A Child From the Village (Middle East Literature In Translation)
(Well known throughout the Islamic world as the foundation...)
Well known throughout the Islamic world as the foundational thinker for a significant portion of the contemporary Muslim intelligentsia, Sayyid Qutb (19061966) was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and was jailed by Gamal Abdul Nassers government in 1954. He became one of the most uncompromising voices of the movement we now call Islamism and is perhaps best known for his book, Ma'lam fi al-tariq.
A Child from the Village was written just prior to Qutbs conversion to the Islamist cause and reflects his concerns for social justice. Interst in Qutbs writing has increased in the West since Islamism has emerged as a power on the world scene.
In this memoir, Qutb recalls his childhood in the village of Musha in Upper Egypt. He chronicles the period between 1912 and 1918, a time immensely influential in the creation of modern Egypt. Written with much tenderness toward childhood memories, it has become a classic in modern Arabic autobiography. Qutb offers a clear picture of Egyptian village life in the early twentieth century, its customs and lore, educational system, religious festivals, relations with the central government, and the struggle to modernize and retain its identity. Translators John Calvert and William Shepard capture the beauty and intensity of Qutbs prose.
(The author speaks about the unique Quranic generation, th...)
The author speaks about the unique Quranic generation, the nature of the Quranic method, the characteristics of Islamic society, jihad in the cause of God, and a Muslim s nationality and his belief among other things.
("Social Justice in Islam" is perhaps the best known work ...)
"Social Justice in Islam" is perhaps the best known work of Sayyib Qutb, a leading figure in the Muslim Brethen of Egypt who was executed by the regime of 'Abd al-Nasr in 1966. Despite the years that have passed since Sayyid Qutb's death, the imprint of his thought on the contemporary Islamic movements of the Arab world remains profound. The Arabic original of "Social Justice in Islam" was first published in 1949, but this book in particular retains its relevance in many respects: the persistence of gross socio-economic inequality in most Muslim societies; the need for viewing Islam as a totality, imperatively demanding comprehensive implementation; and the depiction of the West as a neo-Crusading force.
In the Shade of the Qur'an Vol. 1 (Fi Zilal al-Qur'an): Surah 1 Al-Fatihah & Surah 2 Al-Baqarah
(
"From the 1960s to the present day, few Muslims, even t...)
"From the 1960s to the present day, few Muslims, even those with quibbles, have doubted that In the Shade of the Qur'an is a remarkable intellectual achievement."John Calvert, associate professor of history at Creighton University and author of Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism
"Widely considered to be of the most influential Qur'anic commentaries of the twentieth century."Muhammad Mojlum Khan, author of The Muslim 100 and The Muslim Heritage of Bengal
This commentary on the entire Qur'an vigorously explores its rich wisdom in a clear and coherent style. It is universally recognized as a momentous work of reference for an understanding of contemporary Islamic thinking, particularly the interpretation of the Qur'an in the twentieth century.
With a focus on conveying the timeless messages found in the Qur'an, Qutb's commentary aims to reassure and reaffirm the essence and value of faith and its profound role in the life of man instead of focusing on legalistic issues. This foregrounds the moral and social advantages of each command along with their role in personal and collective life.
Prefaced to each chapter is an introduction to its content, summarizing the main message of the surah. Moreover, each chapter is divided by topic in order to draw out the prevalent themes in a harmonized way.
Sayyid Qutb (19061966) was born in Egypt in 1906. He started his career as literary writer and critic, and progressed to become one of the most original and independent Muslim thinkers of his time. He was executed by the Nasser regime of Egypt on 1 August 1966. Sayyid Qutb has more than twenty-five literary works to his name, of which In the Shade of the Qur'an, his tafsir written, and re-written, over a period of fifteen years, most of which were spent in Egyptian prisons, is the largest and most important.
Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamic theorist, poet, and the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and 1960s.
Background
Sayyid Qutb was born in 1906 in the village of Musha in the Asyut province of upper Egypt. His father was Hajji Ibrahim Qutb, a well-to-do farmer of the region. The family, which traces its ancestry ultimately to Central Asia via India, in addition to father and mother consisted of two brothers and three sisters, of whom Sayyid Qutb was the eldest. His brother Muhammad and two of his sisters, Aminah and Hamidah, were also writers active in Islamic causes; all suffered arrest for their views along with their brother in 1965. In his writings Sayyid Qutb attributed his strong bent towards religion to the influence of his parents. His mother, Fatimah Husayn 'Uthman, had a particular love for the Koran (Qur'an) which she inculcated in her offspring; she was determined that her children should all become buffaz (memorizers of the holy book). It was her custom to invite professional Koran reciters to the family home during the nights of the month of fasting (Ramadan), and Sayyid Qutb later recalled listening to the chanting of the sacred verses at his mother's side. He also mentioned the care exercised by his father to impress upon the youth the significance of the coming day of judgment.
