This is the first and most basic constituent of the tasawwur , and recognition of it is called tawhid the usual Arabic term for belief in one God. God is also eternal, without beginning or end.

This God is the creator and source of everything else in existence. These things are separate from God but totally dependent on Him and harmoniously obey regular laws, some of which can be and have been discovered by human science. These laws are not separate from God, however. Since His will is completely free, He can and sometimes does vary His action and produce what we call miracles.

While most of creation obeys God necessarily, humans in their moral aspect may or may not obey. God is therefore the Lord and Sustainer of all creation, while all creation stands in a relation of servanthood to Him, necessarily in the case of most things, willingly or unwillingly in the case of humans disobedient humans are still servants.

It follows necessarily from all of these attributes that God is the only source of authority and the only sovereign in the universe, not only physically but also morally, legally, and politically. These central ideas reflect those of Mawdudi, though Qutb probably stresses them more. Human nature as originally created, and in its proper state, is called fitra , and this fitra has a need for God and a predisposition to serve Him. The Islamic tasawwur is congruent with it. The fitra may be obscured by human whims, desires and negligence, but is not destroyed.

The basic purpose of humans is to serve God willingly in all aspects of life. This idea is very important to Qutb. Otherwise all are of equal value regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, or gender, although in the last case there are significant differences of function to be discussed below. Angels are spiritual beings who serve God and are always obedient to Him.

They have the power of moral choice and are commanded to serve God just as humans are. Some are believers, and some are not. They will be resurrected on the last day and go to paradise or hell. The Devil is a jinn. Satans may be humans or jinn ; they tempt human beings and are enemies to prophets. Human science knows nothing of them, though it may discover something about them some day.

Awareness of these creatures expands our world beyond the limited one of physical perception. But are humans really free in their moral choices, given that God is directly involved in determining everything that happens? Like earlier Muslim theologians, Qutb seeks to affirm both this is one of the ways the Islamic tasawwur is balanced.

He states that the human will works within the bounds of divine determination and that this divine determination is realized through human will. The precise relationship between them is one of those things that are beyond the capacity of human reason to comprehend. Some degree of human freedom is necessary for moral responsibility and for the activist position that Qutb took, while certainty that God is in control is important for the small, struggling revolutionary movement of which he was a part.

But why does evil exist at all and why do good people suffer? From time to time Qutb suggests various partial answers to the latter question. People suffer because they violate the physical or moral laws, or God causes them to suffer to teach them or to provide challenges.

This world is a place of trial and striving, and the suffering of a good person will be compensated in the future life, and possibly also in this life. As to why God did not create a world without suffering and evil, this question is not raised by sincere believers, who respect God too much and know that the issue is beyond the capacity of the human intellect to deal with, nor is it raised by serious atheists since they do not believe in God.

It is raised by those who are argumentative or not serious. How do humans know of God and of the truths enshrined in the Islamic tasawwur? It calls on humans to reflect on the signs of God in the harmony of the universe. According to Qutb and most Muslims, it has the power to influence people directly through these. Qutb generally insists on interpreting the text in terms of its plain meaning, but in the case of realities that are beyond human comprehension he understands it to provide allusions that inspire the human soul.

These realities include the divine essence, the connection between will of creator and creation, and the nature of the spirit. For the rest, reason can receive the revelation and interpret it, along with other faculties. Especially important is the intention to act on what one reads. This is part of what is meant by saying that the tasawwur is practical. Qutb likewise relies on the Sunna and, somewhat selectively, on the later tradition. This generation was present at the time of revelation and drew their understanding of life and their duties exclusively from it; they received it with the intention to obey as a soldier would receive marching orders for the day; also, they broke completely with their former life.

No later generation has equalled them, but they should be the model for Islamic activists today. Splitting the atom would be included but not its use in atomic bombs. Biology is included but not Darwinian evolution. The Islamic tasawwur encourages this kind of science.

