In his work hadha d-din, translated as, This Religion of Islam, Qutb poses a set of questions, a dilemma of sorts that reads as follows; ‘Is Islam not revealed by God? And is not God omnipotent? Why then does this faith operate only within the boundaries of restricted human abilities?
’For Qutb the idea that hakiyymah be restricted to private subjugation and worship had absolutely no place in Islam. In his book, Islam the Religion of the Future, Qutb refers to this concept of the divorce of state and religion as ‘the hideous schizophrenia’, a peculiar European concept that had been transported to Islamic lands.
‘This hideous schizophrenia took place under lamentable circumstances, leaving its destructive traces in Europe and from there to the whole world.’ Qutb goes further to explain the problem that this posed in terms of religion and the concept of hakiyymah.
"A revealed religion can never single out a narrow sector of human life and subject it to God or be content with negativity, while other sectors and positive actions are subjected to other gods to administer,either individually or collectively, enforcing such laws, doctrines,institutions and organizations as they deem fit."
So what happens when Allah’s sovereignty, His law and His authority does not encompass and govern society and human life in general?
Qutb again returned to his reading of the Qur’an to find his answer, one which would form the basis of the most contentious topic with in Milestones, a concept known as ‘jahiliyyah.’
Jahiliyyah in the Qur'an
The term jahiliyyah is taken directly from the Qur’an where it specifically refers to pre-Islamic Arabia as a ‘time of ignorance.’
As Emmanuel Sivan suggests that for Qutb this was not a term limited to a period in history but instead was more a condition that came about when Gods hakiyymah was absent.
The nineteenth century scholar Ignác Goldziher translated the term jahiliyyah as barbarism as opposed to ignorance an alternative that Richard Bonney has stated is closer to Qutb’s understanding.
William Shepard points out that in pre-Islamic literature, and to a considerable degree in the Qur’an, words like jahiliyyah that pertain from the root j-h-l mean primarily not “ignorance” but something like “barbarism,” or more specifically a tendency to go to extremes of behaviour
Qutb's Understanding of Jahiliyyah
Within Milestones, one can observe Qutb's understanding of the term goes beyond excesses in human behaviour and characterises and instead refers to any circumstance where observance to God's decrees is absent.
The Qur’anic verse ‘Do they want a judgement of the days of ignorance? Yet who is better in judgement than Allah, for a people having sure faith?’ (Qur’an 5:50,) appears twice within, Milestones.
Qutb’s first usage of the verse occurs in chapter IX entitled, A Muslim’s Nationality and Belief,’ the second in chapter X entitled, Far Reaching Changes, where on both occasions Qutb alludes to the same message.
A reading of Qutb’s statement in chapter X expresses this message explicitly, ‘These verses make it clear that there are only two ways, and not a third, either submit to Allah and His Messenger, (peace be upon him) or else follow the way of jahiliyyah.After his experience and observation of contemporary societies Qutb came to the conclusion as can be seen from the extract below taken from Milestones that the entire world encompassed this condition of jahiliyyah.
‘If we look at the sources and foundations of modern modes of living, It becomes clear that the whole world is steeped in jahiliyyah and the marvellous material comforts and advanced inventions do not diminish its ignorance. This jahiliyyah is based on rebellion against the sovereignty of Allah on earth. It attempts to transfer to man one of the greatest attributes of Allah namely sovereignty by making some men lords over others.’
Sources
Sayyid Qutb, This Religion of Islam (Damascus 1977)
Sayyid Qutb, Islam-The Religion of the Future [al-Mustaqbal li-hadha al-din] International Islamic Federation of Student Organisations, (Beirut 1977)
Emmanuel Sivan, Radical Islam (1985)
Richard Bonney, Jihad: from Qur’an to bin Laden (Oxford 2004)
William Shepard, Sayyid Qutb’s Doctrine of ‘jahiliyyah’, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Sayyid Qutb, Milestones (Indianna University Press 1990)
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 ...
Join the Conversation