The Philosopher of Islamic Terror

By PAUL BERMAN

I. In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, many people anticipated a quick and satisfying American victory over Al Qaeda. he terrorist army !as thought to "e no "igger than a pirate ship, and the ne!ly vigilant police forces of the entire !orld !ere going to sink the ship !ith s!ift arrests and dark maneuvers. Al Qaeda !as driven from its "ases in Afghanistan. Arrests and maneuvers duly occurred and are still occurring. #ust this month, one of $sama "in %aden&s top lieutenants !as na""ed in 'akistan. 'olice agents, as I !rite, seem to "e hot on the trail of "in %aden himself, or so reports suggest. (et Al Qaeda has seemed unfa)ed. Its popularity, !hich !as hard to imagine at first, has turned out to "e large and genuine in more than a fe! countries. Al Qaeda upholds a paranoid and apocalyptic !orldvie!, according to !hich &&*rusaders and +ionists&& have "een conspiring for centuries to destroy Islam. And this !orldvie! turns out to "e !idely accepted in many places ,, a !orldvie! that allo!ed many millions of people to regard the Sept. 11 attacks as an Israeli conspiracy, or perhaps a *.I.A. conspiracy, to undo Islam. -in %aden&s soulful, "earded face peers out from ,shirts and posters in a num"er of countries, quite as if he !ere the ne! *he .uevara, the mythic righter of cosmic !rongs. he vigilant police in many countries, applying themselves at last, have raided a num"er of /uslim charities and Islamic "anks, !hich stand accused of su"sidi)ing the terrorists. hese raids have advanced the !ar on still another front, !hich has "een good to see. -ut the raids have also sho!n that Al Qaeda is not only popular0 it is also institutionally solid, !ith a !orld!ide net!ork of clandestine resources. his is not the Sym"ionese %i"eration Army. his is an organi)ation !ith ties to the ruling elites in a num"er of countries0 an organi)ation that, !ere it given the chance to strike up an alliance !ith Saddam 1ussein&s -aath movement, !ould "e dou"ly terrifying0 an organi)ation that, in any case, !ill surely survive the outcome in Iraq. o anyone !ho has looked closely enough, Al Qaeda and its sister organi)ations plainly en2oy yet another strength, argua"ly the greatest strength of all, something truly imposing ,, though in the 3estern press this final strength has received very little attention. -in %aden is a Saudi plutocrat !ith (emeni ancestors, and most of the suicide !arriors of Sept. 11 !ere like!ise Saudis, and the provenance of those people has focused everyone&s attention on the Ara"ian peninsula. -ut Al Qaeda has "roader roots. he organi)ation !as created in the late 1450&s "y an affiliation of three armed factions ,, "in %aden&s circle of &&Afghan&& Ara"s, together !ith t!o factions from 6gypt, the Islamic .roup and 6gyptian Islamic #ihad, the latter led "y 7r. Ayman al,+a!ahiri, Al Qaeda&s top theoretician. he 6gyptian factions emerged from an older current, a school of thought from !ithin 6gypt&s fundamentalist movement, the /uslim -rotherhood, in the 1480&s and 90&s. And at the heart of that single school of thought stood, until his e:ecution in 1499, a philosopher named Sayyid Qut" ,, the intellectual hero of every one

of the groups that eventually !ent into Al Qaeda, their ;arl /ar: <to put it that !ay=, their guide. Qut" <pronounced ;>1,tah"= !rote a "ook called &&/ilestones,&& and that "ook !as cited at his trial, !hich gave it immense pu"licity, especially after its author !as hanged. &&/ilestones&& "ecame a classic manifesto of the terrorist !ing of Islamic fundamentalism. A num"er of 2ournalists have dutifully turned the pages of &&/ilestones,&& trying to decipher the other!ise inscruta"le terrorist point of vie!. I have "een reading some of Qut"&s other "ooks, and I think that &&/ilestones&& may have misled the 2ournalists. &&/ilestones&& is a fairly shallo! "ook, 2udged in isolation. -ut &&/ilestones&& !as dra!n from his vast commentary on the ;oran called &&In the Shade of the Qur&an.&& $ne of the many volumes of this giant !ork !as translated into 6nglish in the 14?0&s and pu"lished "y the 3orld Assem"ly of /uslim (outh, an organi)ation later !idely suspected of participation in terrorist attacks ,, and an organi)ation !hose 3ashington office !as run "y a "rother of "in %aden&s. In the last four years a "ig effort has "een mounted "y another organi)ation, the Islamic @oundation in 6ngland, to "ring out the rest, in !hat !ill eventually "e an edition of 18 fat 6nglish,language volumes, handsomely ornamented !ith Ara"ic script from the ;oran. #ust in these past fe! !eeks a num"er of ne! volumes in this edition have made their !ay into the Ara" "ookshops of -rooklyn, and I have go""led them up. -y no! I have made my !ay through a little less than half of &&In the Shade of the Qur&an,&& !hich I think is all that e:ists so far in 6nglish, together !ith three other "ooks "y Qut". And I have something to report. Qut" is not shallo!. Qut" is deep. &&In the Shade of the Qur&an&& is, in its fashion, a master!ork. Al Qaeda and its sister organi)ations are not merely popular, !ealthy, glo"al, !ell connected and institutionally sophisticated. hese groups stand on a set of ideas too, and some of those ideas may "e pathological, !hich is an old story in modern politics0 yet even so, the ideas are po!erful. 3e should have kno!n that, of course. -ut !e should have kno!n many things. II. Qut"&s special a"ility as a !riter came from the fact that, as a young "oy, he received a traditional /uslim education ,, he committed the ;oran to memory "y the age of 10 ,, yet he !ent on, at a college in *airo, to receive a modern, secular education. 1e !as "orn in 1409, and in the 1420&s and A0&s he took up socialism and literature. 1e !rote novels, poems and a "ook that is still said to "e !ell regarded called &&%iterary *riticismB Its 'rinciples and /ethodology.&& 1is !ritings reflected ,, here I quote one of his admirers and translators, 1amid Algar of the >niversity of *alifornia at -erkeley ,, a &&3estern, tinged outlook on cultural and literary questions.&& Qut" displayed &&traces of individualism and e:istentialism.&& 1e even traveled to the >nited States in the late 14C0&s, enrolled at the *olorado State *ollege of 6ducation and earned a master&s degree. In some of the accounts of Qut"&s life, this trip to America is pictured as a ghastly trauma, mostly "ecause of America&s se:ual freedoms, !hich sent him reeling "ack to 6gypt in a mood of hatred and fear.

