Sayyid utub Shaheed

a serious threat to his company position, a shell from an enemy tank struck him on the right shoulder and killed W instantaneously.

Sayyid utub Shaheed

(1906-1966 AD)

Literary critic, novelist, poet, a professional educator, an islamic thinker and Egypt’s most famous Islamic activist of the twentieth century, Sayyid Qutub Ibrahim Hussain Shadhili was born on 09 October, 1906 in the village of Musha near the city of Asyut in Upper Egypt, Qutub was partially Indian extraction. He had memorized the Holy Quran at the age of ten. in either 1919 or 1921 AD, he moved to Hulwan, a suburb of Cairo and enrolled in a Teacher’s Training College in 1925 AD and graduated in 1928 AD. He had attended classes informally in 1928 and 1929 AD at the Darul Ulom (established in 1872 as a modern Egyptian university on the Western model). He was influenced by such modernists as Taha Husayn, Abbas al—Aqqad and Ahmed al-Zayyat. He was appointed as an Instructor at Darul Ulom, hut he mainly earned his living between 1933 and 1951 as an employee of the Ministry of Education, where he later held the post of Inspector for some years. In 1948, he was dispatched to the United States of America to study the Western methods of Education. He studied at Wilson’s Teacher’s College ([he University of the District of Columbia), at the University of Northern Colorado’s Teacher’s College, where he earned an

124 A. in Education, and at Stanford. University. His

trip to the United States was a defining moment for him, marking a transition from literary and educational pursuits to intense religious commitment. Although he acknowledged the economic and scientific achievements of American society, Qutub was appalled by its racism, sexual permissiveness, and pro-Zionism

Back in Egypt, Qutub refused to promotion to Advisor in the Ministry of Education and began.

writing articles for various newspapers on social and N political themes. In 1953, Qutub joined the Al- N, lkhwanal al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) and

was appointed editor of its weekly paper, Alikhwanal al-Muslimun. It is said that the Qutub was a key liaison between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Free Officers, who overthrew the monarchy in 1952- some of them, including Gamal Abdul Nasser, visited his house just before the coup, and Qutub was the sole civilian to attehd meetings of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) after the seizure ol power. However, relations between the Free Officers and the Muslim Brotherhood soon deteriorated as it became clear that each side had a different agenda. Qutub was detained in early 1954 and a. tense standoff prevailed until October 1954, when shots were fired at Nasser during a speech. in July 1955, the court sentenced him to fifteen years in prison, most of which he spent in the hospital.

Owing to intervention by Iraqi President Ahd al Salam Arif, Qutub was released in May 1964. But in August 1965 he was arrested on charges of terrorism and sedition. Despite great international pressure, the government executed Qutub and his two colleagues

on 29 August, 1966 AD. 125

1

I

I.