Qutbism: an ideology of Islamic-Fascism

Parameters, Spring, 2007 by Dale C. Eikmeier

The recently published National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism (NMSP-WOT) is to be commended for identifying "ideology" as al Qaeda's center of gravity. (1) The identification of an ideology as the center of gravity rather than an individual or group is a significant shift from a "capture and kill" philosophy to a strategy focused on defeating the root cause of Islamic terrorism. Accordingly, the plan's principal focus is on attacking and countering an ideology that fuels Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately, the NMSP-WOT fails to identify the ideology or suggest ways to counter it. The plan merely describes the ideology as "extremist." This description contributes little to the public's understanding of the threat or to the capabilities of the strategist who ultimately must attack and defeat it. The intent of this article is to identify the ideology of the Islamic terrorists and recommend how to successfully counter it.

Sun Tzu wisely said, "Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril." (2) Our success in the War on Terrorism depends on knowing who the enemy is and understanding his ideology. While characterizing and labeling an enemy may serve such a purpose, it is only useful if the labels are clearly defined and understood. Otherwise, overly broad characterizations obscure our ability to truly "know the enemy," they diffuse efforts, and place potential allies and neutrals in the enemy's camp. Unfortunately, the War on Terrorism's use of labels contributes a great deal to the misunderstandings associated with the latter. The fact is, five years after 9/11 the NMSP-WOT provides little specific guidance, other than labeling the enemy as extremist. (3) This inability to focus on the specific threat and its supporting philosophy reflects our own rigid adherence to political correctness and is being exploited by militant Islamists portraying these overly broad descriptions as a war against Islam. As David F. Forte states "We must not fail ... to distinguish between the homicidal revolutionaries like bin Laden and mainstream Muslim believers." (4)

Knowing the enemy requires an understanding of militant Islam's ideology and recognizing that it is the militants' "center of gravity." (5) Their extremist ideology has been called many things, "Militant Islam," "Salafism," "Islamism," "Wahhabism," "Qutbism," "Jihadism," and even "Islam." (6) Since most ideologies reflect the integration of various related concepts, theories, and aims that have evolved over time into a broader body of thought, no label is entirely perfect and all are subject to critique. However, it appears that President Bush has ended the debate and accepted "Islamic-Fascism" as the ideological label. (7) While Islamic-Fascism immediately conjures up images of an evil to be resisted and is therefore useful as a public relations term, intellectually it does little for the serious students of Islam or the strategic planners charged with its defeat.

So what is this ideology we label Islamic-Fascism? What are its sources, theories, aims, and who are its proponents? The answers to many of these questions can be found in a collection of violent Islamic thought called Qutbism. (8) Qutbism refers to the writings of Sayyid Qutb and other islamic theoreticians, e.g., Abul Ala Maududi and Hassan al Banna, that provide the intellectual rationale underpinning Islamic-Fascism. Qutbism is not a structured body of thought from any single person (despite its name), source, time, or sect; rather it is a fusion of puritanical and intolerant Islamic orientations that include elements from both the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam that have been combined with broader Islamist goals and methodologies. Qutbism integrates the Islamist teachings of Maududi and al Banna with the arguments of Sayyid Qutb to justify armed jihad in the advance of Islam, and other violent methods utilized by twentieth century militants. Qutbism advocates violence and justifies terrorism against non-Muslims and apostates in an effort to bring about the reign of God. Others, i.e., Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Abdullah Azzam, and Osama bin Laden built terrorist organizations based on the principles of Qutbism and turned the ideology of Islamic-Fascism into a global action plan.

The Foundation: Puritan Islam

Qutbism is structured on a common foundation of puritan Islamist orientations such as Wahabbi, Salafi, and Deobandi. (9) These orientations share several traits and beliefs:

* A belief that Muslims have deviated from true Islam and must return to "pure Islam" as originally practiced during the time of the Prophet. (10)

* The path to "pure Islam" is only through a literal and strict interpretation of the Quran and Hadith, along with implementation of the Prophet's commands. (11)

* Muslims should individually interpret the original sources without being slavishly bound to the interpretations of Islamic scholars. (12)

* That any interpretation of the Quran from a historical, contextual perspective is a corruption, and that the majority of Islamic history and the classical jurisprudential tradition is mere sophistry. (13)