View source for Qutbism

{{Short description|Sunni Islamist ideology developed by Sayyid Qutb}}
[[File:Sayyid Qutb.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Sayyid Qutb]], after whom Qutbism is named]]
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'''Qutbism'''{{efn|{{langx|ar|ٱلْقُطْبِيَّةِ|al-Quṭbīyya}}}} is an ideology that advocates [[Islamic extremism|Islamic extremist]] [[Violent extremism|violence]] in order to establish an [[Islamic state|Islamic government]], in addition to promoting [[offensive Jihad]].<ref name="Eikmeier 2007">{{cite journal |last=Eikmeier |first=Dale C. |date=Spring 2007 |title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism |url=https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2340 |format=PDF |journal=The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters |location=[[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=[[Army War College Foundation Press]] |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=84–97 |doi=10.55540/0031-1723.2340 |issn=0031-1723 |url-access=subscription |access-date=10 September 2024}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> Qutbism has been characterized as an [[Islamofascism|Islamofascist]] and [[Islamic terrorism|Islamic terrorist]] ideology.<ref name="Eikmeier 2007" /> Qutbism is also an [[exonym]] that refers to the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Islamism|Islamist]] beliefs and ideology of [[Sayyid Qutb]],<ref name="Polk 2018">{{cite book |last=Polk |first=William R. |author-link=William R. Polk |year=2018 |chapter=The Philosopher of the Muslim Revolt, Sayyid Qutb |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozFDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA370 |title=Crusade and Jihad: The Thousand-Year War Between the Muslim World and the Global North |location=[[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |series=The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series |pages=370–380 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1bvnfdq.40 |isbn=978-0-300-22290-6 |jstor=j.ctv1bvnfdq.40 |lccn=2017942543}}</ref> a leading Islamist revolutionary of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] who was executed by the [[History of Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser|Egyptian government of Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in 1966.<ref>[http://www.earthlysojourner.com/id29.html Qutbism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801193902/http://www.earthlysojourner.com/id29.html |date=2021-08-01 }} Earthlysojourner.com</ref> Sayyid Qutb's ideology was influenced by the doctrines of earlier Islamists like [[Hasan al-Banna]] and [[Abul A'la Maududi|Maududi]].<ref name="Eikmeier 2007" />

Sayyid Qutb's treatises deeply influenced numerous [[Jihadism|jihadist ideologues and organizations]] across the [[Muslim world]].<ref name="Polk 2018"/><ref name="Moussalli 2012">{{cite book |author-last=Moussalli |author-first=Ahmad S. |year=2012 |chapter=Sayyid Qutb: Founder of Radical Islamic Political Ideology |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-LfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |editor-last=Akbarzadeh |editor-first=Shahram |title=Routledge Handbook of Political Islam |location=London and New York City |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |pages=24–26 |isbn=9781138577824 |lccn=2011025970}}</ref><ref name="Cook 2015">{{cite book |last=Cook |first=David |author-link=David Cook (historian) |year=2015 |orig-date=2005 |chapter=Radical Islam and Contemporary Jihad Theory |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqE2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA102 |title=Understanding Jihad |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |edition=2nd |pages=102–110 |isbn=9780520287327 |jstor=10.1525/j.ctv1xxt55.10 |lccn=2015010201}}</ref> Qutbism has gained prominence due to its influence on notable Jihadist figures of contemporary era such as [[Abdullah Yusuf Azzam|Abdullah Azzam]], [[Osama bin Laden]], [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], and [[Saif al-Adel]].<ref name="Moussalli 2012" /><ref name="Cook 2015" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Aydınlı |first=Ersel |year=2018 |orig-date=2016 |title=Violent Non-State Actors: From Anarchists to Jihadists |chapter=The Jihadists pre-9/11 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hq1TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |location=London and New York City |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Studies on Challenges, Crises, and Dissent in World Politics |page=66 |isbn=978-1-315-56139-4 |lccn=2015050373}}</ref><ref name="Gallagher 2021">{{cite book |editor1-last=Gallagher |editor1-first=Eugene V. |editor2-last=Willsky-Ciollo |editor2-first=Lydia |editor1-link=Eugene V. Gallagher |year=2021 |chapter=Al-Qaeda |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Id4aEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=New Religions: Emerging Faiths and Religious Cultures in the Modern World |location=[[Santa Barbara, California]] |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |volume=1 |pages=13–15 |isbn=978-1-4408-6235-9}}</ref> Its ideas have also been adopted by the [[Salafi jihadism|Salafi-jihadist]] terrorist organization [[Islamic State]] (ISIL).<ref name="Baele 2019">{{cite journal |author-last=Baele |author-first=Stephane J. |date=October 2019 |title=Conspiratorial Narratives in Violent Political Actors' Language |url=https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/37355/2/ConspiratorialNarratives_MainArticle_Resubmit_FINAL_CLEAN%20.pdf |editor-last=Giles |editor-first=Howard |journal=[[Journal of Language and Social Psychology]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=38 |issue=5–6 |pages=706–734 |doi=10.1177/0261927X19868494 |doi-access=free |hdl=10871/37355 |hdl-access=free |issn=1552-6526 |s2cid=195448888 |access-date=3 January 2022 |archive-date=3 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103011030/https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/37355/ConspiratorialNarratives_MainArticle_Resubmit_FINAL_CLEAN%20.pdf;jsessionid=FA9C1098E9A1945CFC0E8C9E8F4D9FC0?sequence=2 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was one inspiration that influenced [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] in the development of his own ideology, [[Khomeinism]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Why Sayed Qutb inspired Iran's Khomeini and Khamenei |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2018/09/03/Why-Sayed-Qutb-inspired-Iran-s-Khomeini-and-Khamenei |website=Al-Arabiya News |access-date=3 September 2018}}</ref>

