Milestones

A GREAT BOOK! i really enjoyed this book. I am not muslim. I am a religious pluralist. I believe all religion has come through man's prefabricated mind. So, we must find what works best for us and make use of it. However, its very nice to hear some Islamic philosophy/theology from a truly Muslim perspective. Instead of the endless brainwashing and indoctrination of the American media. I have spent some time researching the Islamic faith and found, that while there are extremist within this religion (which extremism I DO NOT condone in any way.) There are also extremist within Christianity. though we very rarely here of them. If we do, it may be a paragraph or two. But I know many muslims that are sincere in their islamic faith and in no way approve of their extremist brethren actions. they tend to take a more mystical view of jihad. Using jihad to fight the evil and corruption within, rather than offensive jihad against their neighbor.I found this book to be quite enlightening. I mean, who doesn't want to leave their home unlocked, with no worry of some thieves breaking in and stealing all you worked so hard for, or worse? Who wants to live in a society that's going to hell for our children? the moral fabric of most societies has proven to be without a lasting answer for societies ill's? this is what the sharia solves. Once again, while i am not muslim, after reading this book i felt I could at least understand a little better the Islamic perspective. I would certainly give this work two thumbs up.

I must read it at least 3 times more. Qutb provides an easy to understand rationale of several aspects of Islam which are driving the current world events at least in the West from the '93 attack on the World Trade Center. This book is useful to anyone who wants to probe in detail beyond today's' headlines of the tension that exists within Islam as well as outside toward "Western" culture. His original work "In the Shade of the Qu'ran" (30 volumes) is not available, but this precis of that tome provides adequate enlightenment. I have found some of his views of America identified during his 48-50 visit, in agreement with my own. I have recently visited the 9-11 Museum 4 times for 4 hours each. However the question of WHY? is not adequately answered. For those who are interested, this is a good start. There are many other carefully drawn analyses of the thoughts of Qutb, all fertile grounds for deeper understanding.

I never know how to rate books like this. Do I rate and review the ideas put forth, or do I look at the historical significance of the work and focus on its affects? Do I write about what I think of the ideas proffered or do I take them in the context of the greater Islamic milieu? There is no right answer, so I decided to give the book 4 stars because I think it is important for everyone to engage with this work and see the ideas put forth so that we can understand what the world faces in this type of religious idealism. It is important so we understand why this book is so popular and how the world can deal with this way of seeing the world.First off I was surprised to see the similarities between Qutb and other writers throughout this area. Some of this work reads like it could have come from Ali Shariati's School of Thought and Action. What is interesting to see is how these men were coming to similar conclusions even though they were looking at the problems from different geographical, social and religious locations. One can see why this book had and has such an appeal because it very much is about empowerment and taking control of people's societies and their lives, political and religious. This is not a passive treatise but a call to action, and this call can be answered by any and everyone. The popularity of this work is easily understood in its historical context. This book was written when Middle East was being dominated by corrupt secular and religious authorities that were doing, seemingly, nothing to combat the western domination of their nations. Secular ideologies had failed to empower the people or improve their lives in any significant way, so this simple call that gave people an avenue to take back control of their lives in an Islamic context that was uniquely void of any "Western" influence is very understandable.With that said these same reasons that gave this book such a popular appeal and major following is the same things that make this work so scary as well. The problem is the work has some logical problems that don't get rectified which basically makes it a call to arms with no real leadership. The book castigates the corrupt religious leadership and tells people to ignore them and look to the Quran to recreate the mythical perfect society that existed under the prophet at the time of his leadership. The book is a strange mix of attacking the traditional Islamic leadership, while at the same time never replacing this leadership with anything. The author calls on his readers to follow the Quran and Hadith rather than blindly following the Mullahs, but the author pulls back from approving of the individual ijtihad. Basically the books call is for the individual to practice ijtihad only as long as it lead the individual to exact same conclusions as the author. He takes liberties for himself that he refuses his readers. His readers are only supposed to follow Mullahs who aspouse his own brand of Islam. The problem is he, much like all religious texts, leaves a lot open to interpretation.As far as Non-Muslims go his message should be extremely frightening. For Qutb Islam's goal is to conquer the world, and it is the duty for every Muslim to work toward that goal. For Qutb freedom for the individual is only acheived in an Islamic dominated state. Freedom is the ability of each person to decide to be a Muslim or to reject Allah in an Islamic state. Whether a person wants to be a Muslim or not is totally up the individual only when the State, and all that encompasses, is an Islamic state. That means it is the duty of every Muslim to ensure the freedom for everyone to either accept their message or reject it within a state dominated politically, socialy and religiously by the Sharia. Freedom is to submit or not to submit and live as a second class citizen.One of the most interesting things about this book is that it displays a very skewed way of viewing the world. History and the "West" is just seen in a different context. The best example of this is given when the author discusses prohibition in the U.S. he juxtaposes this with the banning of alcohol in Islamic states as if the two are anlagous which they are not. The idea that banning a substance in a state that is democratic with elections and the rule of law is the same as banning the same thing in a theocratic state is ridiculous. The problem is that within the author's context of freedom he can't understand this.Lastly Qutb falls into the all too familiar pattern of the conspiracy theorist. He discusses the Jewish world cabal, and the "West's" persecution of Islam and the Muslim as if the world is allied with the believers against the heathens. It is disturbing how deep this paranioa runs. It creates this Manichean world where the world is divided into the two camps creating nothing but enemies and allies when the reality of the situation is that most of the world doesn't even notice.This is an interesting book to read. If one understands the history and where this book comes from then they will understand its popularity. It is dangerous and as such it needs to be read and understood so that its ideas can be better combatted.

