Sayyid al-Qutub and the Radical Threads in Islam

Sayyid al-Qutub and the Radical Threads in Islam

Eliseo, “Jun” Mercado, OMI

#Badaliyya-Philippines

The radical Islamist movement in general and the radical threads in Islam in particular developed during the Islamic revival and Islamist movement of the last three decades of the 20th century along with less extreme and reform movements. Some have argued that "without the writings" of Islamic author and thinker Sayyid Qutb the radical thgreads of Islam, and al-Qaeda, Jamah Islamiyya (JI) would not have existed."[39]

Sayyid al-Qutb preached that because of the lack of sharia law the Muslim world was no longer Muslim, having reverted to pre-Islamic ignorance known as jahiliyyah. To restore Islam, a vanguard movement of righteous Muslims was needed to implement Sharia and rid the Muslim world of any non-Muslim influences, such as concepts like socialism or nationalism or influences of the West. Enemies of Islam included "treacherous Orientalists" [40] and "world Jewry", who plotted "conspiracies" and "wicked[ly]" opposed Islam.

In the words of Mohammed Jamal Khalia, a close college friend of Osama bin Laden: Islam is different from any other religion; it's a way of life. We [Khalia and bin Laden] were trying to understand what Islam has to say about how we eat, whom we marry, how we talk. We read Sayyid al-Qutb. He was the one who most affected our generation.[41]

Sayyid al-Qutb had an even greater influence on Osama bin Laden's mentor and another leading member of al-Qaeda,[42] Ayman al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri's uncle and maternal family patriarch, Mafouz Azzam, was al-Qutub's student, then protégé, then personal lawyer and finally executor of his estate - one of the last people to see al-Qutb before his execution.

"Young Ayman al-Zawahiri heard again and again from his beloved uncle Mahfouz about the purity of al-Qutb's character and the torment he had endured in prison."[43] Zawahiri paid homage to al-Qutb in his work Knights under the Prophet's Banner. [44] (al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian medical surgeon and now the head of al-Qaeda.)

One of the most powerful effects of al-Qutb's ideas was the idea that many who said they were Muslims were not, i.e. they were apostates or murtadd. These included leaders of Muslims countries since they failed to enforce Sharia law.[45]

(Note: This is the 2nd portion of the long article on al-Qaeda)