Review of Sayyid Qutb's Milestones (Part 3) "We are surrounded by Jahiliyyah"

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

اللهم صلى على محمد وآل محمد

In this third instalment on my series reviewing Sayyid Qutb’s infamous Milestones we shall explore his concept of jahiliyyah. This is the Islamic term that refers to the state of ignorance that was prevalent before the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم when the country of Arabia, and indeed the entire world, was engulfed in the darkness and depravity of idolatry and polytheism. However, after the establishment of Islam in the world the term jahiliyyah is generally understood to mean the pre-Islamic period, though it may also apply to the personal histories of those individuals who convert to Islam, as a reference to their life prior to conversion. Likewise, jahiliyyah may apply to the societies, civilizations and countries of the world where the people are generally non-Muslim and are deprived of the light of Islamic monotheism and faith. However, Sayyid Qutb innovated the application of jahiliyyah to what is considered the contemporary Muslim world or Muslim societies. He considered contemporary Muslim society to be in a state of jahiliyyah, like during the pre-Islamic period, or even worse:

نحن اليوم فى جاهلية كالجاهلية التى عاصرها الاسلام أو اظلم. كل ما حولنا جاهلية. تصورات الناس وعقائدهم, عاداتهم وتقاليدهم, موارد ثقافتهم, فنونهم وآدابهم, شرائعهم وقوانينهم. حتى الكثير مما نحسبه ثقافة اسلامية, ومراجع اسلامية, وفلسفة اسلامية, وتفكيرا اسلاميا. هو كذلك من صنع هذه الجاهلية

“We are surrounded by Jahiliyyah today, which is of the same nature as it was during the first period of Islam, perhaps a little deeper. Our whole environment, people’s beliefs and ideas, habits and art, rules and laws – is Jahiliyyah, even to the extent that what we consider to be Islamic culture, Islamic sources, Islamic philosophy and Islamic thought are also constructs of Jahiliyyah!” (Ma’ālim fīl-Tarīq; pp.17-18):

The declaration that Muslim society is today in a state of jahiliyyah, possibly worse than the jahiliyyah of the pre-Islamic period, and that which Muslims consider to be Islamic culture, sources, philosophy and thought is in reality jahiliyyah, is the gateway to mass-takfir of the Ummah. Sayyid Qutb’s message is intended to radicalize Muslims and give them a sense of estrangement and separation from general Muslim society, viewing the latter as being in a state of pre-Islamic ignorance, and therefore, for all intents and purposes, a society of unbelief, like a society of idolatry or atheism.