Research and Digital Archival Work

My research is predominantly focused on modern islamist thought from the mid- nineteenth to early twenty-first century with an on the intersection between religion and politics. Or, put differently, when the canonical is used as a means of reconciling the approach and scope of non-canonical problems, with religiously codified solutions. My Masters thesis was focused on Muhammad Qutb (1919-2014), who was an Egyptian ideologue credited with establishing the theoretical basis for the Sahwa movement (Islamic Awakening) in Saudi Arabia during his self-imposed exile to the Kingdom (from 1971-2014). Although Muhammad Qutb held a number academic positions in Saudi Arabia, he was also prolific writer, orator, long-standing educator and personal theology teacher to Osama bin Laden. The existing historiographic body focused on Qutbian thought has ignored Muhammad Qutb, in favor of his older brother, Sayyid Qutb (1909–1966). My thesis positions Muhammad Qutb not as a keeper of his brother’s intellectual flame, nor as a subordinate, but as a scholar in his own right – with an extensive body of work that remains overlooked. This thesis rescues Muhammad Qutb from the end notes of history by means of interrogating his work within the context in which it was created and offering recognition to Muhammad Qutb as a contributor to the school of thought which bears his name – the Qutbian Ideology.

Currently, I am working on continuing the work I started in my Masters project by providing a much more depth review of Muhammad Qutb’s work, including a translation project where I will translate all of his works to English which still remain in their published language of Arabic. Additionally, I am also looking into the role of mysticism within jihadist culture as experienced by jihadist fighters during the Afghan-Soviet jihad of 1979-1989. Links to the two aforementioned projects can be found below.