The downfall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 shattered the illusion of Muslim unity producing a sense of cultural tragedy. In addition to having a profound influence on the ascent of Salafi-Jihadism, the situation of a lost identity also provided the space for Islamist movements to strive towards reclaiming their cultural identity and restore Islamic unity. A teacher named Hasan al-Banna established one such movement which began as a youth club
‘with its main stress on moral and social reform through communication, information and propaganda’ (Hiro, 2002:60). The movement would later turn out to be one of the most influential as well as controversial organization in Egypt’s political history. The influence of the movement al-Ikhwan al- Muslimun, or more commonly referred to as the Muslim Brotherhood, would extend beyond the borders of Egypt into Algeria, Palestine, and Tunisia amongst others. The objective of restoring Islamic unity is clearly captured in the Muslim Brotherhood’s motto ‘God is our objective; the Qur’an is our constitution; the Prophet is our leader; Struggle is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations’
(quoted in Turner, 2010:548). In this way, the society envisaged Islam as a total ideology that offered ‘an all-powerful system to regulate every detail of the political, economic, social and cultural life of the believer’ (Hiro, 2002:60).
The movement grew rapidly and soon its members consisted primarily of the urban lower- middle classes such as students, civil servants, artisans and traders who were inspired by its religious slogans (Kepel, 2002:28). The Muslim Brotherhood attracted a wide following through its charitable activities involving running schools, dispensaries, mosques and
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workshops (Hiro, 2002:61). Through its popularity, the movement established itself within the political arena and supported the coup perpetrated by Nasser and his allies in 1952.
However, when Nasser renegaded on the vision of a unified Egypt through the implementation of an Islamic order but instead followed a nationalist agenda, he met with opposition from the Brotherhood movement. This drift further exacerbated when a failed assassination attempt on Nasser’s life in 1954 was blamed on the organization. In response, Nasser executed 6 members of the Brotherhood and sent another 4 000 to jail while others went into self-exile into other countries including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon (Hiro, 2002:65). Among those jailed, was Sayyid Qutb who would become known as ‘one of the original theorists of modern Islamism’ (Kepel, 2002:23) and whose thoughts would make him albeit infamously ‘the most essential contributor to what is the Al Qaeda ideology’
(Turner, 2010:549).
4.4.1 Sayyid Qutb
It was during his time in prison undergoing persecution and hard labour that Qutb produced some of his major works amongst which Ma’alim fi al-Tariq (Milestones) would become the most influential among radical Islamist thought worldwide (Ayubi, 1991:139). In this book, Qutb expounds on the key concept of jahiliyya. For Qutb, the world is divided into two spheres, namely, the Order of Islam or the order of jahiliyya (total ignorance). According to Qutb, this ignorance not only referred to the pre-Islamic Arabia but it was part and parcel of the current age as he argued,
We are also surrounded by jahiliyya today, which is of the same nature as it was during the first period of Islam, perhaps a little deeper. Our whole environment, people's beliefs and ideas, habits and art, rules and laws is jahiliyya, even to the extent that what we consider to be Islamic culture, Islamic sources, Islamic philosophy and Islamic thought are also constructs of jahiliyya (Milestones, 2006:34).
As far as Qutb is concerned, jahiliyya is a result of the moral deterioration of the Islamic values due to Western culture and ideas seeping into the Egyptian society particularly, during Nasser’s regime. It can be argued that his anti-Western stance and his disdain towards the Nasserist regime can be attributed to two experiences in his life. Firstly, the culture shock he received while he was in America furthering his studies and secondly, the long-term jail sentence and the tortures he underwent while he was in prison (Ushama, 2007: 172). To overcome this jahiliyya, Qutb suggest following the Salafis teachings underscoring the importance of tawhid, the prominence of following the Quran, Sunna, and the pious ancestors
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(salaf), the continuous battle against shirk (worshipping any other than God) and fighting the enemies of Islam (Wiktorowicz, 2006: 222). Consequently, Qutb reasoned that a revolution is required to abolish jahiliyya and restore in its place an Islamic state governed by Allah through the shari’a.
