The Historical Contingency of Islamist Discourse in Egypt: Sayyid Qutb and the Muslim Brotherhood

Description

Since its foundation in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood has been guided by realism and open to change within the framework of its ideology. This flexibility is nowhere more evident than in the career and ideas of Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), the Muslim Brotherhood’s most important thinker during the middle decades of the twentieth century. This paper examines the historical contingency of Qutb’s thought, tracing its evolution in relation to Egypt’s evolving political field over the periods of the Old Regime and the Nasserist ascendency. In addition, it examines Qutb’s legacy. Although the current generation of Muslim Brothers explicitly disavows Qutb’s confrontational attitude, his ideological revisions fed the jihadi current that began in the 1980s and culminated in Al Qaeda. The paper concludes by suggesting that current developments within the Muslim Brotherhood continue to be shaped by political opportunities and constraints.