Qutb’s Writings

• Consider:– What are Qutb’s main ideas?– What are these contributions to the

development and/or expression of Islam?– What principal beliefs and teachings of

Islam are reflected in these writings?

Social Justice in Islam (1948)

• So all creation issuing as it does from one absolute, universal, and active Will, forms an all-embracing unity in which each individual part is in harmonious order with the remainder...

• Thus, then, all creation is a unity comprising different parts; it has a common origin, a common providence and purpose, because it was produced by a single, absolute, and comprehensive Will...

Social Justice in Islam (1948)• So the universe cannot be hostile to life, or

to man; nor can 'Nature' in our modern phrase be held to be antagonistic to man, opposed to him, or striving against him. Rather she is a friend whose purposes are one with those of life and of mankind.

• And the task of living beings is not to contend with Nature, for they have grown up in her bosom, and she and they together form a part of the single universe which proceeds from the single will.

In the Shade of the Qur’an (1952)• Islām adopts a very gentle approach towards human

nature, encouraging, prodding, pampering, cajoling, reprimanding and where necessary, disciplining and restraining. It prefers the patient, caring attitude, confident of the eventual outcome. It is a continuous process of growth and development that can only get better as time goes on.

• Islām, like the oak tree, starts slowly and grows gradually, steadily overcoming all difficulties, vicissitudes, and adversities, there is no need for compromises, half-hearted solutions, or arbitrary or foolish measures. In Allāh’s scheme, things must be allowed to take their natural course.

In the Shade of the Qur’an (1952)

• Humanity will see no tranquillity or accord, no peace, progress or material and spiritual advances without total recourse to Allāh. This, from the Qur’ānic point of view, can mean only one thing: the organisation of all aspects of human life in the Qur’ān. The alternative would be corruption, regression and misery,

Milestones (1964)

• Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head - this being just a symptom and not the real disease - but because humanity is devoid of those vital values which are necessary not only for its healthy development but also for its real progress.

Milestones (1964)

• Even the Western world realizes that Western civilization is unable to present any healthy values for the guidance of mankind. It knows that it does not possess anything which will satisfy its own conscience and justify its existence...

• It is essential for mankind to have a new leadership...

Milestones (1964)

• It is necessary for the new leadership to preserve and develop the material fruits of the creative genius of Europe, and also to provide mankind with such high ideals and values as have so far remained undiscovered by mankind, and which will also acquaint humanity with a way of life which is harmonious with human nature, which positive and constructive, and which is practicable.

Milestones (1964)

• Islam is the only system which possesses these values and this way of life.

• If we look at the sources and foundations of modern ways of living, it becomes clear that the whole world is steeped in Jahiliyya (pagan ignorance of divine guidance), and all the marvellous material comforts and high-level inventions do not diminish this Ignorance.

Milestones (1964)

• This Jahiliyya is based on rebellion against God's sovereignty on earth: It transfers to man one of the greatest attributes of God, namely sovereignty, and makes some men lords over others.

• It is now not in that simple and primitive form of the ancient Jahiliyya, but takes the form of claiming that the right to create values, to legislate rules of collective behaviour, and to choose any way of life rests with men, without regard to what God has prescribed.

Milestones (1964)• In the scale of God, the true weight is the weight of

faith; in God's market the only commodity in demand is the commodity of faith. The highest form of triumph is the victory of soul over matter, the victory of belief over pain, and the victory of faith over persecution.

• The result of this rebellion against the authority of God is the oppression of His creatures...

Other…

• Our whole environment, people’s beliefs and ideas, habits and art, rules and laws, is Jahiliyya even to the extent that what we consider to be Islamic culture, Islamic sources, Islamic philosophy and Islamic thought are also constructs of Jahiliyya

Other…

• We may say that any society is Jahili society that does not dedicate itself to submission to God alone, in its beliefs and ideas, in its observance of worship, and in its legal regulations

• Our foremost objective is to change… the Jahili system at its very roots