Qutbist literature has been a major source of influence on numerous [[Jihadism|jihadist movements and organizations]] that have emerged since the 1970s.<ref name="Polk 2018"/><ref name="Moussalli 2012"/><ref name="Cook 2015"/> These include the [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]], ''[[Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya|al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyya]]'', [[Takfir wal-Hijra|''al-Takfir wal-Hijra'']], the [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria]] (GIA), the [[Libyan Islamic Fighting Group]] (LIFG), [[al-Qaeda]], [[al-Nusra Front]], and the [[Islamic State]] (ISIL), and others that have sought to implement their strategy of waging [[offensive Jihad]].<ref name="Polk 2018"/><ref name="Moussalli 2012"/><ref name="Cook 2015"/><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Roy |author-first=Olivier |author-link=Olivier Roy (political scientist) |year=1994 |title=The Failure of Political Islam |translator-last=Volk |translator-first=Carol |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=0-674-29140-9 |pages=113}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jenkins, Frampton, Wilson |first=Sir John, Dr Martyn, Tom |date=2020 |title=Understanding Islamism |url=https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Understanding-Islamism.pdf |journal=Policy Exchange |location=8 – 10 Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AE |pages=1–37 |isbn=978-1-913459-46-8 |via=policyexchange.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shay |first=Shaul |title=Somalia Between Jihad and Restoration |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4128-0709-8 |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA |pages=17}}</ref>

==Terminology==
While adherents of Qutbism are referred to as Qutbists or ''Qutbiyyun'' (singular: ''Qutbi''), they rarely refer to themselves with these names (i.e. the word is not an endonym); the name was first and still is used by the sect's opponents (i.e. it is an  exonym).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bmz9y2osH1YC&dq=qutbiyyun&pg=PA175 ''Pioneers of Islamic revival''] by ʻAlī Rāhnamā, p. 175</ref>

==Tenets==
The main tenet of the Qutbist ideology is that [[Ummah|modern Muslims]] abandoned true Islam centuries ago, having instead reverted to [[jahiliyyah]].<ref name="Moussalli 2012"/><ref name="Cook 2015"/><ref name="Baele 2019"/><ref>Qutb, Sayyid, ''Milestones,'' The Mother Mosque Foundation, 1981, p. 9</ref> Adherents believe that Islam must be re-established by Qutb's followers.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=onEVLpwB7OwC&dq=kepel+muslim+extremism+brotherhood+kepel+jahiliyya&pg=PA46 Muslim extremism in Egypt: the prophet and pharaoh] by Gilles Kepel, p. 46</ref>

Qutb outlined his religious and political ideas in his book ''[[Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq]]'' ("Milestones").<ref name="Moussalli 2012"/><ref name="Cook 2015"/><ref name="Baele 2019"/> Important principles of Qutbism include:{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}
* Adherence to [[Sharia]] as sacred law accessible to humans, without which Islam cannot exist
* Adherence to Sharia as a complete way of life that will bring not only justice, but peace, personal serenity, scientific discovery, complete freedom from servitude, and other benefits;
* Avoidance of Western and non-Islamic "evil and corruption," including [[socialism]], [[nationalism]] and [[consumerism|consumerist]] [[capitalism]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onEVLpwB7OwC&q=kepel+muslim+extremism+brotherhood+kepel+jahiliyya&pg=PA46|title=Muslim Extremism in Egypt|isbn=9780520056879|access-date=26 February 2015|last1=Kepel|first1=Gilles|last2=Kepel|first2=Professor Gilles|date=January 1985|publisher=University of California Press }}</ref>
* Vigilance against Western and Jewish conspiracies against Islam;
* A two-pronged attack of
**preaching to convert and,
**jihad to forcibly eliminate the "structures" of ''Jahiliyya'';<ref>''Muslim extremism in Egypt: the prophet and pharaoh'' by Gilles Kepel, pp.&nbsp;55–6</ref>
* Offensive Jihad to eliminate ''Jahiliyya'' not only from the Islamic homeland but from the face of the Earth, seeing it as mutually exclusive with true Islam.<ref name="SOAGE-2009-192">{{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=192 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref>

===Takfirism===
Qutb declared Islam "extinct," which implied that any Muslims who do not follow his teachings are not actually Muslim. This was intended to shock Muslims into religious rearmament. When taken literally, ''[[takfir]]'' refers to ex-communication, thereby declaring all non-Qutbist Muslims to be [[Apostasy in Islam|apostates]] in violation of Sharia law. Violating this law could potentially be punished by death, according to Islamic law.<ref name=eikmeier-89>{{cite book|last=Eikmeier|first=DC|title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism|date=Spring 2007|volume=37|issue=1|publisher=Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly|page=89|quote=In addition to offensive jihad Sayyid Qutb used the Islamic concept of “takfir” or excommunication of apostates. Declaring someone takfir provided a legal loophole around the prohibition of killing another Muslim and in fact made it a religious obligation to execute the apostate. The obvious use of this concept was to declare secular rulers, officials or organizations, or any Muslims that opposed the Islamist agenda a takfir thereby justifying assassinations and attacks against them. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who was later convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, invoked Qutb’s takfirist writings during his trial for the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. The takfir concept along with “offensive jihad” became a blank check for any Islamic extremist to justify attacks against anyone.}}</ref>

Because of these serious consequences, Muslims have traditionally been reluctant to practice ''takfir'', that is, to pronounce professed Muslims as unbelievers, even when in violation of Islamic law.<ref>Kepel, ''Jihad'', p. 31</ref> This prospect of ''[[fitna (word)|fitna]]'', or internal strife, between Qutbists and "takfir-ed" mainstream Muslims, led Qutb to conclude that the Egyptian government was irredeemably evil. As a result, he helped to plan a thwarted series of assassinations of Egyptian officials, the discovery of which let to Qutb's trial and eventual execution.<ref>Sivan, ''Radical Islam,'' (1985), p. 93</ref> Due in part to this teaching, Qutb's ideology remains controversial among Muslims.<ref name="hizmetbooks.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-55.htm|title=Hakikat Kitabevi|access-date=26 February 2015|archive-date=11 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211153637/http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-55.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewahhabimyth.com/qutb2.htm|title=The Wahhabi Myth – Salafism, Wahhabism, Qutbism. Who was Sayyid Qutb? (part 2)|access-date=26 February 2015}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

It is unclear whether Qutb's proclamation of ''jahiliyyah'' was meant to apply the global Muslim community or to only Muslim governments.<ref>Kepel, ''Jihad'',  2002, p. 31</ref> 

