About 44 years ago, one of the most influential, although controversial, philosophers behind several violent Islamist groups in Egypt was hanged, after a military court found him and six others guilty of attempting to use force to seize power in the country by overthrowing the revolutionary government of late President Gamal Abdel-Naser (1954-1970). Sayyed Qotb was as much a liberal and a secularist as he was an extremist and a violent leader of the military arm of the Muslim organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood. This organisation, which has been condemned as illegal for more than 55 years now, has spawned dozens of militant groups in Egypt and other Arab countries, according to historians. New generations of fundamentalists and radical Muslims in the Middle East, the US and in Europe acknowledge Qotb as the primary theorist, through his written manifestos that advocated violence, of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and dozens of its offshoots. Qotb was born in on October 9, 1906 in the village of Moshah near the Upper Egyptian city of Assiut. His chaotic life had a number of ups and downs, heavy prison sentences and a long exile, none of which stifled his enthusiasm for pursuing his controversial career, in which religion and politics overlapped. The late philosopher's visions and thoughts were fodder for more than 150 books in Arabic and 15 books in different foreign languages. In addition, many PhD students in Egypt and abroad did their dissertations on Qotb, his life, and the reasons behind his influence on his disciples and successors. Qotb, who died at 60, himself wrote 24 books, and he expostulated about the kafir (infidel) society, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, in more than 450 articles in the press. Before devoting himself to Islam and its message, Sayyed Qotb was allegedly a staunch member of Al-Wafd opposition political party, and the party's newspaper reported that Qotb would not hesitate to take part in demonstrations planned by the party. Before joining the religiously extremist Muslim Brotherhood, Qotb was a campaigner for a multi-party system in Egyptian society. However, when the Egyptian Revolution took place on July 23, 1952, Qotb's political attitude took a U-turn: he allegedly wrote agitating articles and made impassioned pleas for the revolutionary army officers to eliminate the multi-party system and abrogate liberty for the sake of protecting the nation and its prospects. He purportedly called for tough, even bloody, actions against the corrupt political parties, noblemen and parliamentarians who had served under the former king. Nor did Qotb flinch from supporting the allegedly dictatorial regime of late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. He even wrote an article describing Abdel-Nasser's perceived dictatorial government as fair and just. Qotb was quoted as saying that despotism was necessary to abort the conspiracies that sought to impede plans to lay down the foundations of a modern society in Egypt. According to journalists and writers opposing the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, this philosopher of violent ideas did not sympathise with the factory workers in the village of Kafr el-Dawar in the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya province, who laid down their tools to protest at the infectious corruption under Abdel-Nasser's regime. He disgraced the strikers by claiming that they had been given support from foreign circles, and he associated these circles with reactionery forces. Qotb stunned his former colleagues when he called upon the people to "dig the graves" of the rebellious workers, who "challenged the revolution and threatened the prospects of the nation". However, questions about Qotb's sincerity to the Egyptian Revolution and its comrades increased when he published his famous book Maalem Ala El-Tariq (Signs on the Road). This religious book was packed with radical and extremist ideas that the author had imported from the most conservative Muslim sheikhs and faqihs (interpreters of the texts of the holy Muslim book) in the history of Islam. In Maalem Ala El-Tariq, the author declared himself to be the enemy of the revolution and its leaders. It was said that Maalem Ala El-Tariq spurred Egypt's revolutionary officers to speed up the elimination of anti-regime elements, including Sayyed Qotb himself. He decided to join the Muslim Brotherhood and managed to win the hearts of its most influential leaders at that time, including its founder Hassan el-Bana. The history of the organisation undoubtedly benefited from Qotb's writings, and above all his unbreakable heart and will. Ironically, most of Qotb's literary and religious achievements were made during his 15 years in jail the Abdel-Nasser era.
