Really?

I get extremely frustrated when reading Qutb’s rant on aggressive jihad and his ‘offensive’ justification. But to begin, his entire argument rests on the claim that God exists, that he is the ruler of all things and that he deserves to be worshipped and praised even if he does exist. Qutb makes the fatal mistake of treating this as a descriptive claim, while there is no evidence for this claim presented whatsoever. He treats this conditional claim, a mere possibility, as if this is how the world is truly run. Going off this, he believes he should be allowed to maim and kill people for no other reason than that they not only do not follow this belief, but even those who follow it incorrectly. To go to such extremes over a theory, one which has relatively no evidence in these times, is inhumane, disgusting and just plain wrong. It goes against every gift this god would have given us: logic, reason, the ability to communicate. And let’s grant that god does exist and he is this amazing being who deserves to be praised as Qutb describes, how does forcefully killing or converting respect god? Did god not give man free will? And since he gave man the freedom to choose what he believes, should not other men be obliged to respect these choices, as it is simply an exercise of god’s gift? Not to mention that the Prophet Muhammad, who spoke directly with God according to Islam, never says anything about harming those who do not believe the Muslim way. In fact, Muhammad was extremely respectful to all other religious sects and merely wished for people who held the same beliefs as himself were not persecuted. So, even when looking upon the life of Muhammad, the model to the most pious human being, with all these presumptions, would never advocate such a blatant and unfounded aggressive behavior.