Qutb, Sayyid (1906–1966)

Best known for providing an ideological basis for militant Islamic political resistance, Sayyid Qutb has come to be known as the intellectual father of modern-day jihad. His writings have influenced Islamist radicals such as Abd al-Salam al-Faraj, Mustafa al-Shukri, and Ayman al-Zawahiri. Born in the village of Musha of Asyut in Upper Egypt, reared in a pious home, and educated in a traditional rural religious school, Qutb received a BA at the Teacher's College of Dar al-Ulum. Having excelled in the study of literature, he was appointed instructor at the same college on graduation and was soon employed in the Ministry of Education. Qutb's early writings were secular and nationalist oriented. They earned him fame early on as a political dissident and ardent social critic. ...