From Fundamentalism to Reform: a Comparative Study of Seyyid Qutb and Saeed Havvi's Ideas

Although one cannot doubt SeyyidQutb’s main object of his intellectual structurearrangement which is creating a cohesive Islamic government, his way of dealing, his main strategy, and the consequences of his ideas in history, culture, and politics of Muslim countries in the Middle East in the second half of the 20th century has been a controversial issue among the researchers. In the present article, the author intends to focus on Saeed Havvi,from Syria, who is one of the most prominent critics of SeyyidQutb’s internal discourse. He also studies the role of SeyyidQutb in the influential movement of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the whole Middle East to present a rarely seen picture of this significant scholar in his time and society.Regarding this, he firstly provides a report of SeyyidQutb’s most important aspects of life and opinions. Afterwards, he talks about the biography and ideas of Saeed Havvi who while shares the basics of SeyyidQutb’s opinions, doesn’t like his radical and pragmatic readings.