MILESTONES

By Sayyid Qutb
An Executive Summary M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Sayyid Qutb is easily one of the major architects and "strategists" of contempor
ary Islamic revival. Along with Maulana Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami,
the revivalist movement in South Asia, and Imam Khomeini, the leader of Iran's
Islamic revolution, he gave shape to the ideas and the worldview that has mobili
zed and motivated millions of Muslims from Malaysia to Michigan to strive to rei
ntroduce Islamic practices in their lives and alter social and political institu
tions so that they reflect Islamic principles. Milestones was written to educate
and motivate the potential vanguard of the re-Islamization movement.
Qutb, like most contemporary mujaddids, Islamic revivalists, was distressed with
the growing distance between Islamic values, institutions and practices and the
emerging postcolonial Muslim societies, specially in his native Egypt. In Miles
tones, he sought to answer some of the fundamental questions such as why Islam n
eeds to be revived? why no other way of life is adequate? What is the true essen
ce of an Islamic identity and an Islamic existence (he uses the term "concept" t
o signify these two elements)? How was Islam established by the Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) and his companions? Can the same method, which was undoubtedly divine in
its conception be replicated again? Qutb is particularly concerned with this is
sue of "Islamic methodology". He believes that Islamic values and the manner in
which they are to be realized (read as were realized by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
and his glorious companions) both together constitute the faith of Islam.
Relying entirely on the Quran, Qutb uses the concepts of jahiliyya, Islamic conc
ept, Islamic methodology, jihad and Allah's sovereignty, to dilineate the strate
gy by which Muslims would:
1. realize the true significance and implications of La-ilaha-illallah, having f
aith in the exclusive unity of Allah (tawhid).
2. understand the imperfections, injustices and moral poverty of jahiliyya.
3. empower themselves by realising the meaning of ashhadu-anna-muhammadur-rasool
ullah (bearing witness that Muhammad is Allah's messenger) -- internalizing his
method of dawah and submitting to the will and laws of Allah.
4. through this Islamic methodology, as articulated in the Quran and manifested
in the practices of Prophet Muhammad, which does not separate theory from practi
ce, and discourse from action, establish an Islamic order. The Islamic order, wh
ich is Allah's most significant gift to the entire humanity.
5. The most remarkable aspect of Qutbâ s book is his insistance on an approach in "st
ages" and the repeated assertion that the need for implementing Islamic law woul
d not arise until every member of the community had completely submitted to the
sovereignty of Allah and by that agreed to live under Allahâ s laws. Laws would then
be framed merely to serve the needs of this "living community of Islam". A far c
ry from the perception that a handful of Islamists are out to impose an essentia
lized shariah on all Muslims and non-Muslims living in Muslim lands.
Jahiliyya, as used in the traditional Islamic sense suggests ignorence in the wa
ys of God. However, Qutb gives an interesting twist to the idea of jahiliyya. Ja
hiliyya for Qutb is the sovereignty of man over man. Socio-political orders wher
e men have power over other men, to institute legislation and determine principl
es of right and wrong conduct. The Quran is explicit in postulating Islam as the
antithesis of jahiliyya. Qutb, by redefining jahiliyya to encompass modern secu
lar systems of political organization, is basically decreeing that all existing
systems are unacceptable and even antithetical to the spirit of Islam. Thus the
dichotomy, Islam and jahiliyya includes both the Islamic and the anthropocentric
way of doing things, and Islamic regimes and the existing unIslamic regimes in
Muslim lands. A clever ploy that uses Islamic reasoning to indirectly condemn co
ntemporary political organizations as antithetical to Islam.
His notion of the sovereignty of Allah as opposed to the sovereignty of man is b
asically a restating of the meaning of Islamic faith -- submission to the will o
f God. It clearly suggests, that any principle of organization that is not premi
sed on Godâ s supreme and sole prerogative as a legislative source, is shirk. Shirk,
in Islam is the only unforgivable sin. It means to associate other Gods with All
ah thereby denying the fundamental article of faith, lailaha illalah, there is n
o deity but Allah. He also uses it to declare the "universal declaration of the
freedom of man on earth from a every authority except Allah" (p. 48). I have alr
eady discussed his idea of the Islamic concept which basically emphasizes the in
separability of knowledge and practice. It is an important insight which means t
hat one cannot really understand Islam fully unless one is also practicing it. I
slamic methodology is his interpretation of how Prophet Muhammad realized the Is
lamic ideal. He believes that any other way of approaching Islamization is desti
ned to fail.
His understanding of the obligation of jihad -- struggle in the path of Allah --
is also a significant departure from traditional understanding. He understands
jihad as taking many different forms depending upon the stage of development of
the Muslim community. Thus at the earliest stage it implies struggling to assert
the principle of tawhid against all odds. Further along the journey of Islamiza
tion it means defending the communities right to "freely practice Islamic belief
s" even if it entails the use of arms. He challenges the "defensive" constitutio
n of the duty of jihad and argues that jihad is a mandatory proactive activity t
hat seeks to establish Allahâ s sovereignty on earth. He is however careful to emphas
ize that it does not necessarily mean the use of violence, it includes preaching
use of service and wealth in the way of Allah. He is also careful to remind his
readers that there is no compulsion in Islam. But if someone has chosen to live
by it then no one has the right to prevent him from doing so. Jihad, for Qutb i
s both, the defense of the right to believe and live by Islam and also the strug
gle to establish Allahâ s sovereignty. Qutb, true to his preachings died for the valu
es he espoused. He was sentenced to death and hanged by a military court establi
shed by Nasser. I think, and Qutb would agree, writing Milestones was his jihad
against the jahiliyya that he saw all around him.
(This is based on the ATP edition, Indianapolis, 1990.)