Quick delivery, and the book was in excellent condition!

i gave 5 stars to this book because through this book you will have a lot better understanding of some current issues, such as the muslim brotherhood in egypt or osama bin laden and his al-qaeda, or the conflict between the religious elite and the royal family in saudi arabia etchowever, beyond that, the book has very little value. it is just the delirious ravings of a disillusioned broken man that was written in jail by a man who had been in jail for 8 years at the time, tortured, abused and isolated (and hanged shortly afterwards)most naturally, the book will find its most avid supporters among other people who feel alienated and isolated from and oppressed and abused by what they see as worldly powersthe book is a sad testimony to what oppression and abuse can do to the human psyche

Qutb was your typical Muslim fruitcake "theorist" who hated the West because in the West people enjoyed living. Muslims, on the other hand, are taught to hate life. On a par with Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman, noted "journalist" and "economist." Qutb was an ugly little bugger who envied anyone two inches taller than he. That translated into his envy of anything that smacked of life.

Firstly thanks for early delivery!This is an awesome book which opens the door of heart of Islam. Till now I have read the 1st chapter, 'The unique Quranic Generation'. It makes me clear that the author's works worth his sacrificed life. I'm just amazed to read how much deep knowledge of Islam he had, and how much Hikmat he used to explain every situation. It will help you to understand how Islam can be established in every ground of our life....MashaAllah.May Allah grant him Jannatul Firdous.

No problem at all

Sayed Qutb writes in a truly resolute fashion - there is nothing but 'jahiliyyah' (ignorance) outside of Islam and therefore all other societies, for whatever their high merits to which he awards them at the beginning of the book, must be brought into the 'truth' of Islam so that they may know true guidance - or so he makes clear in his writing. The book is a short read but a crucial insight into the fundamentalist Muhammadan mind - for it frames jihad in the spirit of a revolutionary character and not just for the establishing of Sharia and Islamic dominance. This character prevails today, where Islamic fundamentalists seek to overthrow the social and political order that ostensibly encumbers them, to replace that order with a pure Islamic caliphate where the only constitution is that of Allah and the practice of his messenger Muhammad. Qutb identifies with this strongly throughout the book, and makes clear the motivations for such a position. It is channelling the prophet Muhammad himself with his overthrowing and domination of the social and political order of Yathrib post Hijrah. With what would be called al qaeda (the base) established in Yathrib by Muhammad and his companions, Qutb saw the spread of Islam by jihad and dawah in these early years as the means to which liberation would be spread to humanity, and evokes a chillingly powerful call for believers to strive forth in establishing such a community of believers again before, as it can be rightly assumed, making jihad their calling as Muhammad and the Rashidun did in the earliest years of Islam.

Whoever wants to understand political system of islam must read

Essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the origins of political Islam. This book was a key text of Mr bin Laden, and enables anyone seriously interested to understand Muslim brotherhood and what fires up today's jihadis. Star rating is for cognising and does not imply approval.