In the 1980s and 1990s, a [[Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya#1990s terrorism campaign|series of terrorist attacks]] in Egypt were committed by Islamic extremists believed to be influenced by Qutb.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7qRoS16JwZAC&dq=qutb+%22islamic+group%22&pg=PA285 ''Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism'' by John Calvert], p. 285</ref>  Victims included Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]], head of the counter-terrorism police Major General Raouf Khayrat, parliamentary speaker [[Rifaat el-Mahgoub]], dozens of European tourists and Egyptian bystanders, and over one hundred Egyptian police officers.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rjj48T4zrb8C&dq=%22Passion+for+Islam%22+Khayrat&pg=PA91 ''Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: The Egyptian Experience''] by Caryle Murphy, p. 91</ref> Qutb's ''takfir'' against the Egyptian government, which he believed to be irredeemably evil, was a primary motivation for the attacks.<ref>Kepel, ''The Prophet and Pharaoh,'' pp. 65, 74–5, ''Understanding Jihad'' by David Cook, University of California Press, 2005, p. 139</ref> Other factors included frustration with Egypt's [[economic stagnation]] and rage over President Sadat's policy of [[Egypt–Israel peace treaty|reconciliation with Israel]].<ref>Kepel, ''Jihad'', 2002, p. 31, <BR>Ruthven, Malise, ''Islam in the World,'' Penguin Books, 1984, pp. 314–15</ref>

==History==
===Spread of Qutb's ideas===
Qutb's message was spread through his writings, his followers and especially through his brother, [[Muhammad Qutb]]. Muhammad was implicated in the assassination plots that led to Qutb's execution, but he was spared the death penalty. After his release from prison, Muhammad moved to [[Saudi Arabia]] along with fellow members of the Muslim Brotherhood. There, he became a professor of [[Islamic Studies]] and edited, published and promoted his brother Sayyid's works.<ref>Kepel, ''War for Muslim Minds,'' (2004) pp. 174–75</ref><ref>Kepel, ''Jihad'', (2002), p. 51</ref>
[[File:Ayman al-Zawahiri portrait.JPG|thumb|200px|Ayman al-Zawahiri]]
One of Qutb's key proponents was one of his students, [[Ayman Al-Zawahiri]], who went on to become a member of the [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]]<ref>Sageman, Marc, ''Understanding Terror Networks,'' University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004, p. 63</ref> and later a mentor of Osama bin Laden and a leading member of al-Qaeda.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/qutb_milest_influence_obl.html|title=How Did Sayyid Qutb Influence Osama bin Laden?|access-date=26 February 2015}}</ref> He had been first introduced to Sayyad Qutb by his uncle, Mafouz Azzam, who was a close friend to Qutb and taught his nephew that he was an honorable man.<ref>Wright, ''Looming Tower'', 2006, p. 36</ref> Zawahiri paid homage to Qutb in his work ''Knights under the Prophet's Banner.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/milestones_qutb.html#footnote_24|title=Sayyid_Qutbs_Milestones|access-date=26 February 2015}}</ref>

Qutbism was propagated by [[Abdullah Azzam]] during the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Afghan-Soviet War]]. As the Muslim jihad volunteers from around the world exchanged religious ideas, Qutbism merged with Salafism and Wahhabism, culminating in the formation of [[Salafi jihadism]].<ref name="Ha">Hassan, Hassan. (June 13, 2016). [https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2016/12/the-sectarianism-of-the-islamic-state-ideological-roots-and-political-context?lang=en The Sectarianism of the Islamic State: Ideological Roots and Political Context]. ''Carnegie Endowment for Peace''. Retrieved 3 December 2017.</ref> Abdullah Azzam was a mentor of bin Laden as well.

Osama bin Laden reportedly regularly attended weekly public lectures by Muhammad Qutb at [[King Abdulaziz University]], and to have read and been deeply influenced by Sayyid Qutb.<ref>Wright, ''Looming Tower'', 2006, p. 79</ref>

The Yemeni Al-Qaeda leader [[Anwar al-Awlaki]] also cited Qutb's writings as formative to his ideology.<ref name="NYT: path to terror">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki.html?pagewanted=5&hp|title=Imam's Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad|author1=Scott Shane |author2=Souad Mekhennet |author3=Robert F. Worth  |name-list-style=amp |date=8 May 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=13 May 2010}}</ref>

Many Islamic extremists consider him a father of the movement.<ref name="(Eikmeier 2007: 89)">{{cite journal |last1=Eikmeier |first1=Dale |date=Spring 2007 |title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-fascism |journal=Parameters: U.S. Army War College Journal| page=89 |url=https://www.academia.edu/7384358 |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref><ref name=Gerges-2005>Fawaz A. Gerges,  ''The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global'', (Bronxville, N.Y.: Sarah Lawrence College) 2005, prologue, http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521791403</ref> Ayman al-Zawahiri, former leader of Al-Qaeda, asserted that Qutb's execution lit "the jihadist fire",<ref name="(Eikmeier 2007: 89)"/> and reshaped the direction of the Islamist movement by convincing them that the ''takfir'' against Muslim governments made them important targets.<ref name=Gerges-2005/>

===Backlash===
Following Qutb's death, his ideas spread throughout Egypt and other parts of the Arab and Muslim world, prompting a backlash by more traditionalist and conservative Muslims, such as the book ''Du'ah, la Qudah'' ("Preachers, not Judges") (1969). The book, written by Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide [[Hassan al-Hudaybi]], attacked the idea of Takfir of other Muslims, though it was ostensibly intended as a criticism of Mawdudi.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7qRoS16JwZAC&dq=qutbism&pg=PA273 ''Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism''] by John Calvert, p. 274</ref>

==Views==
{{Fascism sidebar|variants}}

===Science and learning===
On the importance of science and learning, Qutb was ambivalent. 

