What is your opinion of Sayyid Qutb? And what is your opinion of his books, given that people have differed regarding him here, and Sayyid has an impact and works in the Islamic world?
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The questioner : Sayyid Qutb, O Shaykh, is a man who appeared on the Islamic world with his thought, and people have differed regarding him now, between those who glorify him and those who criticize him severely. We would like our Shaykh to clarify this matter for us with a comprehensive explanation, and how should the Muslim’s position be, because Sayyid has an impact and works, meaning the impact in the Islamic world and works in the form of books and writings, so we seek clarification from your excellence?
The Shaykh : First: May Allah reward you. I do not see that there should be conflict and dispute among the Muslim youth over a specific man, whether Sayyid Qutb or someone other than Sayyid Qutb. Rather, the conflict should be over the Shari'ah ruling. For example, we present one of the statements of Qutb or someone other than Qutb, and we say: Is this statement true or false? Then we examine it; if it is true, we accept it, and if it is false, we reject it. As for the dispute and conflict being among the youth, with taking and rejecting a specific man, this is a mistake and a great error. Sayyid Qutb is not infallible, and the scholars above him are not infallible, and the scholars below him are not infallible. Everyone is taken from their statement and left, except, except whom? Except the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). It is obligatory to accept his statement in all cases. Therefore, I advise the youth not to make the center of their disputes and conflicts a specific person, whoever he is. Because if the disputes are of this nature, perhaps the opponent will invalidate a truth that this person said, or perhaps he will support a falsehood that this person said. And this is a great danger. Why? Because if a person becomes biased for a person, and another becomes biased against him, the one who is biased against him will say about him what he did not say, or interpret his words, or something similar. And the other one may deny what he said, or direct what he said toward falsehood. So I say: We do not speak about persons, and we do not become biased for persons. Sayyid Qutb has moved from the abode of action to the abode of recompense, and Allah the Exalted is his accountant, and so is it with the other scholars of knowledge. As for the truth, it must be accepted, whether it comes from Sayyid Qutb or from someone else. And the falsehood must be rejected, whether it is from Sayyid Qutb or from someone else.
And one must be warned against any falsehood that is written or heard, whether from this person or that person, from any human being. This is my advice to our brothers. And it is not befitting that the talk, dispute, and taking and rejecting be about a specific person.
The questioner : What is your opinion, O Shaykh, of his works?
The Shaykh : My opinion of his works is like that of others: in them is truth and falsehood. No one is infallible. But his works are not, for example, like the works of Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani. Between them is a difference like that between the sky and the earth. The works of the first man are expressions of general literary and cultural matters, and he does not have what Shaykh al-Albani has in terms of verification and knowledge. Therefore, I see that the truth is taken from every person, and the falsehood is rejected from every person. And it is not befitting for us, and indeed it is not permissible for us, to make the center of the dispute, conflict, division, and unity the names of men. Yes.
The Shaykh : First: May Allah reward you. I do not see that there should be conflict and dispute among the Muslim youth over a specific man, whether Sayyid Qutb or someone other than Sayyid Qutb. Rather, the conflict should be over the Shari'ah ruling. For example, we present one of the statements of Qutb or someone other than Qutb, and we say: Is this statement true or false? Then we examine it; if it is true, we accept it, and if it is false, we reject it. As for the dispute and conflict being among the youth, with taking and rejecting a specific man, this is a mistake and a great error. Sayyid Qutb is not infallible, and the scholars above him are not infallible, and the scholars below him are not infallible. Everyone is taken from their statement and left, except, except whom? Except the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). It is obligatory to accept his statement in all cases. Therefore, I advise the youth not to make the center of their disputes and conflicts a specific person, whoever he is. Because if the disputes are of this nature, perhaps the opponent will invalidate a truth that this person said, or perhaps he will support a falsehood that this person said. And this is a great danger. Why? Because if a person becomes biased for a person, and another becomes biased against him, the one who is biased against him will say about him what he did not say, or interpret his words, or something similar. And the other one may deny what he said, or direct what he said toward falsehood. So I say: We do not speak about persons, and we do not become biased for persons. Sayyid Qutb has moved from the abode of action to the abode of recompense, and Allah the Exalted is his accountant, and so is it with the other scholars of knowledge. As for the truth, it must be accepted, whether it comes from Sayyid Qutb or from someone else. And the falsehood must be rejected, whether it is from Sayyid Qutb or from someone else.
And one must be warned against any falsehood that is written or heard, whether from this person or that person, from any human being. This is my advice to our brothers. And it is not befitting that the talk, dispute, and taking and rejecting be about a specific person.
The questioner : What is your opinion, O Shaykh, of his works?
The Shaykh : My opinion of his works is like that of others: in them is truth and falsehood. No one is infallible. But his works are not, for example, like the works of Shaykh Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani. Between them is a difference like that between the sky and the earth. The works of the first man are expressions of general literary and cultural matters, and he does not have what Shaykh al-Albani has in terms of verification and knowledge. Therefore, I see that the truth is taken from every person, and the falsehood is rejected from every person. And it is not befitting for us, and indeed it is not permissible for us, to make the center of the dispute, conflict, division, and unity the names of men. Yes.