Sayyid Qutb was one of the architects of jihadist Islam, and his stern opposition to the West was forged during a visit to the United States in 1949. Attending a church social in Greeley Colorado, he found, in the words of Lawrence Wright, “The room convulzed with the feverish music from the gramophone . . . . Dancing naked legs filled the hall. Arms draped around the waists, chests met chests, lips met lips, and the atmosphere was full of love . . . the minister paused to watch his young charges swaying to the rhythms of this seductive song.”