Syed Qutb
wrote a diatribe condemning the culture of 1950s America
Egyptian Sunni Moslem
1948-1950 student in the U.S.
After spending some time in the US in the late 1940s, Syed became convinced that as a copuntry Americans were obsessed with acquisition of even trivial status symbols such as green lawns without having the vaguest notion of what is important to nourishing their souls.
Milestones (1964)
imprisoned and executed in 1966 by Egyptian President G. A. Nasser
"American society is losing its souls due to excessive materialism."
Sayyid Qutb:
The Man, His Life, and His Significance
Sayyid Qutb was born in 1906 in the province of Asyut, which is located in southern Egypt. His parents were both deeply religious people who were well-known in the area. From his years as a young child until the age of 27, he experienced a rigorous education. Qutb’s evident desire for knowledge continued throughout his life. He began his elementary education in a religious school located in his hometown village. By the age of 10, he had already committed the entire text of the Qur’an to memory.1
After transferring to a more modern government-sponsored school, Qutb graduated primary school in 1918. Due to his interests in education and teaching, Qutb enrolled into a teacher’s college and graduated in 1928. Next, he was admitted into Dar al-Ulum, a Western-style university which was also attended by Hasan al-Banna, an Arab-Islamic leader who Qutb would later join in the Muslim Brotherhood.
