Wednesday, August 14, 2013

PAGES FROM THE IKHWAN AL MUSLIMIN: SAYINGS OF SAYYID QUTB



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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