The Power of Sovereignty explores the religio-political and philosophical concepts of Sayyid Qutb, one of the most influential political thinkers for contemporary Islamists and who has greatly influenced the likes of Osama Bin Laden. Executed by the Egyptian state in 1966, his books continue to be read and his theory of jahiliyya 'ignorance' is still of prime importance for radical Islamic groups.

Providing a detailed perspective of Sayyid Qutb's writings, this book examines:

• the relation between the specifics of the concept of hakimiyyah and that of...

Sayyid Qutb is widely considered an ideologue of the radical Islamist movements in the present world. His writings and, in particular, his theory of jahiliyyah was viewed as a threat to the nationalistic regimes in the Muslim world from Egypt to Tashkent and is now viewed as a threat to the West and America. It is through the prism of jahiliyyah that the radical Islamist movements divide the world to Islamic and jahili camps.
Based on Qutb's own Arabic writings, The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb explains with others of Qutb's ideas, the force and intent of the Jahiliyyah...

Challenging the view of Islamic extremists and critics of Islam, this book explores the very topical issue of Islam's compatibility with democracy. It examines:

• principles of Islam's political theory and the notion of democracy therein
• the notion of democracy in medieval and modern Muslim thought
• Islam and human rights
• the contribution of Islamic legal ideas to European legal philosophy and law.

The book addresses the pressing need for a systematic show of an Islamic politics of human rights and democracy grounded in the Qur'an. The...

The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the most influential Islamist organisations today. Based in Egypt, its network includes branches in many countries of the Near and Middle East. Although the organisation has been linked to political violence in the past, it now proposes a politically moderate ideology.

The book provides an in-depth analysis of the Muslim Brotherhood during the years of al-Hudaybi's leadership, and how he sought to steer the organization away from the radical wing, inspired by Sayyid Qutb, into the more moderate Islamist organization it is today. It is his...

Offering a unique analysis of Islamist ideology, "Islamism and the West "attempts to explain how- and why-mainstream Islamist leaders have, for the past century, developed and canonized theories which depict theWest as engaged in a sophisticated conspiracy to undermine Muslim identity by cultural means, while morallycollapsing and yearning for the spiritual salvation brought by Muslim migrants.

This book demonstrates how seemingly triumphalist Islamist writings served, in fact, to legitimize pragmatic concessions undertaken by Islamists from cooperating with regimes allied with the...