He wrote that Muslims should learn science and develop their capabilities to fulfill their role as representatives of God.<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'' p. 112</ref> He encouraged Muslims to seek knowledge in abstract sciences and arts, whether from Muslim or non-Muslim teachers, so that Muslim communities will have their own experts.<ref>(Qutb, ''Milestones'' p. 109)</ref>

However, Qutb believed that Muslims were not allowed to study some subjects, including:

<blockquote>the principles of economics and political affairs and the interpretation of historical processes... the origin of the [[universe]], the [[Human evolution|origin of the life of man]]... philosophy, [[comparative religion]]... sociology (excluding statistics and observations)... [[Darwinism|Darwinist biology]] ([which] goes beyond the scope of its observations, without any rhyme or reason and only exists for the sake of expressing an opinion...).<ref>(Qutb, ''Milestones'' pp. 108–10)</ref></blockquote>

He also believed that the era of scientific discovery in the West was over, and that further scientific discovery must be reached in accordance with Sharia law.<ref>[Qutb, ''Milestones'' p. 8]</ref><ref name="Qutb, Milestones p. 90">[Qutb, ''Milestones'' p. 90]</ref>

=== On philosophy and kalam ===
{{See also|Falsafa|Kalam}}
Qutb also strongly opposed ''[[Islamic philosophy|Falsafa]]'' and ''[[Ilm al-Kalam]]'', which he denounced as deviations which undermined the original Islamic creed because they were based on [[Aristotelian logic]]. He denounced these disciplines as alien to Islamic traditions and called for their abandonment in favor of a literalist interpretation of Islamic scriptures.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Qutb |first=Sayyid |url=https://ia802802.us.archive.org/14/items/learnislampdfenglishbooktheislamicconcept/learn%20islam%20pdf%20english%20book%20__%20The_Islamic_Concept.pdf |title=The Islamic Concept and Its Characteristics |pages=6–8 |chapter=Introduction: A Word About the Methodology}}</ref>

===Sharia and governance===
Qutbism advocates the belief that in a sharia-based society, wonders of justice, prosperity, peace and harmony—both individually and societally—are  "not postponed for the next life [i.e. heaven] but are operative even in this world".<ref>[Qutb, ''Milestones'' p. 91]</ref>

Qutb believed harmony and perfection brought by Sharia law is such that the use of offensive jihad to spread sharia-Islam throughout the non-Muslim world is not aggression but rather means of introducing "true freedom" to the masses. Because Sharia law is judged by God rather than man, in this view, enforcing Sharia frees people from servitude to each other.<ref name="Qutb, Milestones p. 90"/> 

In other works Qutb describes the ruler of the Islamic state, as a man (never a woman) who "derives his legitimacy from his being elected by the community and from his submission to God. He has no privileges over other Muslims, and is only obeyed as long as he himself adheres to the shari‘a".<ref>Qutb, ''Al-‘adala al-ijtima‘iyya fi’l-Islam'', pp.102–6; ''Ma‘rikat al-Islam wa’l-ra’smaliyya'', p.74; quote by A.B. SOAGE and cited in {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=197 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref>

===Conspiracy theories===
Qutbism emphasizes what it sees as the evil designs of Westerners and Jews against Islam, and it also emphasizes the importance of Muslims not trusting or imitating them.

===Non-Muslims===
Qutbisms's teachings on non-Muslims gained attention after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11 attacks]]. Qutb's writings on non-Muslims, particularly Western non-Muslims, are extremely negative. They teach that Christians and Jews are hostile to his movement "simply for being Muslims" and believing in God.<ref name="ABS111">Reference to the Qur’anic verse: ‘And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed’ (2:120); cited in {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=198 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="ABS112">Reference to the Qur’anic verse: ‘And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed’ (2:120). cited in {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=198 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref> He refers to "[[People of the Book|people of the book]]," who are typically viewed more favorably than other non-Muslims in Islam, as "depraved" for having "falsified" their religious texts.<ref name="ABS113">Qutb, ''Fi zilal al-Qur’an'', p.924. Muslim Islamic scholars "explain the contradictions between the Qur’an and the Bible by saying that the Jews and the Christians deliberately distorted God’s message to hide references to the advent of prophet Muhammad"; cited in {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=198 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref>

Qutb believed [[Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya]]'s teachings that the realm outside of Muslim lands was ''Dar al-Harb'' ("the Abode of War"), and had to be subjugated by Muslims. Subjugation would actually be "liberation" however,<ref name="[103]">Qutb, Ma‘alim fi’l-tariq, pp.78–9, 88–9, 110–1; Fi zilal al-Qur’an, pp.1435–6; cited in  {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=197 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref> because it "would free men from all authority except that of God."<ref name="ABS102">Qutb, ''Fi zilal al-Qur’an'', pp.294–5; Ma‘alim fi’l-tariq, p.83; {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=197 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref> However, this view also necessitates that non-Muslims not be allowed to make law or choose representatives, lest they disobey Islamic law.<ref name="[114]">Qutb, Ma‘alim fi’l-tariq, pp.87, 101–2.; cited in {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=198 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref><ref name="[115]">Qutb, Fi zilal al-Qur’an, p.295; cited in {{cite journal |last1=SOAGE |first1=ANA BELÉN |title=Islamism and Modernity: The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=June 2009 |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=198 |doi=10.1080/14690760903119092 |s2cid=144071957 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232945375 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref>

====The West====
In Qutb's view, Western [[imperialism]] is not only an economic or racial exploitation means of oppression, but rather an attempt to undermine the faith of Muslims.<ref name="Qutb, Milestones, Chapter 12">Qutb, ''Milestones'', Chapter 12</ref> He believed that historians lied to confuse Muslims and weaken their faith by teaching, for example, that the [[Crusades]] were an attempt by Christians to reconquer the formerly Christian-ruled holy land.<ref name="milestones-159">Qutb, ''Milestones'', pp. 159–60</ref> He believed that the ultimate goal of these efforts was to destroy Muslim society.<ref>Qutb, ''Milestones'', p. 116</ref>

Qutb spent two years in the U.S. in the late 1940s and he disliked it immensely.<ref name="Hagler">{{cite journal |last1=Hagler |first1=Aaron M. |title=The America That I Have Seen", The Effect of Sayyid Quṭb's Colorado Sojourn on the Political Islamist Worldview |url=https://www.academia.edu/6541413 |website=Academia |publisher=ACM/ Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Teacher/Scholar FellowDepartment of HistoryCornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> Qutb wrote that he experienced "Western malevolence" during his time there, including an attempt by an American agent to seduce him, and the alleged celebration of American hospital employees upon hearing of the assassination of Egyptian [[Ikhwan]] Supreme Guide [[Hassan al-Banna]].<ref>Wright, ''The Looming Tower'', 2006</ref>

