ABSTRACT
Building on the preceding chapter’s brief analysis of the Colonial period and Hassan al-Banna, Chapter 8 continues to trace the TCPIRM into the post-Colonial period (1945–1970) via a case study featuring Sayyid Qutb. At a micro-level, this chapter examines the complex interplay of forces that led to Qutb’s immense posthumous charismatic appeal. Chapter 8 begins with a brief analysis of the post-Colonial period in Egypt arguing that perceptions of crisis in Qutb’s communities of potential support were largely rooted in the disparity between the hopes of indigenous governance and its reality. The proceeding case study examines Qutb’s charismatic image and narrative arguing that their combination provided a powerful paradigm through which his charismatic collective’s perceptions of crisis were understood, solutions developed, and the processes of identity formation and production directed. At a macro-level, Chapter 8 examines Qutb’s position in the TCPIRM arguing that he not only emerged as a further link in the chain by building upon his predecessors’ legacy, but acted as a critical vehicle that fundamentally shaped the evolutionary development of Islamist radicalism and militancy in the Modern period.