It does not have the certainty of revelation but, properly done, it will not conflict with revelation. In fact, Western science is historically rooted in the past scientific activities of Muslims. It has developed in an anti-religious direction, but Islam can purify this science and put it on the sound basis of the fitra.

General ethical values are of course part of the Islamic tasawwur. These values are not scattered or ad hoc but are systematic, constituting a complete system for all of life. As they derive from the one God, they unify humans with the creation and its Creator, and integrate individual personalities. To be valid, ethical action must be accompanied by faith in this God.

Because they come from God, they provide a greater sense of obligation than secular morality can. Qutb criticizes various forms of secular morality at length. Along with this, however, he recognized that although basic ethical values do not change, their application does change with changing times and situations, both of which are experienced very much by modern revolutionaries.

This is commonly called the law of God but is more accurately described as a moral classification by God of all human actions into five categories: obligatory, approved, neutral, reprehensible or forbidden. Among Sunnis, the consensus of these scholars on any ruling has been considered to guarantee its validity, with the result that the scope for ijtihad has diminished over time.

One of the major issues of modern times has been the degree of freedom contemporary interpreters should have to reverse past rulings in the light of current needs. Modernists seek a high degree of freedom in order to bring fiqh in line with prevailing values derived from the West. Qutb opposes ijtihad for this purpose, which he considers defeatism in the face of the West, and insists that there should be no ijtihad where there is a clear and authoritative text.

He favors it, however, where, in his view, it represents an authentic Islamic response to current conditions. He calls this fiqh haraki that is, a fiqh that reflects changing human activities or needs of the current Islamic movement. He also indicates approval of the unfettered use of the principle of public interest maslaha , a principle recognized in traditional fiqh but usually with restrictions.

At the same time, he regularly canvasses the views of earlier scholars on specific matters and sometimes accepts them. All of this accords with his claim that the Islamic tasawwur is realistic and practical.

It will be just, progressive, and tolerant. It will be a society in which people generally know who the virtuous and competent are and can choose them for leadership. He backs this up with descriptions of the society governed by the prophet Muhammad and his earliest successors, especially in Social Justice in Islam. While class, racial, and ethnic differences will not matter, religious differences will matter since the society is based on a religious creed. Qutb sometimes states that people have absolute freedom of conscience in matters of belief and that the freedom of any individual to hold and propagate his religious belief, free of compulsion, is a fundamental human right.

It is not clear just how far this goes, however. No one should be forcibly converted to Islam. They may follow their own creeds and rites of worship but are limited in some areas, as specified in the traditional idea of dhimma protected status , which Qutb generally accepts and defends.

For example, they will pay a special tax called jizya , for which Qutb gives three reasons: it is a symbol of their acceptance of Islamic rule, it is in return for their protection by the Islamic government, and it contributes to the social expenses of the state. Such a state would hardly accept the kind of religious pluralism, the legal equality in principle of all religions, assumed by many Westerners and others.

An Islamic government will be governed by the principle of consultation shura. Qutb gives many examples of it from the early days of Islam. The exact form of shura varies with circumstances and, in accordance with the realistic and practical nature of the Islamic tasawwur , will be determined only when such a government is actually formed. There will also be a parliament majlis al-shura whose members are chosen by the people locally.

The high moral tone the government is more important, however, than these details. Qutb seems to envisage the imam as a strong and righteous leader who is normally to be obeyed implicitly, but not if he commands people to disobey God.

For all that Qutb seems to envisage the true Islamic state and society as a kind of utopia, he recognizes that actual Islamic societies have been less than ideal, and he severely criticizes many of the historical Muslim rulers without quite calling their government and society un-Islamic. In at least one place he states a ruler may be unjust but still be considered Islamic if he basically recognizes the authority of God. Economics in an Islamic society is based on the fact that all wealth belongs to God, who entrusts it to human societies and thence to individuals as his khalifas.

On this basis, the right to private property is guaranteed as a reward for work so that individuals are encouraged to work for their own benefit and the benefit of all.

