By Nesma Abdel Azim-Mohamed Sameh-Alaa Awad Under supervision of Rasha Ramzy August 29 marks the death of the godfather of extremism and fundamentalism in the world, Sayyid Qutb, the man who founded the columns of terrorism in the world until the present time. Sayyid Qutb was born on the 9th of October 1906 in the village of Musha in Asyut governorate, where he grew up and had his education. In Al-Moalmen primary school, he memorized the whole versus of Quran by the time he turned 10-years-old. When he turned 14-years-old, he moved to his uncle's house in Cairo governorate to complete his education and look for a job afterwards. After receiving his degree at Dar Uloum faculty, he worked as a teacher and became a functionary in Egypt's Ministry of Education (Wizarat ul-Ma'arif in Arabic). He started his life as secular politician by joining Al-Wafd secular party. During his early career, Qutb devoted himself to literature as an author and critic. He criticised most prominent Egyptian authors, such as Naguib Mahfouz, Tawfik Al-Hakim, Mahmoud Abbas Al-Aqqad and many others during his studying, then he wrote his only novel "Ashwak" (Thorns), and some poems such as "The morning is breathing". He also released a collection of poems titled "Unknown Beach" in 1935, and wrote his own biography titled "Child from the Village". Qutb's most influential books are in political Islam and its role in social and political change like "Ma'alimu Fel Tareeq" (Milestones), or the the Manifesto of Terrorism, as scholars described it. In Milestones, he suggested a plan and called for re-shaping the Muslim world on grounds derived from the Holy Quran, eliminating what he described as the thought of Jahiliyyah. These books allegedly influenced al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahri, and a long list of the most feared terrorists in the world. The effect of U.S. trip on Qutb: On the 3rd of November 1948, Qutb was sent to the States as part of Ministry of Education's mission to study at Stanford University, Wilson Teachers' College in Washington, D.C. and School of Education in Colorado's State College in Greeley. In his book "The America I Have Seen," he harshly expressed his perspective regarding the country. Qutb despised its materialistic life, brutal capitalism, widespread racism, "animal-like" mixing of both genders even in churches, and massive backing for the new state of Israel. Furthermore, he described main characteristics of American way of living as "primitive" and "shocking", saying: "Individuals were numb to faith in religion, faith in art, and faith in spiritual values altogether." Following his return to Egypt, Qutb published his book "Social Justice in Islam," as he highly slammed the Western civilization for its materialistic values, calling for clashes with such a Jahili society that regarded morality in its quest for materialism, claiming that socialism is compatible with Islam and implements its teachings. In 1952, the army overthrew King Faruq, ending the royal regime in Egypt and started the republican regime, under the commandment of former President Gamal Abdel Nasser. The relationship between Qutb and his former friend, Nasser, was never understandable, since historians unanimously agreed that Qutb was one of the most important propaganda columns of Nasser's revolution, since Nasser used Qutb to attack the enemies of the revolution, making him claim that democracy is not the suitable choice for the state at such time. But in 1953, Qutb turned into an enemy to Nasser and 1952 revolution, joining the Muslim Brotherhood, since they were the only opposite body against Nasser that wasn't dissolved and has the biggest power on the ground, until Nasser arrested him following his assassination attempt in Manshiyya in 1954. The turning point from secularism to Salafi Jihadism After his conflict with Nasser, Qutb joined the Muslim Brotherhood, he was the editor-in-chief of their official publication "The Muslim Brotherhood," spreading his fundamental and considered non-Islamic systems as ‘sources of jahiliyyah' as they ignore divine guidance. This view was best applied to the West, the Soviet Union, as well as President Nasser's government, and any government which excludes God's divine path. For Qutb, all these regimes share the same Jahiliyyah because they ignore ‘Hakimiyyah', God's authority over man and his actions. He claimed that Christianity ceased to provide a true religion as it antagonizes rationality and reality, indicating the Christian teachings are incompatible with the true social