Qutb's critics, particularly in the West, have cast doubts upon these stories. Having not been a member of any government or political organization at the time of his visit, it is unlikely that American intelligence agents would have sought him out. Additionally, many Americans did not know who Hassan al-Banna or the Muslim Brotherhood were in 1948, making the celebration of hospital employees unlikely.<ref>Soufan Ali, ''The Black Banners'', October 2008</ref>

====Western corruption====
{{Further|Sex segregation and Islam}}

Qutbism emphasizes a claimed Islamic moral superiority over the West, according to Islamist values. One example of the West's perceived moral decay was the "animal-like" mixing of the sexes, as well as jazz, which he found lurid and distasteful for its association with Black Americans.<ref name="Nawaz-2016-xxi">{{cite book |last1=Nawaz |first1=Maajid |title=Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism |date=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=xxi |isbn=9781493025725 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=egiiCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22This+is+that+music+that+the+Negroes+invented+to+satisfy+their+primitive+inclinations%22&pg=PR21 |access-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> Qutb states that while he was in America a young woman told him that ethics and sex are separate issues, pointing out that animals do not have any problems mixing freely.

Critics such as [[Maajid Nawaz]] protest by arguing that Qutb's complaint about both [[Racism in the United States|American racism]] and the "primitive inclinations" of the "Negro" are contradictory and hypocritical.<ref name="Nawaz-2016-xxi"/> The place Qutb spent most of his time in was the small city of [[Greeley, Colorado]], dominated by cattle feedlots and [[University of Northern Colorado|an "unpretentious university"]], originally founded as "a sober, godly, cooperative community".<ref name="A Lesson in Hate">{{cite journal |first1=David |last1=Von Drehle |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-lesson-in-hate-109822568 |title= A Lesson In Hate |journal=Smithsonian Magazine |date=February 2006 |access-date=10 March 2021 }}</ref>

====Jews====
{{see|Antisemitic trope|Antisemitism in Islam|Economic antisemitism|List of conspiracy theories#Antisemitism|Stereotypes of Jews}}
The other anti-Islamic conspiratorial group, according to Qutb, is "World Jewry," because that it is engaging in tricks to eliminate "faith and religion", and  trying to divert "the wealth of mankind" into "Jewish financial institutions" by [[Usury|charging interest on loans]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=34naAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+Age+of+Sacred+Terror%22+%22Jewish+financial+institutions%22 ''The age of sacred terror''], Daniel Benjamin, Steven Simon, p. 68</ref>  Jewish designs are so pernicious, according to Qutb's logic, that "anyone who leads this [Islamic] community away from its religion and its Quran can only be [a] Jewish agent."<ref>quote from David Zeidan, "The Islamic Fundamentalist View of Life as Perennial Battle," ''Middle East Review of International Affairs,'' v. 5, n. 4 (December 2001), criticism from ''The Age of Sacred Terror'' by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, Random House, 2002, p. 68</ref>