I am skeptical of that interpretation, though. 1is "ook from the 14C0&s, &&Social #ustice and Islam,&& sho!s that, even "efore his voyage to America, he !as pretty !ell set in his Islamic fundamentalism. It is true that, after his return to 6gypt, he veered into ever more radical directions. -ut in the early 1480&s, everyone in 6gypt !as veering in radical directions. .amal A"del Dasser and a group of nationalist army officers overthre! the old king in 1482 and launched a nationalist revolution on 'an,Ara"ist grounds. And, as the 'an,Ara"ists !ent a"out promoting their revolution, Sayyid Qut" !ent a"out promoting his o!n, some!hat different revolution. 1is idea !as &&Islamist.&& 1e !anted to turn Islam into a political movement to create a ne! society, to "e "ased on ancient ;oranic principles. Qut" 2oined the /uslim -rotherhood, "ecame the editor of its 2ournal and esta"lished himself right a!ay as Islamism&s principal theoretician in the Ara" !orld. he Islamists and the 'an,Ara"ists tried to cooperate !ith one another in 6gypt in those days, and there !as some "asis for doing so. -oth movements dreamed of rescuing the Ara" !orld from the legacies of 6uropean imperialism. -oth groups dreamed of crushing +ionism and the "rand,ne! #e!ish state. -oth groups dreamed of fashioning a ne! kind of modernity, !hich !as not going to "e li"eral and freethinking in the 3estern style "ut, even so, !as going to "e up,to,date on economic and scientific issues. And "oth movements dreamed of doing all this "y returning in some fashion to the glories of the Ara" past. -oth movements !anted to resurrect, in a modern version, the ancient Islamic caliphate of the seventh century, !hen the Ara"s !ere conquering the !orld. he Islamists and the 'an,Ara"ists could "e compared, in these am"itions, !ith the Italian @ascists of /ussolini&s time, !ho !anted to resurrect the Eoman 6mpire, and to the Da)is, !ho like!ise !anted to resurrect ancient Eome, e:cept in a .erman version. he most radical of the 'an,Ara"ists openly admired the Da)is and pictured their proposed ne! caliphate as a racial victory of the Ara"s over all other ethnic groups. Qut" and the Islamists, "y !ay of contrast, pictured the resurrected caliphate as a theocracy, strictly enforcing shariah, the legal code of the ;oran. he Islamists and the 'an,Ara"ists had their similarities then, and their differences. <And today those t!o movements still have their similarities and differences ,, as sho!n "y "in %aden&s Qaeda, !hich represents the most violent !ing of Islamism, and Saddam 1ussein&s -aath 'arty, !hich represents the most violent !ing of 'an,Ara"ism.= In 1482, in the days "efore staging his coup d&etat, *olonel Dasser is said to have paid a visit to Qut" at his home, presuma"ly to get his "acking. Some people e:pected that, after taking po!er, Dasser !ould appoint Qut" to "e the ne! revolutionary minister of education. -ut once the 'an,Ara"ists had thro!n out the old king, the differences "et!een the t!o movements "egan to over!helm the similarities, and Qut" !as not appointed. Instead, Dasser cracked do!n on the /uslim -rotherhood, and after someone tried to assassinate him, he "lamed the -rotherhood and cracked do!n even harder. Some of the /uslim -rotherhood&s most distinguished intellectuals and theologians escaped into e:ile. Sayyid Qut"&s "rother, /uhammad Qut", !as one of those people. 1e fled to Saudi Ara"ia and ended up as a distinguished Saudi professor of Islamic Studies. /any years later, $sama "in %aden !ould "e one of /uhammad Qut"&s students.