This strikes a just balance between effort and reward and accords with human nature. Islam also opposes the concentration of wealth in a few hands, and its rules on inheritance and opposition to usury are designed to discourage this.

Likewise, the community should own collectively resources needed for the general wellbeing, and these have expanded considerably in modern times. Added to all of this is the additional moral obligation on individuals to assist the needy and contribute to social causes.

In discussing economics, Qutb often goes beyond what the traditional sources of authority prescribe, especially in relation to the economic power of the state.

What he writes would be largely acceptable to modernists with a moderate socialist inclination. Qutb is at pains to point out that women and men are equal in respect of their humanity as such. In temperament, however, women and men differ. Women are more emotional and men more rational. Hence, men have the right to leadership within the family and women the right to protection.

The family is the basic unit of society and the institution that produces human values; its place is rooted in the cosmic order. Obedience to God in matters relating to marriage, divorce, and family is service to God no less than formal prayer. For this reason, women should not work outside the home unless it is absolutely necessary.

Moreover, those who do are likely to be exploited both sexually and economically, turned into sex objects and underpaid. He draws on his experiences in the United States, among other things, to support these points. All of these things characterize a jahili society, according to him. He also argued that Western women sought election to parliament because men had been making laws unfair to women, but under a system of divinely based law the laws will be fair.

Women should dress in a manner that shows only their faces and hands but not be secluded, as in some societies.

They also should not mix publicly with men as this may lead to promiscuity and weaken marriages. He defends divorce and polygyny, at least under certain conditions. If these seem to make women insecure it is because the present society is jahili and not sufficiently attuned to Islamic values.

Both of his sisters were involved, and one went to prison. He was also a mentor to Zaynab al-Ghazali, a well-known woman Islamic activist in Egypt who had put into her marriage contract that her husband would not interfere with her Islamist activities.

The term and general idea come from Mawdudi, but Qutb makes it more extreme. For Mawdudi, contemporary Muslim societies are part Muslim and part jahili , while for Qutb there is no such mid-term. The contrast is stark: a society is either Islamic or jahili. A jahili society compels or at least pressures its member to serve other humans rather than God, and its leaders presume to create values and laws rather than apply the values and laws of God, effectively claiming divine attributes and making themselves gods beside God.

The moral, psychological, and social results are disastrous, though it is not these results these results that define a jahili society. In fact, Qutb claimed that all so-called Islamic countries in his time were jahili , with the result that, as he put it, Islam does not exist. This does not mean that there are no Muslims, but it does mean that they cannot live a complete Muslim life.

While Qutb labels societies jahili he is much less inclined to label individuals as unbelievers kafir , unlike some of his Qutbist successors. Although the line between Islam and jahiliyya is stark in principle, Qutb does not clearly indicate exactly how and where it is drawn. The answer to jahiliyya for Qutb is jihad. In juristic and political circles, the term has mainly referred to the violent activity of war, with rules for proper behavior in warfare elaborated.

This is the usage that Qutb draws on. In modern times, many Muslims have preferred to emphasize the non-violent forms of jihad and to limit violent jihad to defensive warfare. Qutb considers this defeatist and argues the need for both violence and the initiating of violence at times.

Jahiliyya is not merely a condition of society but an aggressive and unrelenting force that can only finally be defeated by violence. Moreover, Muslims have an obligation not only to defend themselves but to fight tyranny wherever it appears and to remove obstacles to the preaching of Islam.

Jihad is part of the Islamic mission to liberate humans from servitude to other humans and realize the rule of God on earth. This is the greatest of all human tasks and one should not apologize for using force when necessary. God knows that evil must be confronted in this way. In the present situation jihad takes effectively the form of revolution, though Qutb does not use this term. Individuals or groups of Muslims must come together to organize their lives on the basis of Islam, thus giving birth to a new society and isolating themselves psychologically, though not physically, from the jahili society around them.

These groups will for a long time devote themselves to studying and internalizing the basic Muslim creed, there is no god but God. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

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