is impossible." (p.130) "We will not change our own values and concepts either more or less to make a bargain with this jahili society. Never!" (p.21) In preaching and promoting Islam, for example, it is very important not to demean Islam by "searching for resemblances" between Islam and the "filth" and "the rubbish heap of the West." (p.139)
According to Qutb, to ignore this fact and attempt to introduce elements of socialism or nationalism into Islam or the Muslim community (as Egypt's Arab Socialist Union government was doing at the time) is against Islam. Qutb stresses that in the early days of Islam, Muhammad did not make appeals to ethnic or class loyalty. Though these crowd-pleasing appeals would have undoubtedly shortened the thirteen years of "tortures" the Prophet had to endure while calling unresponsive Arabs to Islam, "God did not lead His Prophet (pbuh) on this course. ... This was not the way," (p.25-27) and so must not be the way now. Only God's law can bring justice.
To restore Islam on earth and free Muslims from "jahili society, jahili concepts, jahili traditions and jahili leadership," (p.21) Qutb preaches that a vanguard ( tali'a ) be formed modeling itself after the original Muslims, the "Companions" of the Prophet ( Sahaba ). These Muslims successfully vanquished Jahiliyyah (Qutb believes) principally for two reasons:
Following these principles the vanguard will fight Jahiliyyah with a two-fold approach: preaching, and "the movement" ( jama'at ). Preaching will persuade people to become true Muslims, while the movement will remove by "physical power and Jihaad for abolishing the organizations and authorities of the Jahili system." (p.55) Foremost amongst these organizations and people to be removed is the "political power which rests on a complex yet interrelated ideological, racial, class, social and economic support," (p.59) but ultimately includes "the whole human environment." (p.72) Force is necessary, Qutb explains, because it is naive to expect "those who have usurped the authority of God" to "give up their power" without a fight. (p.58-9)
Remaining aloof from Jahiliyyah and its values and culture, but preaching and forcibly abolishing authority within it, the vanguard will travel the road, gradually growing from a cell of "three individuals ... to ten, the ten to a hundred, the hundred to a thousand, and the thousand ... to twelve thousand," and blossom into a truly Islamic community. The community may start in the "homeland of Islam" but this is by no means "the ulimate objective of the Islamic movement of Jihad." (p.72) Jihad must not merely be defensive, it must be offensive, (p.62) and its objective must be to carry Islam "throughout the earth to the whole of mankind." (p.72)
True Muslims should maintain a "sense of supremacy" and "superiority," (p.141) on the road of renewal, but it is important that they also prepare themselves for a "life until death in poverty, difficulty, frustration, torment and sacrifice" (p.157), and even to brace themselves for possibility of death by torture at the hands of Jahiliyyah's sadistic, "arrogant, mischievous, criminal and degraded people." (p.150) Qutb ends his book by an example of persecution against Muslims from the Quran's "surat al-buruj," enjoining modern-day Muslims to tolerate the same or worse tortures for the sake of carrying out God's will. After all, "this world is not a place of reward" ; the believer's reward is in heaven. (p.150, 157)
Two of Qutb's major influences were the medieval Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiya , and contemporary Indian Islamist writer Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi . Both used the historical term jahiliyya to describe contemporary events in the Muslim world. [7]
Two other concepts Qutb popularizes in Milestones also came from Maududi:
Qutb's precept that Sharia law is essential to Islam and any self-described "Muslim" ruler who ignores it in favor of man-made laws is actually a non-Muslim who should be fought and overthrown come from a fatwa of Ibn Taymiya. [9]
Qutb's intense dislike of the West not withstanding, some of his ideas are strongly reminiscent of European fascism :
Fascism having made some impact among anti-British Arab Muslims before, during, and after World War II. [11] The influence of particular fascist thinkers (particularly French fascist Alexis Carrel ) in Qutb's work is disputed. [12]
The centrality of an Islamic 'vanguard' (arabic: tali'a ) in Qutb's political program also suggests influence from Leninist thinking.
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The neutrality of this section is disputed . Please see the discussion on the talk page . |
Qutb's book was originally a bestseller and became more popular as the Islamic revival strengthened. Islamists have hailed him as "a matchless writer, ... one of the greatest thinkers of contemporary Islamic thought," [13] and compared to Western political philosopher John Locke. [14] Egyptian intellectual Tariq al-Bishri has compared the influence of Milestones to Vladimir Lenin 's pamphlet What Is To Be Done? , where the founder of modern Communism outlined his theories of how Communism would be different than socialism. [15] Author Gilles Kepel credits Milestones with "unmasking" the socialist and "nominally" Islamic "faces" of the Egyptian regime Qutb lived under. [16]
Outside the Islamist context, however Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq has been criticized by Muslims for the takfir of "jahili" Muslims, and by non-Muslims for its accusations against same, particularly following the terrorist attacks of September 11th .
