There has been much said and
written of Sayyid Qutb too often being shown as a radical, purveyor of
extremism and violence plus the wild accusations of being the founding father of
terrorism. These portrayals give an unjust and unbalanced picture of a man who
was regarded and treated as a criminal and a threat to the security of a nation purely
because of his profound thought and intellectualism, his ideology of faith, his guiding ideas and his
literature par excellence. He faced the ultimate sacrifice because he never
surrendered his principles, he stood his ground and he maintained his unshakeable faith
throughout. He has to be seen and evaluated as a person undergoing trials and
tribulations like no other man would have undergone.
As for his utmost commitment and total
dedication to the revival of religion and the testimony of faith, he says “Whoever
vows himself to live his life for the sake of his religion, he will have a
tired living, but he will live a magnificent life.”
In facing the calamities which
befell upon the Muslim Brothers and the inhumane and brutal torture as well as harsh
deprivation and abject humiliation by Egypt’s
regime, of the perseverance he says “There
are moments in life that no human being can undergo, unless they are fully
reliant on Allah and certain of His protection, regardless of how much
strength, endurance and perseverance has already been given them. For in life
there are moments that take all of these things by storm, and only those stay
standing who were given surety through the remembrance of Allah, for "only with the remembrance of Allah do hearts
find surety."
He was always positive about
people, unlike what his adversaries would like to paint him black as if he was an
anti-social and out of touch with common people, or of him being judgmental and
prejudicial or looking down at others. He says, “When we get in touch with the
good side of the souls of people, we found that there is a lot of good there
that the eyes might not see at first sight.”
As for his confidence and
optimism even under severe conditions, he remarked, “And even if the armies of
darkness surround me, I am fully certain of the breaking of the dawn.”
When enduring the tribulations in
prison and under cruel and relentless torture, he mentions the experiences and
lessons of Prophet Ayyub who did not go
beyond describing his condition: "I
have been afflicted with great distress" (Quran 21:83), and describing
his Lord by His attribute: "And you
are the most merciful of those who are merciful." According to Sayyid
Qutb, Prophet Ayyub did not pray for his
situation to be changed, thereby patiently enduring his hardship, and he does
not make any suggestions to His Lord, out of respectfulness and reverence for
Him. Thus he is an example of the patient servant; his heart does not become
distressed in hardship, and he does not become restless when he suffers the
distresses that everyone suffers in all times and eras. Rather he is too shy to
ask his Lord to remove his hardship, but leaves the matter entirely to Him,
certain of His knowledge of the condition and His needlessness of being asked.
Thus to Sayyid Qutb, and at the
moment when Prophet Ayyub faced his Lord with such faith and such respectful
manners, that moment became the moment of Allah's answer and mercy, and the end
of Prophet Ayyub’s trials.
In approaching the book of
guidance, in worship, in seeking solace, beseeching help, in devotion and
communicating with the Almighty Creator, Sayyid Qutb says in his celebrated
commentary Fi Dhilal al-Quran ( In
the Shade of the Qur’an) , “The Quran gives you by the amount that you give to
it, and opens itself to you every time with epiphanies and revelations by the
same amount that you open yourself to it, and every time it appears new, as if
you are receiving it (from Allah) at that moment.”
When standing up to his vile accusers
in court and upon being coaxed to seek pardon from the regime, he declared
uprightly, “I will not apologize for working with Allah.”
To set right the misleading presumption
that he was preaching Islam by force, coercion or using compulsion, he advises,
“Religion does not lead people to obedience through chaining them, rather it
does so through taqwa (mindfulness of
God), and if people become corrupted, their reformation cannot be gained
through hardline methods and authoritarianism, but through reforming their
education and their hearts.”
On his legacy and a living testimony
of practicing his very ideals and principles, he states that, ”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.” This can be
seen by the proliferation of his ideas, his books and writings upon his death.
On why he chose to challenge the
oppressive regime and unjust system, he cautions, “Corruption is an inevitable
result of tyranny, and it affects the tyrant and his subjects alike. Facilitating
evil and sin is the same as facilitating the way to affliction.”
On the day of his execution and
on the passage to the gallows, it was reportedly said that a religious sheikh
was on duty and kept telling him to proclaim the shahadah , the testimony of faith. Sayyid Qutb replied, “Old man,
the shahadah is the very reason I am
being sent to the gallows!”
Thus, he stood by his very words,
“ The one who fears to stand in front of Allah does not indulge in sin. Faith
is the elevating path through which upright human nature ascends to its
ultimate perfection. Faith is the
characteristic by which the minute, transient human being attains closeness to
the Absolute and Everlasting Originator of the universe and all that exists in
it. Man without faith is an ignoble creature having only trivial ambitions and
petty concerns. The Islamic method of character building links worship with
faith.”
May Allah have mercy on him!
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