Sayyid Qutb (9 October 1906 in Musha – executed on 29 August 1966) was an important theoretician of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

Alternative spellings of his "first" and "last" names include Syed, Koteb (rather common), Qutub, etc. Arabic: سيد قطب

He first received a religious education in 1920. He moved to Cairo, where he received a Western education between 1929 and 1933, before starting his career as a teacher in the Ministry of Public Instruction. During his early career, Qutb devoted himself to literature as an author and critic, writing such novels as Ashwak (Thorns) and even elevating Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz from obscurity. In 1939 he became a functionary in Egypt's Ministry of Education (wizarat al-ma'arif). From 1948 to 1950 he went to the United States on a scholarship to study the educational system, receiving a master's degree from the Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado). Qutb's first major theoretical work of religious social criticism, Al-'adala al-Ijtima'iyya fi-l-Islam (Social Justice in Islam), was published in 1949, during his time overseas.


The vivid freedom, liberty, pursuit of happiness and the emancipation of women he experienced in the United States is believed by some to have been the impetus for his rejection of Western values and his move towards radicalism upon returning to Egypt. Resigning from the civil service, he became perhaps the most persuasive publicist of the Muslim Brotherhood. The school of thought he inspired has become known as Qutbism.

Qutbism is the Islamic strain of thought and activism, or ideology, based on the thought and writings of Sayyid Qutb. The term Qutbee is used as a name for followers of these ideals, but the term is more often used as a negative label by Wahhabis or other critics, people who disagree with the Muslim Brotherhood, or want to distance themselves from the activities of militant groups whose ideology and activism is based on Sayyid Qutb's writings. "Qutbees" usually do not refer to themselves using this name.

The main tenet of Qutbist ideology is the belief that almost all of Islam is heading into the era of pre-Islamic Arabs or Jahiliyya, and must be reconquered. It is one of the two main strands of Salafi thought, the other being Wahhabism.

Qutb outlined his ideas in his book Milestones. The main principle of Qutbism is clearly stated when Qutb writes that "Muslims have drifted away from their religion and their way of life, and have forgotten that Islam appointed them as representatives of God and made them responsible for learning all the sciences and developing various capabilities to fulfill this high position which God has granted them."

Qutb encouraged Muslims to seek knowledge. In Milestones he states:

A Muslim can go to a Muslim or to a non-Muslim to learn abstract sciences such as chemistry, physics, biology, astronomy, medicine, industry, agriculture, administration (limited to its technical aspects), technology, military arts and similar sciences and arts; although the fundamental principle is that when the Muslim community comes into existence it should provide experts in all these fields in abundance, as all these sciences and arts are a sufficient obligation (Fard al-Kifayah) on Muslims (that is to say, there ought to be a sufficient number of people who specialize in these various sciences and arts to satisfy the needs of the community). If a proper atmosphere is not provided under which these sciences and arts develop in a Muslim society, the whole society will be considered sinful; but as long as these conditions are not attained, it is permitted for a Muslim to learn them from a Muslim or a non-Muslim and to gain experience under his direction, without any distinction of religion.
Qutb freely uses the word "Jahiliyya" repeatedly in Milestones to refer to Arabs who have gone backwards in their reasoning to the pre-Islamic era. The word Jahiliyya in Arabic means "moral ignorance". In light of the quest for knowledge, he encourages Muslims to read books by Jahilis. In one passage, Qutb writes:

Jahiliyyah is an Islamic concept referring to the spiritual condition of pre-Islamic Arabian society. It is described as a state of ignorance of God's message.

"When a person embraced Islam during the time of the Prophet-peace be on him-he would immediately cut himself off from Jahiliyyah. [The state of ignorance of the guidance from God.] When he stepped into the circle of Islam, he would start a new life, separating himself completely from his past life under ignorance of the Divine Law. He would look upon the deeds during his life of ignorance with mistrust and fear, with a feeling that these were impure and could not be tolerated in Islam! With this feeling, he would turn toward Islam for new guidance; and if at any time temptations overpowered him, or the old habits attracted him, or if he became lax in carrying out the injunctions of Islam, he would become restless with a sense of guilt and would feel the need to purify himself of what had happened, and would turn to the Qur'an to mold himself according to its guidance."

Wahhabism is the official form of Islam in Saudi Arabia. In 1924 the Wahhabi al-Saud dynasty conquered Mecca and Medina, cities holy to Muslims, creating the Saudi state. The spread of Wahhabi Islam has been facilitated by Saudi oil revenues; Saudi laypeople, government officials and clerics have donated many tens of millions of dollars to create Wahhabi-oriented religious schools, newspapers and outreach organizations.

Some Wahhabis believe that many Muslim Brotherhood scholars — Sayyid Qutb and Yusuf al-Qaradawi are sometimes cited — are corrupted due to their innovations in Islam, and their call to revolution and rebellion against the rulers of Muslim countries. For the same reason, they hold that Osama bin Laden is not a Wahhabi, but a Qutbee (follower of Sayyid Qutb), due to his rebellion against the rulers of Saudi Arabia.

Many contend that Wahhabism is or has become a dominant form of Islam through proselytization driven by Saudi funding; others contend that its influence is less widespread and that the practice and observance of Wahhabism and the political manifestations that flow therefrom are more nuanced than its most doctrinaire interpretations.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division last week paid $11,000 to the three surviving members of a family killed at an American military checkpoint in Baghdad Aug. 7.
The al-Kawas family is nevertheless pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. military for unlawful death and possibly war crimes with the help of an Irish law firm Madden & Finucane.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of coalition military forces in Iraq, directed the 1st Armored Division to pay off the family after six protestors disrupted one of his news conferences in Baghdad over the al-Kawas family's plight.

The protestors from Voices in the Wilderness were escorted out of the room and barred from attending future news conferences, but they had achieved an important goal: focusing high-level attention on at least a few of the civilian victims of the continuing Iraqi war.

The U.S. military has paid more than $400,000 to more than 2,000 Iraqis who can make claims against the U.S. government for property damage, injury and death, but the Sept. 24 payment is one of the largest yet. The al-Kawas family is also one of the more egregious cases