Autobiography, politics and ideology in Sayyid Qutb's reading of the Qur'an

• Main Author: Umej Bhatia
• Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
• Format: Working Paper
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Religions::Islam
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/79507; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/4483
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The Egyptian Islamist ideologue Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) is a founding figure of modern Sunni militancy. The West knows Sayyid Qutb through the prism of his Milestones, the 1964 manifesto urging a Qur'anic revolution against illegitimate Muslim regimes. However, it was Qutb's commanding Qur'anic interpretation, In the Shade of the Qur'an, which provided the rich lodestone for Milestones. in the Muslim world, moderates and militants alike have found sanctuary In the Shade of the Qur'an, making it a unique work that cannot be ignored. Offerd below is a detailed analysis of Qutb's work, focused primarily on juz amma (the last thirtieth) of the Qur'an, which is considered the key entree for Muslims who seek a return to faith. Sensitive yet uncompromising, In the Shade of the Qur'an ardroitly reheases at a personal and political level the combat between a pristine Islam and all other profane systems, whith the final objective of establishing a supreme Islamic order.