qutbism means an Islamist ideology developed by Sayyid Qutb, the figurehead of the Muslim Brotherhood, involving the use of military force to propagate sharia law. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
Why “qutbism” is a great word
QUTBISM — [Noun] A militant Islamist ideology, systematized by the Egyptian thinker Sayyid Qutb, that posits contemporary societies as existing in a state of pre-Islamic ignorance (jahiliyyah) and mandates violent jihad to overthrow them, establishing governance under a strict interpretation of sharia law. From the surname Qutb (of Sayyid Qutb) + the suffix -ism, denoting a distinctive system, theory, or practice. Unlike Salafism—a broader reform movement emphasizing a return to the practices of the early Muslim generations, which may be apolitical or quietist—or general Islamism, which can encompass non-violent political activism, Qutbism is a specific, revolutionary creed that explicitly sanctifies offensive armed struggle. It is the ideological blueprint smuggled from a prison cell, the declared excommunication of entire societies, and the absolutist conviction that the world exists as a battlefield awaiting violent purification—a twentieth-century doctrine born in the shadow of the gallows, reframing reality as a condition to be remade by cosmic war.
Etymology
From Qutb + -ism.
noun
- An Islamist ideology developed by Sayyid Qutb, the figurehead of the Muslim Brotherhood, involving the use of military force to propagate sharia law.“The ideology of Qutbism was pursued by Muhammad Abdul al-Salam Faraj, who emerged after Qutb as Egypt's most important Islamist revolutionaries.”