Why is the concept of jahiliyyah so important in Sayyid Qutb’s discourse? For many observers it is this very issue that represents the radicalisation of Qutb and cements his position as the ideologue of Islamic fundamentalism. It is a classic example of what logicians call the black-and-white fallacy.
However, to divorce the concepts of hakiyymah and jahiliyyah from each other and treat them independently as often occurs is erroneous.
Any study of the concept of jahiliyyah demands knowledge of Qutb’s firm attestation to hakiyymah which shaped his outlook on the world. William Shepard has perhaps characterized this point best as he concludes Qutb’s thinking behind his worldview as following – ‘jahiliyyah is the hakimiyyah of humans; Islam is the hakimiyyah of God.’
Qutb and Maudoodi
Emmanuel Sivan mentions how the concept of jahiliyya was not entirely original in the works of Qutb but had appeared earlier in the works of the Pakistani, Islamic thinker, Mawlana Abul-Ala Maudoodi (1903-79), an Islamic revivalist from the Indian Sub-Continent who used the term to distinguish Islamic societies from those based upon secularist paradigms.
Coincidentally it was also about the time Qutb began to produce his theoretical works that Maudoodi’s works began to appear in Arabic. Indeed Maudoodi’s influence regarding the concept of jahiliyya is candidly present within Qutb’s earlier works, such as, ‘Islam and Capitalism’, where Qutb refers to Mawdudi’s work (The Four Terminologies in the Qur’an) in his first indication of jahiliyya as a phenomenon within his thoughts.
Although jahiliyyah as a term is not specifically mentioned the characteristics that identify it within ‘Milestones’, are certainly present. An important point must be emphasised here, a point that shall be clarified below.
This concerns the view that claims and in many cases emphasises how Qutb borrowed a specific concept from Maudoodi, as if to suggest a complete change in tract on his part. Ibrahim Abu Rabi defines this as ‘dichotomising Qutb’s earlier thought from his later thought.’
Qutb’s thought regarding the concept of jahiliyyah was far from an isolated occurrence but an extension of earlier thoughts and most importantly an observation of societies through study and experience. Qutb’s justification in using the term jahiliyyah owes more to his understanding and adherence to the term derived from the Qur’an rather than borrowing from a contemporary.
Jahiliyyah – The ‘Hakiyymah’ of Man
In ‘Milestones’, he ventured further than even Maudoodi in declaring the whole world as jahiliyyah including the supposedly Islamic regimes of the Middle East. Again Qutb’s justification was derived from the concept of hakiyymah which it must be said remained consistent within his thoughts when defining and evaluating societies, including his own.
As he states in Milestones, ‘Anyone who serves someone or something other than Allah in this sense is outside the din of Allah: although he or she may claim to profess Islam as a religion.’
Qutb made the distinction clear that belief and worship were not independent of each other and he refers to a saying of the Prophet Muhammad where he said, ‘to obey is to worship.’
Jahiliyyah and the Concept of Injustice
Having covered the theoretical aspect of jahiliyyah within Qutb’s thoughts extensively and scrupulously it is important to pertain to another oversight on part of scholars of Qutb.
This relates to Qutb’s experiences that had seen him go from a life in a village to living in the United States of America and finally the torturous prisons of Egypt under the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser.
The question as to why Qutb arrived at such a damning indictment to label the entire world as jahiliyyah can not be explained entirely through a theoretical premise on his part.
As mentioned, theoretically it was in affect a result of his conviction in the premise of hakiyymah. Therefore as Sayed Khatab proposes in his extensive study upon the theory of jahiliyyah ‘Qutb’s phase of thought during the period of 1952-1962 is an extension and not negation of the previous phase.’
This highlights the conviction Qutb had in hakiyymah as it was the consistent variable throughout his thoughts. While in agreement with this view, some deviate slightly from Khatab’s own evaluation that places an emphasis upon the literary aspect of Qutb’s earlier works to emphasise the concern that pertained throughout these works namely that of justice.
Sources:
Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam (1975).William Shepard, Sayyid Qutb’s Doctrine of ‘jahiliyyah’, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Ibrahim Abu Rabi, Intellectual Origins of the Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World (New York 2000).
Sayyid Qutb, Milestones (Indianna University Press 1990).
Sayed Khatab, The Political thought of Sayyid Qutb: ‘The theory of Jahiliyyah’ (London 2006).
Faisal Hanif - I graduated in 2008 from the University of Leicester with Bachelor Hons in History. I have recently completed a Masters in the History of ...
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