The America I Have Seen (1951)

Qutb's thoughts on American culture are fascinating. As this article was written for a magazine, Qutb candidly describes encounters he had throughout his time in Greeley, Colorado that provide great insight into how he formed his opinions of the West, and the United States in particular.

The culture clash is very evident in Qutb's writings. His descriptions of Americans are greedy and animalistic are easily explained by his reactions to things such as his views of science as a substitute for religion and the game of football. I particularly liked his commentaries about football. The way he describes the sport certainly does make it seem absurd...

I also thought his writings about churches was interesting. The fact that he joined a church because "it was an important part of the culture" was intriguing. I thought his comments on the priest were very entertaining. There are certainly clear differences between the American church and the mosques in Egypt. Here, the separation of church and state seems to cause many problems for him, as the churches need to "sell themselves" in order to gain the more members than other churches in the area.

Overall, Qutb's writings provide an outsiders prospective on American culture, that show why he has such a violent reaction against the West.