Qutb, Sayyid << KOO tuhb, SAH yihd or SAY yihd >> (1906-1966), was an Egyptian scholar, writer, and activist. He followed a strict approach to Islam and rejected modern interpretations of Islamic law. Qutb believed that all laws governing human life must be based on God’s word as revealed by the Qur’ān, the sacred book of Islam. Qutb condemned governments and societies that did not function in strict agreement with Islamic teaching. He wrote that Muslims had a duty to wage jihad (holy war) against enemies of what he considered true Islam (see Jihad ).
Most Muslim scholars regard Qutb’s ideas as extreme and not representative of mainstream Muslim thought. Since Qutb’s death, however, his ideas have influenced radical Islamic organizations in Afghanistan, Egypt, the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and elsewhere.
Qutb was born on Oct. 8, 1906, in the village of Musha, near Asyut, Egypt. After graduating from Dar al-Ulum, a teachers’ training college, in 1933, Qutb worked for Egypt’s Ministry of Education. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, he wrote poetry, novels, and literary criticism. In the 1950’s, he began calling for the creation of an Islamic state in Egypt. In 1954, he was arrested twice for his membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Muslim organization. Qutb was released in 1964, but he was soon rearrested and accused of plotting against the government. He was hanged on Aug. 29, 1966.
See also Fundamentalism ; Ikhwan ; Muslim Brotherhood ; Muslims (Reform and renewal) .
