Sublime

In Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941–89), professor of Islamic philosophy at King Abdulaziz University, used his influence among the country’s disaffected youth to promote an uncompromisingly belligerent interpretation of jihad that, he argued, was incumbent on all Muslims. “Jihad and the rifle alone,” Dr. Azzam proclaimed to his students. “

Poet, novelist, journalist, critic, and social activist Sayyid Qutb (1906–66) would come to be known as the…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.

In the solitary confines of his cell, Qutb had a revelation. “Preaching alone is not enough,” he wrote in his revolutionary manifesto, Milestones, published in 1964, the year of his release. “Those who have usurped the authority of Allah and [who] are oppressing Allah’s creatures are not going to give up their power merely through preaching.” Qutb