Qutb, Sayyid

The saying that the pen is mightier than the sword' accurately describes the life-story of Sayyid Qutb. Trained as a teacher, he raised his voice--indeed his pen--against unIslamic ideologies, which he termed as 'jahiliyyah' (ignorance), gripping the Muslim world. He also wrote novels, poems, autobiographies and literary critcisms. He later became active in Egypt's Ikhwanul Muslimun organisation. In 1954, he was arrested by the Egyptian secret service and was tortured for hours. It was during his long confinements in prison that he completed his magnum opus, In the Shade of the Qur'an. On Augu...