==Criticism==
===By Muslims===
While ''[[Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq]]'' [Arabic: معالم في الطريق] (Milestones) was Qutb's manifesto, other elements of Qutbism are found in his works ''Al-'adala al-Ijtima'iyya fi-l-Islam'' [Arabic: العدالة الاجتماعية في الاسلام] (''Social Justice in Islam''), and his Quranic commentary ''[[Fi Zilal al-Qur'an]]'' [Arabic: في ظلال القرآن] (In the shade of the Qur'an). Ideas in (or alleged to be in) those works also have been criticized by some traditionalist/conservative Muslims. They include:
* Qutb's assertion that [[slavery]] was now illegal under Islam, as its lawfulness was only temporary, existing only "until the world devised a new code of practice, other than enslavement."{{#tag:ref|An example of the conflict between government-approved orthodox Islamic clerics in agreement with Qutb that [[slavery]] "is now illegal under Islam", and traditionalists who disagree, was a report of a televised "ceremony" of contemporary "[[History of concubinage in the Muslim world|melk al-yameen]]" [slavery] marriage in July 2012, where "a Muslim cleric, who gave his name as 'Abdul Raouf Aun'", married a woman who "voluntarily gave ownership of herself to" Aun, who also conducted the "marriage." Aun explained that "this form of marriage [does] not requiring witnesses or official confirmation". The marriage was condemned by the al-Azhar Islamic Research Centre as an example of "apostasy and a return to ''[[jahiliyyah]]''", and by Egypt's Grand Mufti, Dr. [[Ali Gomaa]] as religiously impermissible and akin to "adultery."<ref name="Asharq Al-Awsat Slavery marriage">{{cite web |title=Egypt: "Slavery marriage" case sparks controversy |url=http://english.aawsat.com/theaawsat/features/egypt-slavery-marriage-case-sparks-controversy |website=Asharq Al-Awsat |access-date=10 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518020747/http://english.aawsat.com/theaawsat/features/egypt-slavery-marriage-case-sparks-controversy |archive-date=18 May 2017 |date=16 July 2012}}</ref>|group=Note}} Many contemporary Islamic scholars, however, do share the view that slavery is not allowed in Islam in modern times. On the other hand, according to Salafi critics such as [[Saleh Al-Fawzan]], "Islam has affirmed slavery ... And it will continue so long as Jihaad in the path of Allah exists."<ref>see also: Shaikh Salih al-Fawzaan "affirmation of slavery"  p. 24 of  "[http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/downloads/pdf/GRV070005.pdf Taming a Neo-Qutubite Fanatic Part 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319010029/http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/downloads/pdf/GRV070005.pdf |date=2009-03-19 }}" when accessed on February 17, 2007</ref>
* Proposals to redistribute income and property to the needy. Opponents claim they are revisionist and innovations of Islam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-51.htm|title=Hakikat Kitabevi|access-date=26 February 2015|archive-date=23 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223214453/http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-51.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-52.htm|title=Hakikat Kitabevi|access-date=26 February 2015|archive-date=23 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223214505/http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-52.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-50.htm|title=Hakikat Kitabevi|access-date=26 February 2015|archive-date=24 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224043106/http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-50.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Describing [[Moses]] as having an "excitable nature" – this allegedly being "[[wikt:mockery|mockery]]," and "mockery of the Prophets is [[apostasy]] in its own,'" according to [[Abd al-Aziz Ibn Baz|Shaikh ‘Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}
* Dismissing fiqh or the schools of Islamic law known as [[madhhab]] as separate from "Islamic principles and Islamic understanding."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-49.htm|title=Hakikat Kitabevi|access-date=26 February 2015|archive-date=19 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219022534/http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-49.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Describing Islamic societies as being sunk in a state of ''[[Jahiliyyah]]'' (pagan ignorance) implying ''[[takfir]]''. [[Salafi movement|Salafi]] scholars like ([[Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani|Albani]], [[Rab'ī ibn Hadi 'Umayr Al madkhali|Rabee bin Hadi]], [[Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz|Ibn Baz]], [[Abdullah Ibn Jibreen|Ibn Jibreen]], [[Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen|Ibn Uthaymeen]], [[Saleh Al-Fawzan|Saalih al-Fawzan]], [[Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i|Muqbil ibn Hadi]], etc.) would condemn Qutb as a heretic for ''takfiri'' views as well as for what they considered to be theological deviancies and these ideologies were widely refuted by Al Allāmah Rabee Ibn Hadi Al Madkhali in his books and audio tapes. They also identified his methodology as a distinct "''Qutbi' manhaj''", thus resulting in the labelling of [[Salafi jihadism|Salafi-Jihadis]] as "Qutbists" by many of their quietist Salafist opponents.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Heresies of Sayyid Qutb in Light of the Statements of the Ulamaa (Part 1)|url=http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/sp.cfm?subsecID=NDV01&articleID=NDV010009&pfriend=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105171755/http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/sp.cfm?subsecID=NDV01&articleID=NDV010009&pfriend=|archive-date=5 January 2020|website=Salafi Publications}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=21 December 2009|title=Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-Uthaymeen Distinguished Between The Salafi Manhaj and The Qutbi Manhaj and Wholeheartedly Recommended Warning From the Qutbi Manhaj After Detailed Study and Consideration|url=http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/xwcmm-shaykh-muhammad-bin-saalih-al-uthaymeen-distinguishes-between-the-salafi-manhaj-and-the-qutbi-manhaj.cfm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205073830/http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/xwcmm-shaykh-muhammad-bin-saalih-al-uthaymeen-distinguishes-between-the-salafi-manhaj-and-the-qutbi-manhaj.cfm|archive-date=5 February 2021|website=Madkhalis.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=31 December 2009|title=Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen and Shaykh al-Fawzaan: Between the Salafi Manhaj and the Qutubi Manhaj|url=http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/blaok-shaykh-ibn-uthaymeen-and-shaykh-al-fawzaan-between-the-salafi-manhaj-and-the-qutubi-manhaj.cfm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203225615/http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/blaok-shaykh-ibn-uthaymeen-and-shaykh-al-fawzaan-between-the-salafi-manhaj-and-the-qutubi-manhaj.cfm|archive-date=3 December 2020|website=Madkhalis.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=5 January 2010|title=Sayyid Qutb, The Doctrine of Wahdat ul-Wujood, Imaam al-Albaanee and Abdullaah Azzaam:Part 2 – Shaykh al-Albaanee on Abdullaah Azzam – a 'Dhaalim' Who Failed To Publish a Retraction From His Slander|url=http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/hmoxm-sayyid-qutb-the-doctrine-of-wahdat-ul-wujood-imaam-al-albaanee-and-abdullaah-azzaam-part-2.cfm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203233859/http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/hmoxm-sayyid-qutb-the-doctrine-of-wahdat-ul-wujood-imaam-al-albaanee-and-abdullaah-azzaam-part-2.cfm|archive-date=3 December 2020|website=Madkhalis.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=19 December 2009|title=Shaykh Salih Aal ash-Shaykh: The Ghuluww (Extremism) of Sayyid Qutb in Takfir of the Sinners|url=http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/zlzrg-shaykh-salih-aal-ash-shaykh-the-ghuluww-extremism-of-sayyid-qutb-in-takfir-of-the-sinners.cfm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126150305/http://www.themadkhalis.com/md/articles/zlzrg-shaykh-salih-aal-ash-shaykh-the-ghuluww-extremism-of-sayyid-qutb-in-takfir-of-the-sinners.cfm|archive-date=26 January 2021|website=Madkhalis.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=8 February 2016|title=Sheikh Al-Albāni about Sayyid Qutb|url=https://muflihun.com/articles/sheikh-al-albani-about-sayyid-qutb|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026074508/https://muflihun.com/articles/sheikh-al-albani-about-sayyid-qutb|archive-date=26 October 2020|website=Muflihun.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Shaikh Ibn Baz on Sayyid Qutb|url=http://www.spubs.com/sps/sp.cfm?subsecID=ndv01&articleID=NDV010007&articlePages=1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228201732/http://www.spubs.com/sps/sp.cfm?subsecID=NDV01&articleID=NDV010007&articlePages=1|archive-date=28 February 2021|website=Salafi Publications}}</ref>

Qutb may now be facing criticism representing his idea's success or Qutbism's logical conclusion as much as his idea's failure to persuade some critics. Writing before the [[Islamic revival]] was in full bloom, Qutb sought Islamically correct alternatives to European ideas like Marxism and socialism and proposed Islamic means to achieve the ends of social justice and equality, redistribution of private property and political revolution. But according to Olivier Roy, contemporary "neofundamentalists refuse to express their views in modern terms borrowed from the West. They consider indulging in politics, even for a good cause, will by definition lead to ''[[bid'a]]'' and ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' (the giving of priority to worldly considerations over religious values.)"<ref>Roy, ''Globalized Islam'', (2004), p. 247</ref>

There are, however, some commentators who display an [[ambivalence]] towards him, and Roy notes that "his books are found everywhere and mentioned on most neo-fundamentalist websites, and arguing his "mystical approach", "radical contempt and [[hatred]] for the West", and "pessimistic views on the modern world" have resonated with these Muslims.<ref>Roy, ''Globalized Islam'', (2004), p. 250</ref>