-ut Sayyid Qut" stayed put and paid dearly for his stu""ornness. Dasser 2ailed him in 148C, "riefly released him, 2ailed him again for 10 years, released him for a fe! months and finally hanged him in 1499. *onditions during the first years of prison !ere especially "ad. Qut" !as tortured. 6ven in "etter times, according to his follo!ers, he !as locked in a !ard !ith C0 people, most of them criminals, !ith a tape recorder "roadcasting the speeches of Dasser 20 hours a day. Still, "y smuggling papers in and out of 2ail, he managed to continue !ith his !ritings, no longer in the &&3estern tinged&& vein of his early, literary days "ut no! as a full,fledged Islamist revolutionary. And someho!, he produced his &&In the Shade of the Qur&an,&& this gigantic study, !hich must surely count as one of the most remarka"le !orks of prison literature ever produced. Eeaders !ithout a /uslim education !ho try to make their !ay unaided through the ;oran tend to find it, as I have, a little dry and for"idding. -ut Qut"&s commentaries are not at all like that. 1e quotes passages from the chapters, or suras, of the ;oran, and he pores over the quoted passages, o"serving the prosodic qualities of the te:t, the rhythm, tone and musicality of the !ords, sometimes the images. he suras lead him to discuss dietary regulations, the proper direction to pray, the rules of divorce, the question of !hen a man may propose marriage to a !ido! <four months and 10 days after the death of her hus"and, unless she is pregnant, in !hich case after delivery=, the rules concerning a /uslim man !ho !ishes to marry a *hristian or a #e! <very complicated=, the o"ligations of charity, the punishment for crimes and for "reaking your !ord, the prohi"ition on liquor and into:icants, the proper clothing to !ear, the rules on usury, moneylending and a thousand other themes. he ;oran tells stories, and Qut" recounts some of these and remarks on their !isdom and significance. 1is tone is al!ays lucid and plain. (et the total effect of his !riting is almost sensual in its measured pace. he very title &&In the Shade of the Qur&an&& conveys a vivid desert image, as if the ;oran !ere a leafy palm tree, and !e have only to open Qut"&s pages to escape the hot sun and refresh ourselves in the shade. As he makes his !ay through the suras and proposes his other commentaries, he slo!ly constructs an enormous theological criticism of modern life, and not 2ust in 6gypt. III. Qut" !rote that, all over the !orld, humans had reached a moment of un"eara"le crisis. he human race had lost touch !ith human nature. /an&s inspiration, intelligence and morality !ere degenerating. Se:ual relations !ere deteriorating &&to a level lo!er than the "easts.&& /an !as misera"le, an:ious and skeptical, sinking into idiocy, insanity and crime. 'eople !ere turning, in their unhappiness, to drugs, alcohol and e:istentialism. Qut" admired economic productivity and scientific kno!ledge. -ut he did not think that !ealth and science !ere rescuing the human race. 1e figured that, on the contrary, the richest countries !ere the unhappiest of all. And !hat !as the cause of this unhappiness ,, this !retched split "et!een man&s truest nature and modern lifeF A great many cultural critics in 6urope and America asked this question in the middle years of the 20th century, and a great many of them, follo!ing Diet)sche and other philosophers, pointed to the origins of 3estern civili)ation in ancient .reece, !here man !as said to have made his fatal error. his error !as philosophical. It consisted of placing

an arrogant and deluded faith in the po!er of human reason ,, an arrogant faith that, after many centuries, had created in modern times a tyranny of technology over life. Qut" shared that analysis, some!hat. $nly instead of locating the error in ancient .reece, he located it in ancient #erusalem. In the /uslim fashion, Qut" looked on the teachings of #udaism as "eing divinely revealed "y .od to /oses and the other prophets. #udaism instructed man to !orship one .od and to fors!ear all others. #udaism instructed man on ho! to "ehave in every sphere of life ,, ho! to live a !orldly e:istence that !as also a life at one !ith .od. his could "e done "y o"eying a system of divinely mandated la!s, the code of /oses. In Qut"&s vie!, ho!ever, #udaism !ithered into !hat he called &&a system of rigid and lifeless ritual.&& .od sent another prophet, though. hat prophet, in Qut"&s /uslim !ay of thinking, !as #esus, !ho proposed a fe! useful reforms ,, lifting some no,longer necessary restrictions in the #e!ish dietary code, for e:ample ,, and also an admira"le ne! spirituality. -ut something terri"le occurred. he relation "et!een #esus& follo!ers and the #e!s took, in Qut"&s vie!, &&a deplora"le course.&& #esus& follo!ers squa""led !ith the old,line #e!s, and amid the mutual recriminations, #esus& message ended up "eing diluted and even perverted. #esus& disciples and follo!ers !ere persecuted, !hich meant that, in their sufferings, the disciples !ere never a"le to provide an adequate or systematic e:position of #esus& message. 3ho "ut Sayyid Qut", from his misera"le prison in Dasser&s 6gypt, could have )eroed in so plausi"ly on the difficulties encountered "y #esus& disciples in getting out the !ordF Qut" figured that, as a result, the *hristian .ospels !ere "adly gar"led, and should not "e regarded as accurate or relia"le. he .ospels declared #esus to "e divine, "ut in Qut"&s /uslim account, #esus !as a mere human ,, a prophet of .od, not a messiah. he larger catastrophe, ho!ever, !as thisB #esus& disciples, o!ing to !hat Qut" called &&this unpleasant separation of the t!o parties,&& !ent too far in re2ecting the #e!ish teachings. #esus& disciples and follo!ers, the *hristians, emphasi)ed #esus& divine message of spirituality and love. -ut they re2ected #udaism&s legal system, the code of /oses, !hich regulated every 2ot and tittle of daily life. Instead, the early *hristians imported into *hristianity the philosophy of the .reeks ,, the "elief in a spiritual e:istence completely separate from physical life, a )one of pure spirit. In the fourth century of the *hristian era, 6mperor *onstantine converted the Eoman 6mpire to *hristianity. -ut *onstantine, in Qut"&s interpretation, did this in a spirit of pagan hypocrisy, dominated "y scenes of !antonness, half,naked girls, gems and precious metals. *hristianity, having a"andoned the /osaic code, could put up no defense. And so, in their horror at Eoman morals, the *hristians did as "est they could and countered the imperial de"aucheries !ith a cult of monastic asceticism. -ut this !as no good at all. /onastic asceticism stands at odds !ith the physical quality of human nature. In this manner, in Qut"&s vie!, *hristianity lost touch !ith the physical !orld. he old code of /oses, !ith its la!s for diet, dress, marriage, se: and everything

