Taking People As They Are: Islam As a “Realistic Utopia” in the Political Theory of Sayyid Qutb

Abstract

T his article presents an interpretation of Sayyid Qutb's political theory based on a prominent feature of his thought: the claim that Islamic law and human nature (fitra) are in perfect harmony, and that the demands of Islamic law are easy and painless for ordinary human moral capacities. I argue that Qutb is not only defending Islamic law as true and obligatory, but also as a coherent "realistic utopia"-a normative theory that also contains a psychological account of that theory's feasibility. Qutb's well-known fascination with the earliest generation of Muslims (the salaf) is an integral part of this account that serves two functions: (1) as a model of the feasibility and realism of an ideal Islamic political order, and (2) as a genealogy of the political origins of moral vice in society. Qutb's project is thus an account of exactly why and how Islam requires politics, and how modern humans can be both free and governed.My purpose is to consider if, in political society, there can be any legitimate and sure principle of government, taking men as they are and laws as they might be.-Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract Justice demands that the social system shall conform to the desires of the individual and satisfy his inclinations. -Sayyid Qutb, Social Justice in IslamA respect for humanity requires us to look at it more profoundly and with a stronger perception of its profound nature, its authentic innate character and its deep roots, so that we are more judicious, more restrained and more precise in our thinking when we try to direct it and establish systems for it. We must not let millions of years of human experience go unheeded and postulate mere theories regarding man's inclinations, nature and behavior and then apply these theories by force and coercion.

The boundaries of pragmatism in Muslim education: Comparing the Islamic pedagogies of Sayyid Qutb and Fethullah Gülen

“…“They believed that ideas … are provisional responses to particular and unreproducible circumstances [so that] their survival depends not on their immutability but on their adaptability,” Menand writes. “The belief that ideas should never become ideologies … was the essence of what they taught” (Menand 2001, xi–xii).…”

Theological principles of communicative (Takfiri) thought

“…For example "Who are "the" Salafis?" [9], "Taking people as they are: Islam as a realistic utopia in the political theory of Sayyid Qutb" [1],"Cultural memory of the pious ancestors (salaf) in al-*KD]ƗOƯ´ [6], "The politics of popular religion: Sufis, Salafis, and Muslim Brothers in 20th-century Hamah"…”

Seeing Like an Islamic State: Shari‘a and Political Power in Sudan

“…Numayri and Turabi are both drawing here on a powerful tradition within modern Islamic legal thought that asserts the fundamental harmony between the requirements of shari‘a and the basic nature of humanity. See Griffel (), March (), and March ().…”