Sayyed Qutb-MILESTONES
In the introduction to his book Milestones [1] Sayyed Qutb appeals for the restoration of the true Muslim community with Islam as the only system that can serve the materialistically oriented mankind as its leader. He criticizes the jahili society for not honoring God above all as well as the contemporary Muslims for not living the pure, undistorted lives as put down by the Qu’ran that only the first generation after the Prophet led. He enumerates three areas that differentiate that first Muslim generation from the current ones. Primarily, the first, “pure” Muslims did not resort for guidance to any other source but Qu’ran. They did not allow any civilization to affect them. Secondly, the manner in which they approached the Holy Scripture differed as well. They did not study it for intellectual reasons or for enjoyment but solely to learn of the Divine Will and, consequently, to apply it in action. Their separation from the pollution-jahili’s ways of living and thinking represented the third difference. All their concepts on life derived exclusively from the Qu’ran. They did not compromise with Jahiliyyah in any way. There cannot be, Qutb argues, any compromise with it today either.
He advocates reviving Islam following the above principles of the first generation as well the original Prophet’s method, which is founding it exclusively on faith and submission to Allah in all aspects of life. Subsequently, the practical application of Shari’ah must ensue as the reflection of real faith. Qutb believes there exists no other method to establish Islam in purity and strength and, as a result, to make it face unflinchingly the influences of Jahiliyyah. He aims to restore the humanity of mankind and he believes it to take place solely under the guidance of Islamic religion.
Qutb concepts on inner faith as the driving force of religion and his belief in humanity of mankind deserve applauding and recognition. However, there are areas where his views seem contradictory. He puts down the jahili society for not serving God but purely man-made laws but he expects the Muslim communities to submit totally to Muslim leadership and the new Islamic movement-the members of which are men. At this point he would argue that it is not the people they will submit to but Allah’s law. However, he cannot seriously believe Qu’ran will cover every detail of the contemporary life. He explained himself that Qu’ran verses were revealed gradually according to the then circumstances. No new verses have been added to it for centuries and the circumstances of life changed enormously. Many decisions concerning contemporary issues will need to be made by members of the Islamic movement. Din remains the same but the Shar’a can vary. [2] It will be man and circumstance-made.
He desires to change the jahili society at its roots and bring it under the leadership of Islam, which some may call a “sacred community”, [3] but as Irwin rightly put it, seems as a kind of “anarcho-Islam” [4] dream. Qutb seems to neglect the fact that Qu’ran calls for the revival of the purity of other religions and does not propose a new one (Q. 5:72-73). [5] He wishes to turn the whole population-alleged Jahiliyyah- into one humanity under Allah. However, not all the societies are the jahili societies. Maybe instead of making them turn to Allah they should regain the purity of their own devotion? The radical viewpoints of Qutb do not suggest that. Fortunately, there are enough wise Muslims today who know that his was not the mission of interpreting Qu’ran. They insist he was only a writer. [6] As such, his viewpoints do not necessarily reflect those of Qu’ran. And thanks to Allah that they do not.
Bibliography:
Azad, A., Basis Concepts of the Qu’ran, The Academy of Islamic Studies, Hyderabad, 1958
[1] Syed Qtub Shaheed, Milestones, http://alashrafia.com/milestones.html, Authentic Islamic Literature, (accessed 14 August 2005)
[2] M. A. K. Azad, Basic Concepts of the Qu’ran, The Academy of Islamic Studies, Hyderabad, 1958, p. xi
[3] C. le Gai Eaton, ed. by S. H. Nasr, ‘Man’ in Islamic Spirituality Foundations, SCM Press Ltd, New York, 1989, p. 372
[4] R. Irwin, ‘Is this the man that inspired Bin Laden?’ in Guardian Unlimited, http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,584478,00.html#article_continue, Guardian Newspapers Limited, (accessed 15 August 2005)
[5] as found in Azad, p. 103
[6] ‘Who was Sayyid Qutb?’ in The Wahhabi Myth, http://www.thewahhabimyth.com/qutb.htm, excerpt from The Wahhabi Myth, (accessed 15 August 2005)