else, had enfolded the divine and the !orldly into a single concept, !hich !as the !orship of .od. -ut *hristianity divided these things into t!o, the sacred and the secular. *hristianity said, &&Eender unto *aesar !hat is *aesar&s and unto .od !hat is .od&s.&& *hristianity put the physical !orld in one corner and the spiritual !orld in another cornerB *onstantine&s de"auches over here, monastic renunciation over there. In Qut"&s vie! there !as a &&hideous schi)ophrenia&& in this approach to life. And things got !orse. A series of *hristian religious councils adopted !hat Qut" thought to "e irrational principles on *hristianity&s "ehalf ,, principles regarding the nature of #esus, the 6ucharist, transu"stantiation and other questions, all of !hich !ere, in Qut"&s vie!, &&a"solutely incomprehensi"le, inconceiva"le and incredi"le.&& *hurch teachings fro)e the irrational principles into dogma. And then the ultimate crisis struck. IG. Qut"&s story no! shifts to Ara"ia. In the seventh century, .od delivered a ne! revelation to his prophet /uhammad, !ho esta"lished the correct, nondistorted relation to human nature that had al!ays eluded the *hristians. /uhammad dictated a strict ne! legal code, !hich put religion once more at ease in the physical !orld, e:cept in a "etter !ay than ever "efore. /uhammad&s prophecies, in the ;oran, instructed man to "e .od&s &&vice regent&& on earth ,, to take charge of the physical !orld, and not simply to see it as something alien to spirituality or as a !ay station on the road to a *hristian afterlife. /uslim scientists in the /iddle Ages took this instruction seriously and !ent a"out inquiring into the nature of physical reality. And, in the Islamic universities of Andalusia and the 6ast, the /uslim scientists, deepening their inquiry, hit upon the inductive or scientific method ,, !hich opened the door to all further scientific and technological progress. In this and many other !ays, Islam sei)ed the leadership of mankind. >nfortunately, the /uslims came under attack from *rusaders, /ongols and other enemies. And, "ecause the /uslims proved not faithful enough to /uhammad&s revelations, they !ere una"le to fend off these attacks. hey !ere una"le to capitali)e on their "rilliant discovery of the scientific method. he /uslim discoveries !ere e:ported instead into *hristian 6urope. And there, in 6urope in the 19th century, Islam&s scientific method "egan to generate results, and modern science emerged. -ut *hristianity, !ith its insistence on putting the physical !orld and the spiritual !orld in different corners, could not cope !ith scientific progress. And so *hristianity&s ina"ility to ackno!ledge or respect the physical quality of daily life spread into the realm of culture and shaped society&s attitude to!ard science. As Qut" sa! it, 6uropeans, under *hristianity&s influence, "egan to picture .od on one side and science on the other. Eeligion over here0 intellectual inquiry over there. $n one side, the natural human yearning for .od and for a divinely ordered life0 on the other side, the natural human desire for kno!ledge of the physical universe. he church against science0 the scientists against the church. 6verything that Islam kne! to "e one, the *hristian *hurch divided into t!o. And, under these terri"le pressures, the 6uropean mind split finally asunder. he "reak "ecame total. *hristianity, over here0 atheism, over there. It !as the fateful divorce "et!een the sacred and the secular.

