Why was sayyid qutb executed

He was sent to America to see for himself that the country was not the root of all evil. The plan had the exact opposite effect. Qutb is the intellectual godfather of modern Islamic fundamentalism. His book, Milestones is what old and young jihadis carry into battle, and quote in their suicide videos. To truly understand Sayyid Qutb's trajectory to radicalism, James Nolan says it is important to take note of his experiences 15 years before his death, when he visited the United States.

Audio Player failed to load. Egypt continues to battle a persistent terror threat; Afghanistan continues to fight the latest iteration of a battle that has not ended since ; and the Islamic State continues to hold enough territory to maintain the facade of a self-proclaimed caliphate.

The death of bin Ladin did nothing to stem the spread of bin Ladinism—which was directly influenced by the teachings of Qutb, whose own execution likewise only spread his message. For tailored research and analysis, please contact: info soufangroup. If you have issues subscribing please click here.

Subscribe to our intelbriefs. Almost certainly, the arrested men did not belong to a clandestine organization dedicated to violent political change. Nevertheless, by their own admission they upheld Qutb as the embodiment of the Islamist movement. In so doing, they allowed the Egyptian government to peg the Muslim Brotherhood as a movement that harbors revolutionary intent. Given these risks, why do significant numbers of Muslim Brothers, including many in leadership positions, continue to invoke the example of Sayyid Qutb?

Certainly, there are many politically engaged Brothers who would prefer to keep Qutb's thought under wraps. A large part of the reason has to do with the weight and complexity of his thought. The diversity of Qutb's ideas Qutb's thought traversed several stages , coupled with his status as a martyr make it difficult for the Muslim Brotherhood to cast a negative judgment on him.

As a result, his influence persists -- despite reservations on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood's reform-minded political pragmatists. Such teaching, these Brothers said, went against the preference of Islamic theology for inclusiveness. They backed up their claim by pointing to Hasan al-Banna, who made clear that both the society and the state were Islamic despite the corruption wrought by the Western cultural onslaught.

As far as al-Banna was concerned, Islam had not disappeared; it had only waned. But other Muslim Brothers disagreed. However, the matter was not allowed to remain moot. Hudaybi hoped that the work would dampen the ardor of the extremists and save the Brotherhood from another round of persecution. The argument in "Preachers, Not Judges" remained the official position of the Muslim Brotherhood over the following decades.