Sayyid Qutb - Political Philosophy

Political Philosophy

Sayyid 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. Following the 1952 coup, he espoused a `just dictatorship` that would `grant political liberties to the virtuous alone.` Later he wrote that rule by Sharia law would require essentially no government at all. In an earlier work, Qutb described military jihad as defensive, Islam's campaign to protect itself, while later he believed jihad must be offensive.

On the issue of Islamic governance, Qutb differed with many modernist and reformist Muslims who claimed democracy was Islamic because the Quranic institution of Shura supported elections and democracy. Qutb pointed out that the Shura chapter of the Qur'an was revealed during the Mekkan period, and therefore, it does not deal with the problem of government. It makes no reference to elections and calls only for the ruler to consult some of the ruled, as a particular case of the general rule of Shura.

Qutb also opposed the then popular ideology of Arab nationalism, having become disillusioned with the 1952 Nasser Revolution after having been exposed to the regime's practices of arbitrary arrest, torture, and deadly violence during his imprisonment.