6urope&s scientific and technical achievements allo!ed the 6uropeans to dominate the !orld. And the 6uropeans inflicted their &&hideous schi)ophrenia&& on peoples and cultures in every corner of the glo"e. hat !as the origin of modern misery ,, the an:iety in contemporary society, the sense of drift, the purposelessness, the craving for false pleasures. he crisis of modern life !as felt "y every thinking person in the *hristian 3est. -ut then again, 6urope&s leadership of mankind inflicted that crisis on every thinking person in the /uslim !orld as !ell. 1ere Qut" !as on to something original. he *hristians of the 3est under!ent the crisis of modern life as a consequence, he thought, of their o!n theological tradition ,, a result of nearly 2,000 years of ecclesiastical error. -ut in Qut"&s account, the /uslims had to undergo that same e:perience "ecause it had "een imposed on them "y *hristians from a"road, !hich could only make the e:perience dou"ly painful ,, an alienation that !as also a humiliation. hat !as Qut"&s analysis. In !riting a"out modern life, he put his finger on something that every thinking person can recogni)e, if only vaguely ,, the feeling that human nature and modern life are someho! at odds. -ut Qut" evoked this feeling in a specifically /uslim fashion. It is easy to imagine that, in e:pounding on these themes "ack in the 1480&s and 90&s, Qut" had already identified the kind of personal agony that /ohamed Atta and the suicide !arriors of Sept. 11 must have e:perienced in our o!n time. It !as the agony of inha"iting a modern !orld of li"eral ideas and achievements !hile feeling that true life e:ists some!here else. It !as the agony of !alking do!n a modern side!alk !hile dreaming of a different universe altogether, located in the ;oranic past ,, the agony of "eing pulled this !ay and that. he present, the past. he secular, the sacred. he freely chosen, the religiously mandated ,, a life of confusion unto madness "rought on, Qut" ventured, "y *hristian error. Sitting in a !retched 6gyptian prison, surrounded "y criminals and composing his ;oranic commentaries !ith Dasser&s speeches "laring in the "ackground on the infuriating tape recorder, Qut" kne! !hom to "lame. 1e "lamed the early *hristians. 1e "lamed *hristianity&s modern legacy, !hich !as the li"eral idea that religion should stay in one corner and secular life in another corner. 1e "lamed the #e!s. In his interpretation, the #e!s had sho!n themselves to "e eternally ungrateful to .od. 6arly in their history, during their 6gyptian captivity <Qut" thought he kne! a thing or t!o a"out 6gyptian captivity=, the #e!s acquired a slavish character, he "elieved. As a result they "ecame craven and unprincipled !hen po!erless, and vicious and arrogant !hen po!erful. And these traits !ere eternal. he #e!s occupy huge portions of Qut"&s ;oranic commentary ,, their perfidy, greed, hatefulness, dia"olical impulses, never,ending conspiracies and plots against /uhammad and Islam. Qut" !as relentless on these themes. 1e looked on +ionism as part of the eternal campaign "y the #e!s to destroy Islam. And Qut" "lamed one other party. 1e "lamed the /uslims !ho had gone along !ith *hristianity&s errors ,, the treacherous /uslims !ho had inflicted *hristianity&s &&schi)ophrenia&& on the !orld of Islam. And, "ecause he !as !illing to "lame, Qut" !as a"le to recommend a course of action too ,, a revolutionary program that !as going to relieve the psychological pressure of modern life and !as going to put man at ease !ith the natural !orld and !ith .od.

G. Qut"&s analysis !as soulful and heartfelt. It !as a theological analysis, "ut in its cultural emphases, it reflected the style of 20th,century philosophy. he analysis asked some genuinely perple:ing questions ,, a"out the division "et!een mind and "ody in 3estern thought0 a"out the difficulties in striking a "alance "et!een sensual e:perience and spiritual elevation0 a"out the steely impersonality of modern po!er and technological innovation0 a"out social in2ustice. -ut, though Qut" plainly follo!ed some main trends of 20th,century 3estern social criticism and philosophy, he poured his ideas through a filter of ;oranic commentary, and the filter gave his commentary a grainy ne! te:ture, authentically /uslim, !hich allo!ed him to make a series of points that no 3estern thinker !as likely to propose. $ne of those points had to do !ith !omen&s role in society ,, and these passages in his !ritings have "een misinterpreted, I think, in some of the 3estern commentaries on Qut". 1is attitude !as prudish in the e:treme, 2udged from a 3estern perspective of today. -ut prudishness !as not his motivation. 1e understood quite clearly that, in a li"eral society, !omen !ere free to consult their o!n hearts and to pursue careers in quest of material !ealth. -ut from his point of vie!, this could only mean that !omen had shucked their responsi"ility to shape the human character, through child,rearing. he 3estern notion of !omen&s freedom could only mean that .od and the natural order of life had "een set aside in favor of a "elief in other sources of authority, like one&s o!n heart. -ut !hat did it mean to recogni)e the e:istence of more than one source of authorityF It meant paganism ,, a "ack!ard step, into the heathen primitivism of the past. It meant life !ithout reference to .od ,, a life !ith no prospect of "eing satisfactory or fulfilling. And !hy had the li"eral societies of the 3est lost sight of the natural harmony of gender roles and of !omen&s place in the family and the homeF his !as "ecause of the &&hideous schi)ophrenia&& of modern life ,, the 3estern outlook that led people to picture .od&s domain in one place and the ordinary "usiness of daily life in some other place. Qut" !rote "itterly a"out 6uropean imperialism, !hich he regarded as nothing more than a continuation of the medieval *rusades against Islam. 1e denounced American foreign policy. 1e complained a"out America&s decision in the time of 1arry ruman to support the +ionists, a strange decision that he attri"uted, in part, to America&s loss of moral values. -ut I must point out that, in Qut"&s !ritings, at least in the many volumes that I have read, the complaints a"out American policy are relatively fe! and fleeting. International politics !as simply not his main concern. Sometimes he complained a"out the hypocrisy in America&s endless "oasts a"out freedom and democracy. 1e mentioned America&s e:termination of its Indian population. 1e noted the racial pre2udice against "lacks. -ut those !ere not Qut"&s themes, finally. American hypocrisy e:ercised him, "ut only slightly. 1is deepest quarrel !as not !ith America&s failure to uphold its principles. 1is quarrel !as !ith the principles. 1e opposed the >nited States "ecause it !as a li"eral society, not "ecause the >nited States failed to "e a li"eral society.

