Qutb declared modern Muslims effectively infidel pagans despite their nominal faith

Evidence

In that commentary, he returned again and again to the argument that modern Muslims were living in an age of jahiliyya, that is to say that they were to all intents and purposes pagans and that their nominal profession of Islam did not absolve them of the charge of infidelity. — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 577

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clear definition of Qutb’s crucial re-conception of jahiliyya as applying to contemporary Muslims, not just pre-Islamic Arabia.
• SEED: A piece on how ‘infidelity’ is inverted as a rhetorical tool — declaring the nominally faithful to be the real pagans — is a striking counterintuitive pattern.
• XREF: Links to broader discourse on takfir and its use by modern jihadist groups; resonates with contemporary theological-political analysis.

Related

• Qutb diagnosed the contemporary Muslim world as living in jahiliyya (similarity 0.79)