The Sovereignty of Allah in the Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb - Manon Camacho

While definitions of sovereignty have varied throughout history, it has most commonly been understood as supreme authority within a territory. In Islam, Allah is considered the supreme authority on Earth.

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) was an Egyptian author, Islamic scholar and a prominent member of the Muslim brotherhood during the 1950s and 1960s. The sovereignty of Allah, Haakimiyyah, was the foundation of Qubt's ideology, which is salient to political and social issues.

Before delving into Qutb ideology, it is important to understand that religion must be interpreted moderately; in Surah An-Nisa (4:171), Allah says, “Do not exaggerate in your religion.” Thus, Qutb’s interpretation of Islam, and his application of it to politics, is rather controversial and extreme within Islamic thought.

Qutb’s manifesto, Milestones, sought to revive Islam at its purest state, free society from man-made systems, and to return to Allah’s Sovereignty, building one harmonious and equal society. In it, Qutb argues that such a society once existed as the first Islamic generation. This modelling highlights Qutb’s background in the Salafist sect, belonging to the Sunni tradition. Qutb’s interpretation on the concept of sovereignty, differing from common Western understandings, is a subject of fascination. This article traces the relationship between Islamic theology, the state and society.

First, it is worth defining that the state greatly influences society in Qutb’s ideology as the foundation of values and principles, since society is constrained by its laws and institutions. In Milestones, Qutb advocates for the necessity of political change, arguing that society has been failed by communism, capitalism, imperialism, and secularism alike. Those societies are named Jahilliyah and are characterised as rebellious against Allah’s Sovereignty. The failure of man-made systems, owing to their rejection of Allah's sovereignty and promoting materialism, indicates the consequences of straying away from our true human nature. This path leads to an unhealthy desire for superficial goods and services, producing a misalignment between our values and our actions. Instead, Qutb argues that humanity must recognise the importance of staying true to our innate nature through the centrality of Allah in our lives. Such systems are, therefore, contrary to the laws of nature, with inevitable pernicious consequences of inequality and superficiality.

Qutb emphasises the dynamism of Islam as a lifestyle, conducive to a virtuous and harmonious society capable of pursuing material progress while maintaining the importance of human nature. The importance of Islam in day-to-day affairs instils in a society the invaluable worth of human rights and morals that are vital in producing human psychological elevation and social harmony. Moreover, Qutb’s transformed Islamic community would be wholly capable of technological progress. However, Qutb acknowledges the difficulty of implementing this system in practice. He hence models his vision on the first Islamic generation and the Prophet’s companions, representing the purest societal framework rooted in Islamic principles. This first generation learned and acted on the teachings of the Qur’an and thrived in Jahili society (Roman, Persian, Chinese and Indian civilisations). Their lives were centred around Tawhid (Oneness of God), Haakimiyyah (Sovereignty of Allah), and Shari’a (institutions, laws and rules derived from the Islamic faith). This Islamic civilisation was both unified under Allah’s rules and morally elevated. They were free from the chains of oppression. In contrast, man-made laws fostered greed, envy, fear, desolation, broken spirits, corruption, alienation, and slavery. Qutb believed that to promote technological progress, it was crucial to achieve a harmonious relationship with human nature and promote equality. However, he emphasised the importance of first elevating individuals psychologically to prevent feelings of alienation. Qutb suggested that humanity could maintain their psychological well-being by controlling material desires. While he accepted technological innovation, Qutb maintained that human nature should take precedence and could only be achieved by Allah’s rules firmly grounded in the Shari’a.

Social implications

Qutb argued that once all barriers to the sovereignty of Allah were removed, political entities would be free to understand Islam and act upon it. With this logic, society must be established upon Allah’s law. Qutb invokes the design argument; the perfection of the universe gives us reason to strive to establish an ideal society based on the Shari’a. From this perspective, Allah, as the Sovereign of the Universe, formulated a universal law, governing nature, and humanity alike. The Shari’a, as the divine order, highlights the importance of equality between humans, in which no man should have sovereignty over another.

From placing Haakimiyyah at the centre of the Muslim lifestyle, all affairs are based on the worship of Allah alone. This, in turn, dictates the individual’s character, beliefs and actions. Such a lifestyle psychologically elevates individuals, connecting them to their human nature and liberating them from corruption. Communities are organised favorably towards wealth and material progress with the advocated reforms fostering social harmony and reducing inequality. To support this idea, Qutb points out that the first Islamic society generation was a patchwork of Arabs, Persians, Syrians and Egyptians. This community, with their ‘their various characteristics’, were ‘united and ‘with cooperation, harmony, and unity, they took part in constructing the Islamic community and culture’. It was never a ‘nationality’ but rather, a community of belief’ (Qutb, 1993). Qutb argues if everyone had a pure and strong Islamic faith and recognised Allah’s Sovereignty, they would inherently act in accordance with the Shari’a and punishment would be reserved for exceptional and extreme cases. In this model, faith characterises the relationship between individuals in society.

This ideology is challenged by numerous factors, for example, the marginalisation of non-Muslims. The plurality within the Islamic community additionally counters Qutb’s argument as it means that interpretations of religious texts vary profoundly. The religion is divided into two main currents: Shi’a and Sunni. The latter group recognises the Qur’an, Sunnah and Hadith as their primary religious scriptures. Within the Sunni community are four dominant schools of thought: the Hanafi, Malikii, Shafi'i, and Hanbalii. Furthermore, various Sunni movements, including Sufi and Salafism, have added to the nuanced interpretations. Qutb is a Salafist reformer advocating a return to early Islam's original practices and beliefs whilst also seeking to adapt these principles into the contemporary context (March, 1993). Milestones became one of the most influential texts forwarding this line of thought, leading to the influence of the controversial Muslim Brotherhood.

On the other hand, Shari’a is dependent on the interpretation and implementation of men, never to be as perfect as Allah, thus we must read it with moderation and good sense. Qubt's ideology is further weakened by the fact that this model of a harmonious society requires authoritarian means to implement, in a manner not dissimilar to that suggested in Plato's 'Republic', where philosopher-kings must steer society to their optimal state.

References

Qtub, S. (2006). Milestones. Maktabah

Publications

March, A. F. (2010). Taking People As They Are: Islam As a “Realistic Utopia” in the Political Theory of Sayyid Qutb. The American Political Science Review, 104(1), 189–207.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/27798546

Philpott, D. (2020, September 21)

Sovereignty. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved December 2023, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignt y/.