The Knowledge Development Concept in Humans: According to Sayyid Qutb’s Perspective

Knowledge is an important element that needs to be applied in the process of engineering human excellence in the world today. Contemporary global development has witnessed an economic paradigm from nature-based economy to knowledge-based economy. It is undeniable that there have been numerous discussions by intellectuals aimed at finding concepts related to knowledge, either in the West or East. Hence, this paper intended to analyse the views of a prolific Islamic thinker named Sayyid Qutb, pertaining to the knowledge concept that should be applied in the process of engineering human excellence. This study was qualitative in nature and used the document analysis method. Data for the document analysis was obtained from the basic text for this study, namely the Tafsir Fi Zilal al-Quran, with a focus on the interpretations by Sayyid Qutb related to knowledge. Then, by using the deductive approach, data were summarised according to several conclusions that were formed as knowledge concepts in the engineering of human excellence. This study found that the aspects of Islamic knowledge concept that should be applied in human engineering are, i) development of knowledge based on the spirit of the first divine revelation or iqra’, ii) knowledge should be developed for the benefit of all, iii) divine revelation as the core of scientific knowledge, and iv) research based on the methodology of Quranic science.