Whether Qutb personally advocated for a violent revolution through the use of jihad remains a disputed issue amongst scholars. While Kepel (2000:26) and Ayubi (1991: 140) advance that Qutb advocated for the use of violent jihad, Ushama (2007:187) argues that Qutb had no intention of instigating violence. Hiro (2002:67) reconciles both views when he interestingly points out that although Qutb wanted to elude violence, he could not dissuade his radical followers from waging jihad against the social order which he had labelled jahiliyya. As Kepel (2000:31) observes, this created a situation where those who were living in jahiliyya were no longer viewed as Muslims (this would consist of the members of society) and were labelled takfir (infidels) and they thus became legitimate recipients of violence. The execution of Qutb by the Nasser regime, which many of his followers perceived as martyrdom, provided the impetus for the spread and acceptance of his ideas within the Arab world (Hiro, 2002:68).
4.4.2 Mawlana Mawdudi
Another important thinker whose writings greatly influenced contemporary militant Islamists is prolific Pakistani author and journalist Mawlana Mawdudi. He was born in southern India in 1903 during the period of the British occupation of the region. Mawdudi believed that Islam was facing multiple threats, specifically, from the foreign occupiers and the Hindu majority in India. As a result, he advocated for a revival of Islam that could only be achieved by returning to the fundamental aspects of the faith and allowing the restoration of Islam within all aspects of life including the political. This author and journalist rejected nationalism and democracy as he believed both would lead ‘to the predominance of Indian and / or non-Islamic forces and influences’ (Ayubi, 1991: 128). Instead, he urged Muslims to remove any Indian, Western and secularist inspiration. Rather, he advocated, they should focus on reviving their faith and aim towards establishing an Islamic state. Mawdudi argued that ‘Islam is a revolutionary doctrine and system that overturns government. It seeks to overturn the whole universal social order . . .and establish its structure anew . . . Islam seeks the world’ (cited in Milton-Edwards, 2006:26). To achieve this change or revolution toward
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Islamic independence, Mawdudi followed in the footsteps of Hassan al-Banna and founded the Jama’at al Islami (Islamic Group). Yet, in contrast to the Muslim Brotherhood, the newly formed organisation was legal for most of its history (Kepel, 2002:35).
A major distinction within the vision of Mawdudi was the importance of jihad as a means to achieve Islamic governance and statehood. There is a view that ‘Jihad is at the same time offensive and defensive . . . The Islamic party does not hesitate to utilize the means of war to implement its goal’ (quoted in Milton-Edwards, 2006:26). Echoing al-Banna and Qutb, he believed that the solution of the problems that Muslims were facing is found in the way of Islam. His major premise for establishing an Islamic state was that God was the sovereign ruler and there was nothing outside of His control and His laws (Habeck, 2006:38). As such, he advocated for a state where sovereignty in the name of Allah would be exercised and complimented by the implementation of shari’a (Kepel, 2002:34). Mawdudi’s notion of the absolute sovereignty of God (al-hakimiiya) would influence other radical fundamentalist and militant groups as it implied that humans are only delegated to implement shari’a which is ultimately superior to any human-made political or economic system. Turner (2010: 549) identifies Mawdudi as ‘the link for the transition between Hassan al-Banna’s vague methodological approach to establishing an Islamic state and the sophisticated ideology of Sayid Qutb’.
In the later years, Salafi-Jihadi movements would find ideological justifications for their movements through the ideas discovered in the writings of al-Banna, Mawdudi and Qutb.
Concept expounded by these thinkers particularly tawhid, jahiliyya, and jihad would become prominent within the statements of Jihadi groups utilizing them as justifications for violence against innocent civilians including Westerners, non-Muslims and Muslims (Habeck, 2006:
39). The pivotal role of Qutb and Mawdudi’s thoughts and ideas cannot be denied as they hold a threefold importance for current militant Islamist groups. Firstly, their writings intellectually justify an anti-Western attitude on both a cultural and political level. Secondly, they justify the establishment of an Islamic state based on shari’a. Thirdly, in their writings, there is a justification for overthrowing secular governments. These also include Muslim leaders who fail to govern according to Islamic rule (Bahari & Ahmad, 2012: 23).
Zimmerman (2004: 223) accentuates the impact of Sayyid Qutb’s ideas as one aspect contributing towards the creation of Al Qaeda since its former leader Osama Bin Laden was
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mentored by Mohammed Qutb, Sayyid’s brother. The other two contributions towards the formation of Al Qaeda are: the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the Afghan jihad of the 1980’s.