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In Islam, there is no priesthood, and no intermediary between the creature and The Creator; but every Muslim from the ends of earth or in the paths of the sea has the ability of himself to approach his Lord without priest or minister. Nor again can the Muslim administrator derive his authority from any papacy, or from Heaven; but he derives it solely from the Muslim community. Similarly, he derives his principles of administration from the religious law, which is universal in its understanding and application and before which all men come everywhere as equals.

— Sayyid Qutb Social Justice in Islam (1953)

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Equality

More quotes by Sayyid Qutb

Islam prescribes the basic principles of social justice and establishes the claim of the poor to the wealth of the rich.

Social Justice in Islam (1953)

A society cannot be Islamic if it expels the civil and religious Laws of Islam from its codes and customs, so that nothing of Islam is left except rites and ceremonials.

Social Justice in Islam (1953)

The right of disposal depends on being mature and being able to fulfill one's duties; when the possessor does not meet these requirements, then the natural fruits of ownership come to an end.

Social Justice in Islam (1953)

It is not the intention of Islam to force its beliefs on people, but Islam is not merely ‘belief’. As we have pointed out, Islam is a declaration of the freedom of man from servitude to other men. Thus it strives from the beginning to abolish all those systems and governments which are based on the rule of man over men and the servitude of one human being to another. When Islam releases people from this political pressure and presents to them its spiritual message, appealing to their reason, it gives them complete freedom to accept or not to accept its beliefs.

Ma'alim fi'l-Tariq (Signposts on the Road, or Milestones) (1964)

Islam's way of life is unique, for in systems other than Islam, some people worship others in some form or another. Only in the Islamic way of life do all men become free from the servitude of some men to others and devote themselves to the worship of God alone, deriving guidance from Him alone, and bowing before him alone.

Ma'alim fi'l-Tariq (Signposts on the Road, or Milestones) (1964)

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It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.

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It is not true that equality is a law of nature. nature has made nothing equal, her sovereign law is subordination and dependence.

Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues Reflections and Maxims (1746)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Sayyid Qutb (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.