he truly dangerous element in American life, in his estimation, !as not capitalism or foreign policy or racism or the unfortunate cult of !omen&s independence. he truly dangerous element lay in America&s separation of church and state ,, the modern political legacy of *hristianity&s ancient division "et!een the sacred and the secular. his !as not a political criticism. his !as theological ,, though Qut", or perhaps his translators, preferred the !ord &&ideological.&& he conflict "et!een the 3estern li"eral countries and the !orld of Islam, he e:plained, &&remains in essence one of ideology, although over the years it has appeared in various guises and has gro!n more sophisticated and, at times, more insidious.&& he sophisticated and insidious disguises tended to "e !orldly ,, a camouflage that !as intended to make the conflict appear to "e economic, political or military, and that !as intended to make /uslims like himself !ho insisted on speaking a"out religion appear to "e, in his !ords, &&fanatics&& and &&"ack!ard people.&& &&-ut in reality,&& he e:plained, &&the confrontation is not over control of territory or economic resources, or for military domination. If !e "elieved that, !e !ould play into our enemies& hands and !ould have no one "ut ourselves to "lame for the consequences.&& he true confrontation, the deepest confrontation of all, !as over Islam and nothing "ut Islam. Eeligion !as the issue. Qut" could hardly "e clearer on this topic. he confrontation arose from the effort "y *rusaders and !orld +ionism to annihilate Islam. he *rusaders and +ionists kne! that *hristianity and #udaism !ere inferior to Islam and had led to lives of misery. hey needed to annihilate Islam in order to rescue their o!n doctrines from e:tinction. And so the *rusaders and +ionists !ent on the attack. -ut this attack !as not, at "ottom, military. At least Qut" did not devote his energies to !arning against such a danger. Dor did he spend much time !orrying a"out the ins and outs of Israel&s struggle !ith the 'alestinians. -order disputes did not concern him. 1e !as focused on something cosmically larger. 1e !orried, instead, that people !ith li"eral ideas !ere mounting a gigantic campaign against Islam ,, &&an effort to confine Islam to the emotional and ritual circles, and to "ar it from participating in the activity of life, and to check its complete predominance over every human secular activity, a pre,eminence it earns "y virtue of its nature and function.&& 1e trem"led !ith rage at that effort. And he cited good historical evidence for his trem"ling rage. urkey, an authentic /uslim country, had em"raced secular ideas "ack in 142C. urkey&s revolutionary leader at that time, ;emal Ataturk, a"olished the institutional remnants of the ancient caliphate ,, the caliphate that Qut" so fervently !anted to resurrect. he urks in this fashion had tried to a"olish the very idea and memory of an Islamic state. Qut" !orried that, if secular reformers in other /uslim countries had any success, Islam !as going to "e pushed into a corner, separate from the state. rue Islam !as going to end up as partial Islam. -ut partial Islam, in his vie!, did not e:ist.

he secular reformers !ere already at !ork, throughout the /uslim !orld. hey !ere mounting their offensive ,, &&a final offensive !hich is actually taking place no! in all the /uslim countries. . . . It is an effort to e:terminate this religion as even a "asic creed and to replace it !ith secular conceptions having their o!n implications, values, institutions and organi)ations.&& && o e:terminate&& ,, that !as Qut"&s phrase. 1ysteria cried out from every sylla"le. -ut he did not !ant to "e hysterical. 1e !anted to respond. 1o!F GI. hat one question dominated Qut"&s life. It !as a theological question, and he ans!ered it !ith his volumes on the ;oran. -ut he intended his theology to "e practical too ,, to offer a revolutionary program to save mankind. he first step !as to open people&s eyes. 1e !anted /uslims to recogni)e the nature of the danger ,, to recogni)e that Islam had come under assault from outside the /uslim !orld and also from inside the /uslim !orld. he assault from outside !as led "y *rusaders and !orld +ionism <though sometimes he also mentioned *ommunism=. -ut the assault from inside !as conducted "y /uslims themselves ,, that is, "y people !ho called themselves /uslims "ut !ho polluted the /uslim !orld !ith incompati"le ideas derived from else!here. hese several enemies, internal and e:ternal, the false /uslims together !ith the *rusaders and +ionists, ruled the earth. -ut Qut" considered that Islam&s strength !as, even so, huger yet. &&3e are certain,&& he !rote, &&that this religion of Islam is so intrinsically genuine, so colossal and deeply rooted that all such efforts and "rutal concussions !ill avail nothing.&& Islam&s apparent !eakness !as mere appearance. Islam&s true champions seemed to "e fe!, "ut num"ers meant nothing. he fe! had to gather themselves together into !hat Qut" in &&/ilestones&& called a vanguard ,, a term that he must have "orro!ed from %enin, though Qut" had in mind a tiny group animated "y the spirit of /uhammad and his *ompanions from the da!n of Islam. his vanguard of true /uslims !as going to undertake the renovation of Islam and of civili)ation all over the !orld. he vanguard !as going to turn against the false /uslims and &&hypocrites&& and do as /uhammad had done, !hich !as to found a ne! state, "ased on the ;oran. And from there, the vanguard !as going to resurrect the caliphate and take Islam to all the !orld, 2ust as /uhammad had done. Qut"&s vanguard !as going to reinstate shariah, the /uslim code, as the legal code for all of society. Shariah implied some fairly severe rules. Qut" cited the ;oran on the punishments for killing or !oundingB &&a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear.&& @ornication, too, !as a serious crime "ecause, in his !ords, &&it involves an attack on honor and a contempt for sanctity and an encouragement of profligacy in society.&& Shariah specified the punishments here as !ell. && he penalty for this must "e severe0 for married men and !omen it is stoning to death0 for unmarried men and !omen it is flogging, a hundred lashes, !hich in cases is fatal.&& @alse accusations !ere like!ise serious. &&A punishment of 50 lashes is fi:ed for those !ho falsely accuse chaste !omen.&& As for those !ho threaten the general security of society, their

punishment is to "e put to death, to "e crucified, to have their hands and feet cut off, or to "e "anished from the country.&& -ut Qut" refused to regard these punishments as "ar"arous or primitive. Shariah, in his vie!, meant li"eration. $ther societies, dra!ing on non,;oranic principles, forced people to o"ey haughty masters and man,made la!. hose other societies forced people to !orship their o!n rulers and to do as the rulers said ,, even if the rulers !ere democratically chosen. >nder shariah, no one !as going to "e forced to o"ey mere humans. Shariah, in Qut"&s vie!, meant &&the a"olition of man,made la!s.&& In the resurrected caliphate, every person !as going to "e &&free from servitude to others.&& he true Islamic system meant &&the complete and true freedom of every person and the full dignity of every individual of the society. $n the other hand, in a society in !hich some people are lords !ho legislate and some others are slaves !ho o"ey, then there is no freedom in the real sense, nor dignity for each and every individual.&& 1e insisted that shariah meant freedom of conscience ,, though freedom of conscience, in his interpretation, meant freedom from false doctrines that failed to recogni)e .od, freedom from the modern schi)ophrenia. Shariah, in a !ord, !as utopia for Sayyid Qut". It !as perfection. It !as the natural order in the universal. It !as freedom, 2ustice, humanity and divinity in a single system. It !as a vision as grand or grander than *ommunism or any of the other totalitarian doctrines of the 20th century. It !as, in his !ords, &&the total li"eration of man from enslavement "y others.&& It !as an impossi"le vision ,, a vision that !as plainly going to require a total dictatorship in order to enforceB a vision that, "y claiming not to rely on man,made la!s, !as going to have to rely, instead, on theocrats, !ho !ould interpret .od&s la!s to the masses. he most e:treme despotism !as all too visi"le in Qut"&s revolutionary program. hat much should have "een o"vious to anyone !ho kne! the history of the other grand totalitarian revolutionary pro2ects of the 20th century, the pro2ects of the Da)is, the @ascists and the *ommunists. Still, for Qut", utopia !as not the main thing. >topia !as for the future, and Qut" !as not a dreamer. Islam, in his interpretation, !as a !ay of life. 1e !anted his /uslim vanguard to live according to pious Islamic principles in the here and no!. 1e !anted the vanguard to o"serve the rules of /uslim charity and all the other rules of daily life. 1e !anted the true /uslims to engage in a lifelong study of the ;oran ,, the lifelong study that his o!n gigantic commentary !as designed to enhance. -ut most of all, he !anted his vanguard to accept the o"ligations of &&2ihad,&& !hich is to say, the struggle for Islam. And !hat !ould that mean, to engage in 2ihad in the present and not 2ust in the sci,fi utopian futureF Qut" "egan Golume 1 of &&In the Shade of the Qur&an&& "y sayingB && o live &in the shade of the Qur&an& is a great "lessing !hich can only "e fully appreciated "y those !ho e:perience it. It is a rich e:perience that gives meaning to life and makes it !orth living. I am deeply thankful to .od Almighty for "lessing me !ith this uplifting e:perience for a considera"le time, !hich !as the happiest and most fruitful period of my life ,, a privilege for !hich I am eternally grateful.&&

1e does not identify that happy and fruitful period of his life ,, a period that lasted, as he says, a considera"le time. 'erhaps his "rother and other intimates !ould have kno!n e:actly !hat he had in mind ,, some very pleasant period, conceiva"ly the childhood years !hen he !as memori)ing the ;oran. -ut an ordinary reader !ho picks up Qut"&s "ooks can only imagine that he !as !riting a"out his years of torture and prison. $ne of his Indian pu"lishers has highlighted this point in a remarka"ly gruesome manner "y attaching an unsigned preface to a 1445 edition of &&/ilestones.&& he preface declaresB && he ultimate price for !orking to please .od Almighty and to propagate his !ays in this !orld is often one&s o!n life. he author&& ,, Qut", that is ,, &&tried to do it0 he paid for it !ith his life. If you and I try to do it, there is every likelihood !e !ill "e called upon to do the same. -ut for those !ho truly "elieve in .od, !hat other choice is thereF&& (ou are meant to suppose that a true reader of Sayyid Qut" is someone !ho, in the degree that he properly digests Qut"&s message, !ill act on !hat has "een digested. And action may !ell "ring on a martyr&s death. o read is to glide for!ard to!ard death0 and gliding to!ard death means you have understood !hat you are reading. Qut"&s !ritings do vi"rate to that mor"id tone ,, not al!ays, "ut sometimes. he !ork that he left "ehind, his ;oranic commentary, is vast, vividly !ritten, !ise, "road, indignant, sometimes demented, "ristly !ith hatred, medieval, modern, tolerant, intolerant, paranoid, cruel, urgent, cranky, tranquil, grave, poetic, learned and analytic. Sometimes it is moving. It is a !ork large and solid enough to create its o!n shade, !here Qut"&s vanguard and other readers could repose and turn his pages, as he advised the students of the ;oran to do, in the earnest spirit of loyal soldiers reading their daily "ulletin. -ut there is, in this commentary, something other!orldly too ,, an atmosphere of death. At the very least, it is impossi"le to read the !ork !ithout remem"ering that, in 1499, Qut", in the phrase of one of his "iographers, &&kissed the gallo!s.&& /artyrdom !as among his themes. 1e discusses passages in the ;oran&s sura && he *o!,&& and he e:plains that death as a martyr is nothing to fear. (es, some people !ill have to "e sacrificed. && hose !ho risk their lives and go out to fight, and !ho are prepared to lay do!n their lives for the cause of .od are honora"le people, pure of heart and "lessed of soul. -ut the great surprise is that those among them !ho are killed in the struggle must not "e considered or descri"ed as dead. hey continue to live, as .od 1imself clearly states.&& Qut" !roteB && o all intents and purposes, those people may very !ell appear lifeless, "ut life and death are not 2udged "y superficial physical means alone. %ife is chiefly characteri)ed "y activity, gro!th and persistence, !hile death is a state of total loss of function, of complete inertia and lifelessness. -ut the death of those !ho are killed for the cause of .od gives more impetus to the cause, !hich continues to thrive on their "lood. heir influence on those they leave "ehind also gro!s and spreads. hus after their death they remain an active force in shaping the life of their community and giving it direction. It is in this sense that such people, having sacrificed their lives for the sake of .od, retain their active e:istence in everyday life. . . .

