The saying that 鈥楾he pen is mightier than the sword鈥� accurately describes the life-story of Sayyid Qutb ( 爻賷丿 賯胤亘 ); who was an Egyptian prominent revivalist, ideologue, thinker, and a leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (al 'Ikhwan ul- Muslimun) in the 1950s and 60s.
He is best known for his work on redefining the role of Islam in social and political change, particularly in his book Ma'alimu fi-l-Tareeq (Milestones). But the majority of his theory could be found in his extensive Qur'anic commentary(tafseer) : Fi zilal il-Qur'an (In the shade of the Qur'an); the noteworthy multi-volume work for its innovative method of interpretation; which contributed significantly to modern perceptions of Islamic concepts.
His early life was spent in an Egyptian village. Then he moved to Cairo where he received his university education between 1929 and 1933, and where he started his career as a teacher. During his early career, Qutb devoted himself to literature as an author and critic. Writing such novels as Ashwak (Thorns) and even elevating Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz from obscurity. In 1939, he became a functionary in Egypt's Ministry of Education (Wizarat ul-Ma'arif ). From 1948 to 1950, he went to the United States on a scholarship to study the educational system, studying at Colorado State College of Education (Now the University of Northern Colorado).
It was during this period that Qutb wrote his first major theoretical work of religious social criticism, al-'Adala Tul-Ijtima'iyyatu Fil-Islam (Social Justice in Islam), which was published in 1949, during his time overseas.
Though Islam gave him much peace and contentment, he suffered from respiratory and other health problems throughout his life, thus he never married.
Qutb was extremely critical of many things in the United States: its materialism, brutal individualism, merciless economic system, unreasonable restrictions on divorce, sick enthusiasm for sports, "animal-like" mixing of the sexes (which went on even in churches), and lack of support for the Palestinian struggle.
Qutb discovered -very early- that the major aspects of the American life were primitive and "shocking".
His experience in the United States is believed to have formed in part the impetus for his rejection of Western values and his move towards Islam upon returning to Egypt. Resigning from the civil service, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1950s and became editor-in-chief of the Brothers' weekly al-'Ikhwan ul-Muslimun, and later head of the propaganda section, as well as an appointed member of the Working Committee and of the Guidance Council, the highest branch.