Qutbism

Qutbism (also Kotebism) is the Islamic strain of thought and activism, or ideology, based on the thought and writings of Sayyid Qutb, a celebrated Islamist and former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was executed in 1966. The term Qutbee or Qutbi 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 Tenets of Qutbism

The main tenet of Qutbist ideology is that the Muslim community (or the Muslim community outside of a vanguard fighting to restablish it) "has been extinct for a few centuries" ^[1], reverting to Godless ignorance or Jahiliyya of the pre-Islamic Arabs, and must be reconquered. It is has been described as one of the most influential strands of Salafi or Islamist thought.

Qutb outlined his ideas in his book Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq (aka Milestones). Among the main principles of Qutbism are

adherence to the Sharia as complete way of life that will bring justice, peace, personal serenity, scientific discovery, and other benefits;
avoidance of Western and other non-Islamic "evil and corruption" including socialism and nationalism;
a two-pronged attack of 1) preaching to convert and 2) jihad to forcibly eliminate the "structures" of Jahiliyya;
Jihad to eliminate Jahiliyya not only from the Islamic homeland but from the face of the earth.

Science and Learning

Qutb wrote 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:

A Muslim can study all the opinions and thoughts of jahili writers, not from the point of view of constructing his own beliefs and concepts, but for the purpose of knowing the deviations adopted by Jahiliyyah, so that he may know how to correct these man-made deviations in the light of the true Islamic belief and rebut them according to the sound principles of the Islamic teachings.

Qutb believed that religious knowledge must also be sought. He believed that the quest for worldy knowledge and "Jahiliyyah" beliefs and practicies was too rampant.

Qutb wrote:

A person who is negligent in remembering God and is completely occupied with the affairs of this life — and that is the case with all the 'scientists' of today — knows only what is apparent, and this is not the type of knowledge, for which a Muslim can rely completely on its possessor, except for what is permitted to be learned from them to the extent of technical knowledge. He should ignore their interpretations concerning psychological and conceptual matters. This is not that knowledge which is praised repeatedly in the Qur'an.

Muslim Brotherhood

Sayyid Qutb joined the Egyptian Islamist movement al-Ikhwan al-Muslimoon, or the Muslim Brotherhood (founded by Hasan al-Banna in 1928), in 1953 and quickly became a leading activist and writer for the movement. Qutb never became Supreme Guide (head) of the Brethern ^[2] but was editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimin and later head of the propaganda section, as well as an appointed member of the Working Committee and of the Guidance Council, the highest branch in the Brotherhood. ^[3]

Although his early Islamist writings were far more moderate, the falling out between Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Brotherhood following the Revolution led to an intense period of persecution and oppression of the Brotherhood. Qutb, Hudaybi, and thousands of others were imprisoned and subjected to torture and a brutal existence for the next 12-15 years. It was during this period that Qutb's ideas became decidedly radical and he espoused his most controversial ideas. His best known works, Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq, and Fi zilal al-Qur'an, were written during this period. The former work was used as evidence in the trial against him which resulted in his execution in Egypt in 1966 by Nasser's regime.

History of the word "Qutbee"

After Qutb's death, with the proliferation of his ideas throughout the Middle East, Wahabbi and Salafi scholars disagreed with many of the opinions of Sayyid Qutb. Some scholars even claimed Qutb was a heretic for using the term "Jahiliyya" to apply to believing Muslims. Thus, the word Qutbee was first found to be formed by Saudi Arabian Salafis and Wahhabis in referring to the Muslim Brotherhood and their sympathizers. The word is used by Salafis and Wahhabis in the same way that the word "Wahhabi" is used by many other Muslims in a negative sense. Extreme Salafis and Wahhabis consider the alleged "Qutbees" as a deviant sect.

Notes

^ Milestones by Sayyid Qutb, The Mother Mosque Foundation, 1981, p.9
^ Hasan al-Hudaybi was Supreme Guide during this period.
^ Radical Islamic Fundamentalism: the Ideological and Political Discourse of Sayyid Qutb by Ahmad S. Moussalli, American University of Beirut, 1992 (p.31-2)