ABSTRACT
From Liberalism to the Resurgence of Religion: The Muslim Brothers and Sayyid Qutb From the 1920s, liberalism flourished in Egypt and Western culture was regarded as a model for emulation. During this period, many authors and thinkers made significant contributions to the modernization of Egypt patterned after the West, which they deeply admired. A newly emergent enlightenment movement began to translate the best of Western literature and research in various fields. Newspapers and journals published translations of Western writing as well as original writing in genres like those published in the West. A movement began for the liberation of women, which included casting off the veil and traditional garb. A wave of modernization swept across Egypt during these years, modelled after modern Turkey in the early days of Ataturk's rule and also modern Japan. Both of these countries at this time showed impressive achievements in the wake of their Westernization and neither country is in Europe — under suspicion in both religious and liberal circles of imperialism and exploitation of the East. Both are Asian countries which were seen to have brushed off the dust of the past and built a society based on dynamic, modern foundations. Many liberals such as Ahmad Lutfi al-Sayyid, Sa‘d Zaghlul, Muhammad Husain Haikal and others who were disciples of Muhammad ‘Abduh relied on him in their writings and advocacy of Westernization.
