The Jihadists’ Mentor

Abstract

There is widespread agreement that the Egyptian writer Sayyid Qutb (1906–1966) played a profoundly important theoretical and inspirational role in the development of contemporary Islamic jihadism. He has been called “the intellectual hero”1 of the groups that united to form al Qaeda, many of whose leaders, including Ayman al Zawahiri, were his disciples. In his writings, he offered an Islamic solution to the crises besetting the contemporary world, particularly an expanded concept of jihad that would help bring about the triumph of Islam.