Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism

The Egyptian writer and radical intellectual Sayyid Qutb is arguably one of the most influential personalities in contemporary Muslim movements and his ideas have been cited by a host of militant groups from Al-Qa[ida Central to Pakistani jihadi-takfiri groups. Qutb’s writings, however, have often been selectively used by these groups and even reinterpreted so that they differ significantly from his original arguments. John Calvert, a professor of Middle East history at Creighton University, has authored a book that will become the standard scholarly study of Qutb, Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism.