The Anti-Modern Political Theology of Sayyid Qutb in Cross-Cultural Perspective
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In The Shade of God’s Sovereignty: The Anti-Modern Political Theology of Sayyid Qutb in Cross-Cultural Perspective Dragos C. Stoica A Thesis In the Department Of Religions and Cultures Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Religion) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 2017 © Dragos C. Stoica, 2017 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Dragos Stoica Entitled: In The Shade of God’s Sovereignty: The Anti-Modern Political Theology of Sayyid Qutb in Cross-Cultural Perspective and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Of Philosophy (Religion) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. S. McSheffrey External Examiner Dr. W. Shepard External to Program Dr. W. Chacko Examiner Dr. M. P. Lalonde Examiner Dr. J. Carty Thesis Supervisor Dr. L. Clarke Approved by Dr. Leslie Orr, Graduate Program Director August 16, 2017 Dr. A. Roy, Dean Faculty of Arts & Science ABSTRACT In The Shade of God’s Sovereignty: The Anti-Modern Political Theology of Sayyid Qutb in Cross-Cultural Perspective Dragos C. Stoica Ph.D Concordia University, 2017 This thesis is a study of the Egyptian radical Islamist thinker Sayyid Qutb’s (1906-1966) concept of God’s Sovereignty in a comparative and cross-cultural perspective. Thus, this dissertation employs a methodological mix of comparative hermeneutics, discourse analysis and a diagonal, lens comparison in order to provide a more capacious understanding of Sayyid Qutb as the first political theologian of God’s Sovereignty in the Sunni Islamic space. Moreover, it argues that Sayyid Qutb’s critical discourse is not an irrational, knee-jerk repudiation of modernity, but a seminal example of an Islamist antitheses political theology that meets the major ideological driving forces of western political modernity on their own terrain. Qutb analyzes and ultimately rejects all major ideologies of modernity: Socialism, Communism, Nationalism, Capitalism and Liberal-Democracy via a set of essential dichotomies: Jahiliyah (non-Islam) versus Nizam al-Islam (the “order” or “system” of Islam) and Hakimiyat-Allah (divine sovereignty) versus Taghut (human tyranny). These crucial antitheses are central for Qutb’s political theology, serving as cornerstones of his radical political hermeneutics and as driving forces of his discursive and rhetorical strategies. This study aims to expand the perspective on Qutb’s Islamist radical critique of modernity by placing it in a family resemblance model. Therefore, it compares Qutb’s master concept of God’s Sovereignty and the dichotomies listed above, within and across the religious divide with commensurable constructions produced by other anti-modern political theologians. At the level of endogenous comparison, this dissertation focuses on the Pakistani Islamist Abu al-Aʿla Mawdudi (1903–1979), while at the level of exogenous comparison, the counterparts are two important anti- modern, antitheses political theologians: the Catholic counter-revolutionary Juan Donoso Cortés (1809–1853) and the Protestant political theologian Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920). The study demonstrates that despite cultural, historical and religious differences, Qutb’s political theology of God’s Sovereignty shares significant conceptual affinities and a iii critical vision with Mawdudi, Cortés and Kuyper. This common ground proves that Qutb’s political theology is not an endemic product of the Islamist space or a narrow expression of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, but an essential dimension of a more complex configuration that uses political theology as a conceptually disciplined critique of modernity. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Lynda Clarke. Without her continuous support, guidance, kindness and empathy during a very difficult period of my life, this dissertation would not have been possible. We spent many hours discussing and shaping my project and her contribution is essential to this intellectual endeavor. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Marc Lalonde and Dr. Jarret Carty for their careful reading of my work and their invaluable feedback. I would also like to thank Dr. Michel Despland and Dr. Michael Oppenheim for their important contribution in shaping the early stages of my research. I am deeply indebted to my wife, Maria, and my family who patiently waited all these years while providing me with much needed emotional support. Last but not least, I would like to thank Tina Montandon and Munit Merid for their kindness, and for helping me navigating the complicated waters of graduate studies. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 Objectives and Hypotheses ....................................................................................................1 1.2 Methodology ..........................................................................................................................5 1.3 Critical Discourse Analysis ....................................................................................................5 1.3.1 Comparative Hermeneutics .........................................................................................6 1.3.2 Cross-Cultural, Comparative Political Theology ........................................................7 1.3.3 New Comparativism .................................................................................................10 1.3.4 Lens Comparison ......................................................................................................12 1.3.5 Diagonal Comparison ...............................................................................................13 1.3.6 Comparative Political Theory ...................................................................................14 1.3.7 Comparative Political Theology ..............................................................................15 1.3.8 Outline of the Study .................................................................................................17 Chapter 2: Sayyid Qutb—Convert, Radical, Martyr ...............................................................19 2.1 Literature Review .................................................................................................................19 2.2 From Literary Critic to Islamist Martyr ...............................................................................25 2.3 Qutb’s Intellectual Biography: A Case of Conversion .........................................................33 2.4 Sayyid Qutb and the Qur’an: From Secular Critic to Islamist Exegete ...............................38 2.4.1 Qutb’s Early Aestheric Theory of the Qur’an ..........................................................38 2.4.2 In the Shade of the Qur’an: A Tafsir for a New Generation? ..................................41 Chapter 3: Abu al-A‘la Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb: An Exercise in Comparative Hermeneutics ...............................................................................................................................45 3.1 Methodological Preamble: Comparative Hermeneutics ......................................................45 3.2 Mawdudi’s Biography—From Theorist of Islam to Party Founder ....................................46 3.3 In the Shade of the Qur’an and Understanding the Qur’an: An Overview ........................55 3.4 Surat al-Fatihah ...................................................................................................................62 3.5 Surat al-Baqarah ..................................................................................................................68 3.6 Surah Al ‘Imran ....................................................................................................................78 3.7 Surat al-Ma’idah .................................................................................................................87 vi 3.8 Surat al-Anfal .......................................................................................................................96 3.9 Surat al-Tawbah .................................................................................................................104 3.10 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................116 Chapter 4: Qutb and Mawdudi as Critics of Modern Ideologies ..........................................118 4.1 Methodological Preamble: Critical Discourse Analysis and Radical Islamism .................118 4.2 Ideological Alterity and the Discursive Other ....................................................................120 4.3 Political Theology as Polemics Against the Ideological Other ..........................................121 4.4 Islamization of Ideology in Mawdudi’s Discursive Order .................................................123 4.4.1 The Ideological State ..............................................................................................126 4.4.2 Islamic Revolution ..................................................................................................130 4.5 Islam and Ideological Alterity: A Perpetually Comparative Model ..................................133