Sayyid Qutb Influence

Sayyid Qutb is a very prominent Islamist. He grew up in Egypt, and from a very young age was taught about Islam and the Qur’an. By the age of ten he had memorized the entire book. His views about the world radically changed after he was sent to the United States to study educational administration. For two years, he worked in several different institutions, including the prestigious Stanford University. He also travelled extensively, visiting major cities in the United States, and even spent some time in Europe when he was going back to Egypt. His reaction to what he saw in the West was certainly negative; he found Western society desperately materialistic, corrupt, morally loose, and often unjust. He was especially troubled by the disrespect
His beliefs helped spread the idea that the Qur’an should be used as a guide to take over the world in the name of Islam, even though I do not believe that was his primary intention. Qutb’s idea of Jahiliyyah is prevalent in his writings, and he points out that today is the second time of ignorance, Muslims are behaving like they have forgotten the one true God. Thus leading to instability around the world. His radical views have been associated with Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists’ groups who justify their actions using some of Qutb’s thinking. However, when Qutb is put in comparison with other secular thinker such as Hobbes, Locke or Rousseau, I found that his thinking is remarkably similar those of the Social
I would argue that the hypothetical State of Nature directly relates to some of Qutb’s views. By example, Andrew March argues that “Qutb’s project is an account of exactly why and how Islam requires politics, and how modern humans can be both free and governed.” (March) It is quite amazing to see how Qutb talks about the idea of having a society that is relying upon every one of its individual and their Fitrah, as well as accepting the fact that those people should be ruled by something else or someone else. The State of Nature, that Hobbes is talking about can be explained as the human natural state, or how people are, on an individual level, before being influenced by anything or anyone, and especially the society. Furthermore, the general society is always catching up with its individuals’ progress, and on top of that lies religion. Hobbes, as we know, was influenced by the progress made in the Scientific fields. The Scientific Revolution, with its important new discoveries such as that the universe could be both described and predicted in accordance with universal laws of nature, greatly influenced him. He sought to provide a theory of human nature that would parallel the discoveries being made by scientists. To understand how that concept relates to Qutb, we first must take a step backward. The meaning of shari’ah for Qutb is very different than what non-Muslim people think it means. The shari’ah