&& here is no real sense of loss in their death, since they continue to live.&& And so it !as !ith Sayyid Qut". In the period "efore his final arrest and e:ecution, diplomats from Iraq and %i"ya offered him the chance to flee to safety in their countries. -ut he declined to go, on the ground that A,000 young men and !omen in 6gypt !ere his follo!ers, and he did not !ant to undo a lifetime of teaching "y refusing to give those A,000 people an e:ample of true martyrdom. And, in fact, some of those follo!ers !ent on to form the 6gyptian terrorist movement in the ne:t decade, the 14?0&s ,, the groups that massacred tourists and *optic *hristians and that assassinated 6gypt&s president, An!ar Sadat, after he made peace !ith Israel0 the groups that, in still later years, ended up merging !ith "in %aden&s group and supplying Al Qaeda !ith its fundamental doctrines. he people in those groups !ere not stupid or lacking in education. $n the contrary, !e keep learning ho! !ell educated these people are, ho! many of them come from the upper class, ho! !ealthy they are. And there is no reason for us to "e surprised. hese people are in possession of a po!erful philosophy, !hich is Sayyid Qut"&s. hey are in possession of a gigantic !ork of literature, !hich is his &&In the Shade of the Qur&an.&& hese people feel that, "y consulting their o!n doctrines, they can e:plain the unhappiness of the !orld. hey feel that, !ith an intense study of the ;oran, as directed "y Qut" and his fello! thinkers, they can make sense of thousands of years of theological error. hey feel that, in Qut"&s notion of shariah, they command the principles of a perfect society. hese people "elieve that, in the entire !orld, they alone are preserving Islam from e:tinction. hey feel they are "enefiting the !orld, even if they are committing random massacres. hey are certainly not !orried a"out death. Qut" gave these people a reason to yearn for death. 3isdom, piety, death and immortality are, in his vision of the !orld, the same. @or a pious life is a life of struggle or 2ihad for Islam, and struggle means martyrdom. 3e may thinkB those are creepy ideas. And yes, the ideas are creepy. -ut there is, in Qut"&s presentation, a !eird allure in those ideas. GII. It !ould "e nice to think that, in the !ar against terror, our side, too, speaks of deep philosophical ideas ,, it !ould "e nice to think that someone is arguing !ith the terrorists and !ith the readers of Sayyid Qut". -ut here I have my !orries. he follo!ers of Qut" speak, in their !ild fashion, of enormous human pro"lems, and they urge one another to death and to murder. -ut the enemies of these people speak of !hatF he political leaders speak of >nited Dations resolutions, of unilateralism, of multilateralism, of !eapons inspectors, of coercion and noncoercion. his is no ans!er to the terrorists. he terrorists speak insanely of deep things. he antiterrorists had "etter speak sanely of equally deep things. 'residents !ill not do this. 'residents !ill dispatch armies, or decline to dispatch armies, for "etter and for !orse. -ut !ho !ill speak of the sacred and the secular, of the physical !orld and the spiritual !orldF 3ho !ill defend li"eral ideas against the enemies of li"eral ideasF 3ho !ill defend li"eral principles in spite of li"eral society&s every failureF 'resident .eorge 3. -ush, in his speech to *ongress a fe! days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, announced

that he !as going to !age a !ar of ideas. 1e has done no such thing. 1e is not the man for that. 'hilosophers and religious leaders !ill have to do this on their o!n. Are they doing soF Armies are in motion, "ut are the philosophers and religious leaders, the li"eral thinkers, like!ise in motionF here is something to !orry a"out here, an aspect of the !ar that li"eral society seems to have trou"le understanding ,, one more !orry, on top of all the others, and possi"ly the greatest !orry of all. Paul Berman has written for the magazine about Vaclav Havel, Vicente Fox and other subjects. He is the author of the coming '' error and !iberalism'' "#.#. $orton%, from which this essa& is ada'ted.