Education
Sayyid Qutb's earliest education was in the local village school where by the age of ten he had memorized the Koran. His mother was the sympathetic ear for his recitations during this time. At age 13 he went to Cairo for further study and there entered the Dar al-'Ulum secondary school (established 1872), which offered an essentially secular education; among its purposes was the preparation of students for employment with government. At this stage of his life he was much influenced by the Westernizing tendencies prevalent in the school and among some Egyptian intellectuals. In 1929 he gained admission to Cairo University, where he earned the B. A. degree in education in 1933. After graduation he became a professor of the college, where he taught for some time before joining the Ministry of Education as inspector of schools. A turning point came for Sayyid Qutb in 1949 when he was sent to the United States for higher studies in educational administration.
Career
Over a two year period he worked in several different institutions including what was then Wilson Teachers' College in Washington, D. C. and Colorado State College for Education in Greeley, as well as Stanford University. He also travelled extensively visiting the major cities of the United States and spent time in Europe on the return journey to Egypt. His reaction to the Western experience was decidedly negative; he found Western society hopelessly materialistic, corrupt, morally loose, and ridden with injustice. He was especially distressed by the disrespect shown to Arabs in the United States and the overwhelming support of its people for the state of Israel, founded in 1948. One of the most popular of his books, Social Justice in Islam (1948), reflects his critical attitude to the West. Even before the journey to America Sayyid Qutb had begun to manifest interest in the teachings of the Society of Muslim Brothers (al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun), the foremost of Egypt's resurgent Islamic organizations. Founded in 1929 by Hassan Al-Banna (Hasan al-Banna'), the society had numerous followers and sympathizers and wielded much political influence. In 1949, however, it was banned, and many of its members were arrested after the assassination of the Egyptian prime minister, al-Nuqrashi, by one of the Brothers. The society gained a new lease on life in 1952 with the coup d'état of the Free Officers which overthrew the Egyptian monarchy. Many of the Free Officers had long had clandestine and sympathetic relations with the Muslim Brothers. The society's members were released from prison, a new leader was chosen to replace al-Banna' (who had been murdered in the violence of 1949), and Sayyid Qutb, formerly a mere member, emerged as one of the foremost figures. He was employed in the society's Bureau of Guidance and was placed in charge of the office that bore responsibility for the propagation of the society's Islamic views. In this position he exercised the function of intellectual leader of the Brothers, expressing his opinions in books and numerous articles in a variety of journals. In July 1954 he was made editor of the society's newspaper, al-Ikhwan al-Muslimu, but held the post for only two months when the newspaper was closed by Gamal Abdel Nasser ('Abd al-Nasir) because of its opposition to the Anglo-Egyptian pact of that year. Originally, the relations between the Muslim Brothers and the Free Officers had been close, but they soured as the Brothers began to oppose government policy. There was a complete rupture in 1954 after an attempt on the life of President Nasser by a Brother. Six members of the society were executed, thousands of others were arrested, and the society was again declared illegal. Sayyid Qutb was among those arrested and was sentenced by the People's Court to 15 years' rigorous imprisonment. The experience was extremely difficult for Sayyid Qutb, especially the first three years, for he was a generally sickly man who suffered from a number of afflictions. It is alleged also that he was made to undergo torture of various kinds. Nevertheless, during the years in jail-which lasted until mid-1964-he completed his influential commentary on the Koran (In the Shadow of the Qur'an) in 30 parts (eight volumes). Sayyid Qutb was released from prison because of an appeal by Iraq's president Abdul Salam Areb to Nasser, but he remained under surveillance. However, he continued to write and to work for the Islamic cause. After less than a year of freedom he was again arrested on a charge of attempting to overthrow the Egyptian government by force. The basis of the charge was his last book, Milestones, which sanctioned force as a means to bring about an Islamic revolution and to transform society. On August 19, 1966, Sayyid Qutb and two companions were sentenced to death by a military tribunal, and the sentence was carried out on the morning of August 25 following.
(
This volume of Sayyid Qutb's tafsir, commentary on the ...)
Politics
Qutb's mature political views always centered on Islam – Islam as a complete system of morality, justice and governance, whose sharia laws and principles should be the sole basis of governance and everything else in life – though his interpretation of it varied. Qutb's political philosophy has been described as an attempt to instantiate a complex and multilayer eschatological vision, partly grounded in the counter-hegemonic re-articulation of the traditional ideal of Islamic universalism.
Views
Quotations:
"All people go to Allah after their death, but the happy person is the one who goes to Allah while still alive. "
"A martyr is the one who bears witness that the Shari'ah of Allah is more valuable to him than his own life. "
"Faith is not by wishful thinking, it is what takes root in the heart and shows in one's actions. "
"Indeed our words will remain lifeless, barren, devoid of any passion, until we die as a result of these words, whereupon our words will suddenly spring to life and live amongst the hearts that are dead, bringing them to life as well. "
"Absolute justice demands that mens incomes and rewards should . .. vary, and that some have more than others-so long as human justice is upheld by the provision of equal opportunity for all. "
Connections
Qutb never married, in part because of his steadfast religious convictions.