[nukkad] MODERN ISLAMIC THOUGHT / THINKERS

["Dr.M.C. Gupta" <>]

MODERN ISLAMIC THOUGHT / THINKERS

[Excerpted from:
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/07spring/eikmeier.pdf

“Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism
By DALE C. EIKMEIER]


1-- ABUL ALA MAUDUDI (1903-1979)

One of the founding fathers of modern Islamist thought is Abul Ala
Maududi (1903-
1979), a Deobandi alumni.14 Maududi believed the Muslim community’s decline
resulted from practicing a corrupted form of Islam contaminated by
non-Islamic ideas and culture. Maududi reminded Muslims that Islam is
more than a religion; it is a complete social system that guides and controls
every aspect of life including government.15  He believed tolerance of
non-Muslim rule and non-Islamic concepts and systems was an insult to
God. Therefore, the only way Muslims might practice pure Islam and assume
their rightful place in the world is through the establishment of Islamic
states, where Islam rules independent of non-Islamic influences. These Islamic
states would eventually spread Islam across the globe and establish
God’s reign. Maududi argued the only practical way to accomplish Islamic
rule is through jihad.

Maududi explained his concepts in Jihad in Islam.

In reality Islam is a militant ideology and programme which seeks to
alter the social
order of the whole world and rebuild it in conformity with its own tenets and
ideals. “Muslim” is the title of that International Militant Party
organized by Islam
to carry into effect its militant programme. And “Jihad” refers to that 
militant
struggle and utmost exertion which the Islamic Party brings into play to
achieve this objective.

Islam wishes to destroy all States and Governments anywhere on the face of the
earth which are opposed to the ideology and programme of Islam regardless of
the country or the Nation which rules it.

It must be evident to you from this discussion that the objective of
Islamic “Jihad”
is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system and establish in its stead an
Islamic system of State rule. Islam does not intend to confine this
revolution to
a single State or a few countries; the aim of Islam is to bring about
a universal
revolution.16

Maududi’s Jihad in Islam articulated the goals of an evolving
Islamist ideology by reiterating the strategic objective of global Islamic rule
and designating jihad as the way to achieve it. Thinkers like Hassan al Banna,
in Jihad, Muhammad Adb al Salam Faraj, The Neglected Duty, and Sayyid
Qutb, In the Shade of the Quran andMilestones espoused similar ideas
and attempted
to put them into practice.17



2. HASSAN AL BANNA (1905-1949)--


Hassan al Banna (1905-1949), founder of the al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun
(Muslim Brotherhood), believed, likeMaududi, that a revival of “pure Islam”
was the antidote to Western domination and a cure for the malady infecting the
Muslimworld.18 A charismatic leader and organizer, al Banna implemented the
Islamist vision by organizing the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 with the objective
of establishing government rule on the basis of Islamic values.19  His
approach was
gradualist rather than revolutionary. By providing basic services to
the community including schools, mosques, and factories he sought popular
support for Islamist goals through persuasion.20  However, despite this, al
Banna never articulated a practical method for taking power.21  Additionally, al
Banna’s domineering personality and micro-managerial leadership style created
a fragile organization that fragmented following his death in 1949.
Hassan al Banna’s lasting legacy was reminding Muslims that the
Quran says jihad against un-believers is an obligation of all Muslims. He also
argued that jihad was not just the defense of Muslim lands but a means “to
safeguard the mission of spreading Islam.”22  The idea of jihad to spread 
Islam
and to establish the Islamic state was then expanded by his contemporary
Sayyid Qutb.

3. SAYYID QUTB (1906-1966)--

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) is regarded by some as the founding father
and leading theoretician of the contemporary extremist movement.23  According
to William McCants of the US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism
Center, our jihadi enemies “cite Sayyid Qutb repeatedly and consider 
themselves
his intellectual descendants.”24  Qutb became one of the leading spokesmen
and thinkers of the Muslim Brotherhood, persuasively advocating the use
of violence to establish Islamic rule and like Maududi inspired thousands to
take up the cause of “establishing God’s rule on earth.”25  Unlike al 
Banna who
tried to build an Islamic society from the bottomup, Qutb changed the strategy
by developing a top-down approach that focused on removing non-Islamic rulers
and governments.

Qutb argued that the entire world, including the Muslim, was in a
state of jahiliyah, or ignorance where man’s way had replaced God’s way.26
According to Qutb, since jahiliyah and Islam cannot co-exist, offensive jihad
was necessary to destroy jahiliyah society and bring the entire world to
Islam.27  Until jahiliyah is defeated, all true Muslims have a
personal obligation
to wage offensive jihad. When Qutb added offensive jihad to the widely
accepted concept of defensive jihad, Qutb broke with mainstream Islam and
ridiculed Muslim scholars:
“Those who say that Islamic Jihad was merely for the defense of the “home 
land
of Islam” diminish the greatness of the Islamic way of life and consider it 
less
important [than] their “homeland.” . . . However, [Islamic community] 
defense
is not the ultimate objective of the Islamic movement of jihad but it
is a mean of
establishing the Divine authority within it so that it becomes the headquarters
for the movement of Islam, which is then to be carried throughout the earth to
the whole of mankind . . . “.28

Thus offensive jihad against non-Muslims in the cause of spreading
Islam and the rule of God was not only justified, it was glorious.
In addition to offensive jihad Sayyid Qutb used the Islamic concept
of “takfir” or excommunication of apostates.29  Declaring someone
takfir provided
a legal loophole around the prohibition of killing another Muslim and
in fact made it a religious obligation to execute the apostate. The obvious use
of this concept was to declare secular rulers, officials or
organizations, or any
Muslims that opposed the Islamist agenda a takfir thereby justifying
assassinations
and attacks against them. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who was later
convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center attack, invoked Qutb’s takfirist
writings during his trial for the assassination of President Anwar Sadat.30  The
takfir concept along with “offensive jihad” became a blank check for any 
Islamic
extremist to justify attacks against anyone.


-- 
Dr. M C Gupta
MD (Medicine), LL.M.,
Advocate
Member, Supreme Court Bar Association
Member, Indian Law Institute
Former Professor & Dean, NIHFW / AIIMS

mcgupta44@gmail.com
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1240497#sw

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1510547

“Doctors save patients. I save doctors. God saves me.”
[NB: I argue cases for doctors as well as for patients.]


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
We know more about war than we know of peace, more about killing than 
we know about living.  - Gen. Omar Bradley
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To join/leave, use the form at: http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/#options
This list is archived at: http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html