=== Criticism by Americans ===
James Hess, an analyst at the [[American Military University]] (AMU), labelled Qutbism as "Islamic-based terrorism".<ref name="Hess-2018-HST3">{{cite web |last1=Hess |first1=James |date=8 April 2018 |title=PERSPECTIVE: A Dual Strategy to Empower Intelligence to Confront Ideology-Based Terror |url=https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/dual-strategy-empower-intelligence-confront-ideology-based-terror/ |access-date=9 March 2021 |website=Homeland Security Today}}</ref> In his essay criticizing the doctrines of Qutbist ideology, US Army colonel Dale C. Eikmeier described Qutbism as "a fusion of puritanical and intolerant Islamic orientations that include elements from both the Sunni and Shia sects".<ref name="carlisle.army.mil3">William McCants of the US Military Academy's [[Combating Terrorism Center]], quoted in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130522221640/http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Articles/07spring/eikmeier.pdf Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism] by Dale C. Eikmeier. From ''[[Parameters (journal)|Parameters]]'', Spring 2007, pp. 85–98.</ref>

==Relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood==
The controversy over Qutbism is partially caused by two opposing factions which exist within the Islamic revival: the [[Political quietism in Islam|politically quiet]] Salafi Muslims, and the politically active Muslim groups which are associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''The War for Muslim Minds'', 2004, pp.&nbsp;253–266</ref> 

Although Sayyid Qutb was never the head of the Muslim Brotherhood,<ref>Hasan al-Hudaybi was its Supreme Guide during this period,</ref> he was the Brotherhood's "leading intellectual,"<ref>Ruthvan, Malise, ''Islam in the World'', Penguin, 1984</ref> the editor of its weekly periodical, and a member of the highest branch in the Brotherhood, the Working Committee and the Guidance Council.<ref>Moussalli, ''Radical Islamic Fundamentalism,'' 1992, pp.&nbsp;31–2</ref>

[[Hassan al-Hudaybi]], the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, argued against ''takfir'' and adopted a tolerant attitude. In response, some Qutbists concluded that the Muslim Brotherhood had abandoned their ideology.<ref name=Leiken>Leiken, Robert (2011). ''Europe's Angry Muslims: The Revolt of The Second Generation'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=SP22QIQy9dgC&q=Hudaybi+qutb+takfir+preachers&pg=PT89 p. 89]</ref> Ayman al-Zawahiri, a prominent Qutbist, also attacked the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref name=Leiken/>

After the publication of ''Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq'' (''Milestones''), opinion in the Brotherhood split over his ideas, though many in Egypt (including extremists outside the Brotherhood) and most of the Muslim Brotherhood's members in other countries are said to have shared his analysis "to one degree or another."<ref>Hamid Algar from his introduction to ''Social Justice in Islam'' by Sayyid Qutb, translated by John Hardie, translation revised and introduction by Hamid Algar, Islamic Publications International, 2000, p.1, 9, 11</ref> However, the leadership of the Brotherhood, headed by Hassan al-Hudaybi, remained moderate and interested in political negotiation and activism. By the 1970s, the Brotherhood had renounced violence as a means of achieving its goals.<ref>Kepel, Gilles, ''Jihad: the Trail of Political Islam'', p. 83</ref> In recent years, his ideas have been embraced by Islamic extremist groups,<ref>William McCants, a Bahai consultant, quoted in [http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm |date=2007-06-09 }} by Dale C. Eikmeier From ''Parameters'', Spring 2007, pp. 85–98.</ref> while the Muslim Brotherhood has tended to serve as the official voice of Moderate Islamism.

==Influence on Jihadist movements==
In 2005, the British author and religion academic [[Karen Armstrong]] declared, regarding the [[Ideology of Al-Qaeda|ideological framework of al-Qaeda]], that al-Qaeda and nearly every other Islamic fundamentalist movement was influenced by Qutb. She proposed the term "Qutbian terrorism" to describe violence by his followers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Armstrong |first=Karen |date=10 July 2005 |title=The label of Catholic terror was never used about the IRA |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jul/11/northernireland.july7 |location=London |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213050724/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jul/11/northernireland.july7 |archive-date=13 February 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref>

According to ''[[The Guardian]]'' journalist Robert Manne, "there exists a more or less general consensus that the [[ideology of the Islamic State]] was founded upon the principles which were set forth by Qutb", particularly based on some sections of his treatises ''[[Milestones (book)|Milestones]]'' and ''[[Fi Zilal al-Quran|In the Shade of the Qur'an]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Manne |first=Robert |date=3 November 2016 |title=The mind of Islamic State: more coherent and consistent than Nazism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/the-mind-of-islamic-state-more-coherent-and-consistent-than-nazism |location=London |work=[[The Guardian]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128181058/https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/the-mind-of-islamic-state-more-coherent-and-consistent-than-nazism |archive-date=28 January 2017 |access-date=28 June 2021 |quote=There exists a more or less general consensus that the ideology of the Islamic State is founded upon the prison writings of the revolutionary Egyptian Muslim Brother Sayyid Qutb, in particular some sections of his commentary ''In the Shade of the Qur’an'', but most importantly his late visionary work ''Milestones'', published in 1964.}}</ref> 

However, the self-declared [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] in [[Iraq]] and [[Syria]], headed by [[Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi]], has been described by various analysts as being more violent than al-Qaeda and closely aligned with [[Wahhabism]],<ref name="Armstrong 2014">{{cite magazine |last=Armstrong |first=Karen |date=27 November 2014 |title=Wahhabism to ISIS: how Saudi Arabia exported the main source of global terrorism |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/11/wahhabism-isis-how-saudi-arabia-exported-main-source-global-terrorism |location=London |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127132619/http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/11/wahhabism-isis-how-saudi-arabia-exported-main-source-global-terrorism |archive-date=27 November 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Crooke |first=Alastair |author-link=Alastair Crooke |orig-date=First published 27 August 2014 |date=30 March 2017 |title=You Can't Understand ISIS If You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/isis-wahhabism-saudi-arabia_b_5717157.html |location=New York City |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828141900/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/isis-wahhabism-saudi-arabia_b_5717157.html |archive-date=28 August 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author-last=Sells |author-first=Michael |date=22 December 2016 |title=Wahhabist Ideology: What It Is And Why It's A Problem |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wahhabist-ideology-what-it-is-and-why-its-a-problem_b_585991fce4b014e7c72ed86e?guccounter=1 |location=New York City |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408032152/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wahhabist-ideology-what-it-is-and-why-its-a-problem_b_585991fce4b014e7c72ed86e |archive-date=8 April 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref> alongside [[Salafism]] and [[Salafi jihadism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bunzel |first=Cole |date=March 2015 |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2015/03/ideology-of-islamic-state-bunzel/The-ideology-of-the-Islamic-State.pdf?la=en |title=From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State |journal=The Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World |volume=19 |pages=1–48 |publisher=[[Center for Middle East Policy]] ([[Brookings Institution]]) |location=Washington, D.C. |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321022758/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2015/03/ideology-of-islamic-state-bunzel/The-ideology-of-the-Islamic-State.pdf?la=en |archive-date=21 March 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wood |first=Graeme |author-link=Graeme Wood (journalist) |title=What ISIS Really Wants |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |location=Washington, D.C. |date=March 2015 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216095910/https://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/ |archive-date=16 February 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=28 June 2021}}</ref> In 2014, regarding the [[Ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ideology of IS]], Karen Armstrong remarked that "IS is certainly an Islamic movement [...] because its roots are in Wahhabism, a form of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia that developed only in the 18th century".<ref name="Armstrong 2014" /> 

