Writing Assignment Unit Four
Terrorism and the Media
12/1/14
Vickie Tate, Ph.D.
Scott E. Stansberry
Kaplan University
To say that Islam is inherently violent is rather short-sighted. Unfortunately, the history of Islamic terrorism is mired in policies and disingenuous opportunists. Islamic terrorism has its roots in the teachings of Sayyid Qutb Shaheed. Qutb, born in Egypt in 1906, joined the Muslim Brotherhood amidst the recent collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He experienced an emergence of what he believed to be secular, western-influenced governments in the Middle East, and efforts of the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. Sayyid Qutb had a relatively normal childhood growing up in Asyut Province, Egypt. He attended the western-styled university, Dar al-Ulum where he met the Muslim Brotherhood founder – Hasan al-Banna. Banna influenced Qutb that Egypt, and Islam as a whole, needed to recommit to the followings of Shari’a Law. Qutb became a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and ascribed to the Salafist beliefs of the Muslim Brotherhood. (Loboda, 2004) From 1948-1950, Qutb attended the University of Northern Colorado where he earned a Masters’ of Arts in Education. (Loboda, pg. 1) While he was in the United States, he became convinced that the West lacked spiritual guidance, which in turn facilitated his radical beliefs. Upon returning to Egypt, he reunited with Banna and hoped to help steer Egypt away from a secular government. By this time, Egypt’s Nationalism Party led by Abdul Nasser was the populist party that soon found its way to power. Qutb disavowed the secularism of Nasser and in turn was imprisoned for treason in 1954. Qutb was released from prison in 1964, but eventually rearrested in 1965 and executed in 1966. (Loboda, pg. 2) Qutb was considered a threat by the Nasser movement due to his writings, “In The Shade of the Qur’an and Milestones.” “In the Shade of the Qur’an was an effort where Qutb evaluated the Qur’an and provided explanations to the teachings and meanings through a Salafist view. While maybe not fully inciting of riot, Qutb’s Milestones served as the manifesto for Islamic revolution. In Milestones, Qutb argued that Muslims cannot live under secular rulers. Qutb refers to this as ‘Jahiliyya,’ which is “one man’s lordship over another.” (Qutb, pg. 35) Qutb’s argument was in direct opposition to the Hanafi jurisprudence that has been the basis of Egyptian law for centuries. In fact, this belief was initially based on the Salafist version of Islam, which the Muslim Brotherhood embraced. Some argue that Salafism is similar to Wahabbism in Islam, which is essentially a fundamentalist approach to the Islamic faith. The main premise being that Muslims do not need an intermediary to Allah, as can be seen in the other major jurisprudences of Sunni Islam. Qutb’s argument appealed too many, even outside of the Muslim Brotherhood. Loboda (pg. 3) argues that Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, was also influenced by Qutb. After Qutb’s execution, the Muslim Brotherhood eventually renounced violence while maintaining their Salafist beliefs. The Muslim Brotherhood has instead focused on becoming a viable political party in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has had many off-shoots to include Hamas, al Qaeda, and ISIL. Zawahiri was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood with Qutb, and was influenced by his teachings. Osama bin Laden was indoctrinated in the Qutbic jurisprudence by Muhammed Qutb, the younger brother of Sayyid Qutb. To this day, Sayyed Qutb is known as the “Grandfather of al Qaeda” and it wouldn’t be improper to say that he also is the grandfather of Islamic Terrorism. Another significant issue that influenced the creation of the Muslim Brotherhood was the efforts to create the Jewish state of Israel. In 1917, a British effort to bring the United States into War World I, The
