The Islamic Mind

Whoa, boy. I really do need to stop leaving so many gaps in between my postings. Hopefully I get into a rhythm soon enough.

I've spent this past week studying the thinkers of Islamic Fundamentalism. Namely, Sayyid Qutb. Thanks to Bill Allison's Qutb Series I've been trudging through his chapter summaries for both of Qutb's books Social Justice in Islam and Milestones. I was awed by the man who is said to be the brain of Osama bin Laden (indeed, bin Laden studied Muhammed Qutb, Sayyid's brother, in Saudi Arabia after the Muslim Brotherhood fled Nasser's Egypt). I went to the library and picked up 4 books:

1. Terror and Liberalism by Paul Berman (yes, I know. I'm just now getting around to reading it)
   
2. Social Justice in Islam by Sayyid Qutb
   
3. Inside al Qaeda by Rohan Gunaratna (which Dan Darling tells me is the definite book on al Qaeda out of the many hundreds of post-9/11 AQ books)
   
4. The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis (I've heard so many recommendations for this book, how could I not pass it up)