[[Nabil Na'eem]], a former associate of [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] and an ex-[[Egyptian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad]] leader, argued that Qutb's writings were the main factor that led to the rise of Al-Qaeda, [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] and various Jihadist groups.<ref>{{Cite web|last=al-Saleh|first=Huda|date=28 March 2017|title=Former Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader Nabil Naeem: Zawahiri himself is ignorant|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2017/03/28/Former-Egyptian-Islamic-Jihad-leader-Nabil-Naeem-Zawahiri-himself-is-ignorant |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331123924/https://english.alarabiya.net/amp/features/2017/03/28/Former-Egyptian-Islamic-Jihad-leader-Nabil-Naeem-Zawahiri-himself-is-ignorant |archive-date=31 March 2021|website=AlArabiya News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=N. Celso |first=Anthony |date=14 April 2014 |title=Jihadist Organizational Failure and Regeneration: The Transcendental Role of Takfiri Violence |url=https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/conference/papers/2014/PSU%20presentation.pdf |journal= |pages=1–23 |via=Political Studies Association, UK}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam|Politics}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[American Islam (term)]]
* [[Capitalism and Islam]]
* [[History of Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser]]
* [[History of Egypt under Anwar Sadat]]
* [[History of Islam]]
** [[Spread of Islam]]
* [[International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism]] ([[International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism by region|by region]])
** [[Petro-Islam]]
** [[Salafi movement]]
*** [[Salafi jihadism]]
** [[Wahhabism]]
* [[Islam and violence]]
** [[Islam and war]]
** [[Islamic terrorism]]
** [[Jihad]]
*** [[Jihadism]]
* [[Islamic fundamentalism]]
* [[Islamic schools and branches]]
** [[Persecution of minority Muslim groups]]
** [[Shia–Sunni relations]]
** [[Sufi–Salafi relations]]
* [[Political Islam]]
** [[Islamic socialism]]
** [[Islamofascism]]
** [[Khomeinism]]
** [[Political aspects of Islam]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{Notelist}}
{{reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|40em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|author=Kepel, Gilles|title=The Prophet and Pharaoh: Muslim Extremism in Egypt|others=translated by Jon Rothschild|publisher=Al Saqi|year=1985|isbn=0-86356-118-7}}
*{{cite book|author=Kepel, Gilles|title=Jihad, The Trail of Political Islam|others=translated by Anthony F. Roberts|publisher=Belknap Press of [[Harvard University]]|year=2002|isbn=0-674-00877-4|url=https://archive.org/details/jihad00gill_0}}
*{{cite book|author=Moussalli, Ahmad S.|title=Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: the Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb|publisher=American University of Beirut|year=1992}}
*{{cite book|author=Qutb, Sayyid|title=Milestones|publisher=Kazi Publications|year=2003|isbn=1-56744-494-6}}
*{{cite book|author=Roy, Olivier|title=Globalized Islam: the Search for a New Ummah|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2004|isbn=0-231-13498-3|url=https://archive.org/details/globalizedislams00royo}}
*{{cite book|author=Sivan, Emmanuel | title=Radical Islam: Medieval Theology and Modern Politics | publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|year=1985}}

==Further reading==
*Berman, Paul. ''Terror and Liberalism.''  W. W. Norton & Company, April 2003.
:Berman devotes several chapters of this work to discussing Qutb as the foundation of a unique strain of Islamist thought.
*{{cite book
|last = Malik
|first = S. K.
|year = 1986
|title = The Quranic Concept of War
|url = http://wolfpangloss.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/malik-quranic-concept-of-war.pdf
|publisher = Himalayan Books
|isbn = 81-7002-020-4
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Swarup
|first = Ram
|year = 1982
|title = Understanding Islam through Hadis
|publisher = Voice of Dharma
|isbn = 0-682-49948-X
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Trifkovic
|first = Serge
|year = 2006
|title = [[Defeating Jihad]]
|publisher = Regina Orthodox Press, USA
|isbn = 1-928653-26-X
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Phillips
|first = Melanie
|year = 2006
|title = [[Londonistan: How Britain is Creating a Terror State Within]]
|publisher = 	Encounter books
|isbn = 1-59403-144-4
}}

==External links==
*Stanley, Trevor [http://www.pwhce.org/qutb.html Sayyid Qutb, The Pole Star of Egyptian Salafism.]{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}
*El-Kadi, Ahmed [https://web.archive.org/web/20060624203840/http://www.icna.org/tm/greatmuslim3.htm Great Muslims of the 20th Century ... Sayyid Qutb.]
*[http://www.salafipublications.com/sps/downloads/pdf/NDV080001.pdf Mawdudi, Qutb and the Prophets of Allah.]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080216024026/http://www.salafimanhaj.com/pdf/SalafiManhaj_Terrorism_In_KSA.pdf The Ideology of Terrorism and Violence in Saudi Arabia: Origins, Reasons and Solution]
*C. Eikmeier, Dale Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism

{{islamism}}

[[Category:Qutbism| ]]
[[Category:Far-right politics and Islam]]
[[Category:Mujahideen]]
[[Category:Right-wing ideologies]]
[[Category:Totalitarian ideologies]]