The claim that the entire world was jahiliyya meant that mainstream Muslims were not actually Muslims, which meant they were potentially guilty of apostasy , a capital crime in traditional Sharia (though rarely enforced). Critics allege that Qutb's Milestones helped to open up a Pandora's box of takfir (declaring a Muslim to be an infidel) that has brought serious internal strife, in particular terrorism, to the Muslim world in recent decades. [17]
Among the complaints by some non-Muslims are that Qutb's attacks on non-Muslims are contradictory, unsubstantiated, and even hypocritical. [18]
Qutb repeatedly proclaims that "serving human lords" is intolerable and is a practice Islam "has come to annihilate." (p.60) Christians and Jews are guilty of it since, according to Qutb, they give priests and rabbis "the authority to make laws" and "it is clear that obedience to laws and judgments is a sort of worship." [p.60] Because of this, Qutb says, these religions are actually polytheist, not monotheist.
Yet for the last decade and a half of his life (1953-1966) Qutb himself belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood , an organization founded on almost military-like structure where "obedience to laws and judgments" of its founder was at least as severe as nearly any Christian or Jewish congregation or denomination. Before his assassination, "Supreme Guide" Sheikh Hassan al Banna , had the power to overrule any decisions by local Brotherhood branches not to his liking. [19] [20]
Qutb condemned "evil and fanatical racial discrimination" in America, [21] while praising in Milestones the treatment of Africans by early Muslims
"When Islam entered the central part of Africa, it clothed naked human beings, socialized them, brought them out of the deep recesses of isolation, and taught them the joy of work for exploring (sic) material resources" (p.105),It's not clear whether he includes among these Africans the slaves who worked in the salt mines of early Islam [22] and whose short life expectancy was a result of the conditions under which they explored for the resource of sodium chloride.
More generally Qutb does not deal with whether the traditional Sharia law he wants the Muslim world to return to would include practices historically allowed under Sharia (and practiced by non-Muslims as well) but now considered gross violations of human rights -- such as taking slaves or other booty from conquered peoples. [23]
Olivier Roy has described Qutb's attitude towards the west is one of "radical contempt and hatred" for the West, [24] rather than reasoned criticism, and complains that the propensity of Muslims like Qutb to blame problems on outside conspiracies "is currently paralyzing Muslim political thought. For to say that every failure is the devil's work is the same as asking God, or the devil himself (which is to say these days the Americans), to solve one's problems." [25]
Other questions involve Qutb's ideas of Sharia and freedom.
Qutb's ideology is premised upon Sharia law and its application to every aspect of life. He does not explain or illustrate how any specific statutes are better or different than man-made law - evidence to support assertions in Ma'alim fi al-Tariq is limited to scriptural quotations - but does assure readers Sharia is "without doubt ... perfect in the highest degree" (p.11), and will free humanity from servitude to other men.
Some, such as Abou El Fadl, have questioned Qutb's understanding of Sharia, and his assumptions that Sharia is not only perfect but accessible to mortals in its completeness. [26] While Islamic scholars of Sharia traditionally have two decade-long training from schools such as Al Azhar, all Qutb's formal post-secondary schooling was secular. [27]
In so far as Qutb's book follows the fundamentalist prescription that "the Quran is our law," [28] [29] [30] it comes under modernist criticism of Islamism and Islamic fundamentalism which points out, for example, that of 6000 verses in the Quran only 245 concern legislation, and only 90 of those concern constitutional, civil, financial or economic matters. [31] Sharia law is based on Sunna as well the Quran of course, but even this legislation is notably short on help dealing with modern problems such as traffic control, price stability, or health care. [32] Even Qutb's own followers disputed what course of action was Islamically correct following his death. [33]
Qutb explains that Sharia law needs no human authorities for citizens to obey and thus frees humanity from "servitude" because
This uniquely free socio-economic system not only frees Muslim to be true Muslims, but explains why offensive jihad to "establish the sovereignty of God ... throughout the world" (p.62) would not be aggression but "a movement to wipe out tyranny and to introduce true freedom to mankind," (p.62) since even the most content and patriotic non-Muslim living in a non-Muslim state is still obeying human authority. These non-Muslim must be freed by Islamic jihad, just as the non-Muslims of Persia or Byzantium were by invading Muslim armies in the 7th Century AD.
The problem alleged here [34] is conquered non-Muslims would have no motivation to obey un-enforced Sharia law as non-Muslims by definition do not think Islamic law is divine. But if obedience was not voluntary, offensive jihad loses its rationale as a movement to wipe out tyranny.