order. Woman in Sayyid Qutb's Ideology Sayyid Qutb claims that Islam has given women social roles that utterly differ from those given to men. This masculine superiority, Qutb argues, depends on the two sexes' variable characteristics and physical qualities despite being similar in their humanity. This view shapes Qutb's main vision on the Woman as an inferior being dedicated only for domestic affairs. According to Qutb's contributions, the woman has been given the main part in the formation of the Muslim family. In this regard, he casts off the woman's outdoor jobs in order not to be turned into a source of seductiveness. Hence, we find Qutb a harsh critic of the western family that he considered infected with ‘Jahiliyah'. For him, the main purpose of a family is to raise children in an environment where Islamic values dominate. He claims that he resists the western mode of relationship between men and women in the Jahili society where it is mainly pivoted around lust, impulse and passion. In his "The America I Have Seen", Qutb says "The American girl is well acquainted with her body's seductive capacity. She knows it lies in the face, expressive eyes and thirsty lips. She knows seductiveness lies in round breasts, full buttocks, shapely thighs and sleek legs and she knows all this and does not hide it" This view, however, contradicts with Qutb's previous stance towards women as he strictly called for a ‘complete nakedness', according to an essay titled "Dead Beaches" cited by Egypt's former Grand Mufti Ali Joma'a in a TV programme. In this essay, the turned-Islamist Qutb said the woman's naked body does not arouse seductiveness, but only inspires artistic creation, describing those who oppose that idea as mentally distorted, Joma'a said. This argument was strongly supported by a Muslim Brotherhood affiliate, Abdel Halim Mahmoud, who wrote in his diaries that Qutb had dedicated a series of essays in Al-Ahram newspaper calling for ‘nakedness'. This dramatic change in Qutb's ideology stems directly, according to observers, from his failure in love. In Egypt, Qutb had a failed love story that was reflected in his only novel "Thorns". In the U.S., as well, he experienced failed relationships. In August 29, 1966, the most controversial person in modern Salafi Jihadism, Sayyid Qutb was hanged alongside two other Muslim Brotherhood members, after he was found guilty of orchestrating the assassination attempt of Gamal Abdel Nasser. Sayyid Qutb's criticism Sayyid Qutb has been criticized by many writers, authors and Muslim clerics for his writings and ideas, especially those that accuse communities of apostasy for minor sins. Among those who criticized his ideas was Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who said that Qutb was erred in charging the Muslim masses, rulers and regulations with unbelief, adding that his ideas created the current Takfirists like Shokry Mustafa, who considered all Muslims infidels except for the leader of his group "Takfir wal Hijra". Qutb had influence on Islamic insurgent/terror groups in Egypt and elsewhere. His influence on al-Qaeda was felt through his writing and his followers, especially through his brother, Muhammad Qutb, who moved to Saudi Arabia following his release from prison in Egypt to teach Islamic Studies, edit, publish and promote his brother's jihadi contributions. One of Muhammad Qutb's students and later an ardent follower was Ayman Zawahiri, who went on to become a member of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and later a mentor of Osama bin Laden and a leading member of al-Qaeda. Zawahiri was first introduced to Qutb by his uncle and maternal family patriarch, Mafouz Azzam, who was very close to Qutb throughout his life. Azzam was Qutb's student, then protégé, then personal lawyer and executor of his estate—one of the last people to see Qutb before his execution. According to Lawrence Wright, who interviewed Azzam, "young Ayman al-Zawahiri heard again and again from his beloved uncle Mahfouz about the purity of Qutb's character and the torment he had endured in prison." Zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in his work "Knights under the Prophet's Banner". Osama bin Laden was also acquainted with Muhammad Qutb. A close college friend of bin Laden's, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, told Wright, that bin Laden regularly attended weekly public lectures by Muhammad Qutb, at King Abdulaziz University, and that he and bin Laden both read Sayyid Qutb. "He was the one who most affected our generation," Khalifa said.
