Sayyid Qutb

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) was an influential theorist influencing modern radical Islam. Born in a slum, he still managed both Western and Islamic education. He wrote extensively, and was editor of the Egyptian Islamic Brotherhood newspaper. Egyptian authorities executed him, by hanging, in 1966, for revolutionary activities, the culmination of which they had seen in his book, Milestones. That book has been described as the first of a new series on revolutionary Salafism; it was not his first.

Qutb was a great influence on Ayman al-Zawahiri, who joined with Osama bin Laden to form al-Qaeda.