Muhammad Asad محمد أسد | |
|---|---|
 Muhammad Asad addressingRadio Pakistan | |
| Director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction[1] | |
| In office August 1947 – September 1948 | |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs[clarification needed] | |
| In office September 1948 – 1951 | |
| Minister Plenipotentiary to theUnited Nations | |
| In office 1952–1952 | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | (1900-07-02)2 July 1900 |
| Died | 20 February 1992(1992-02-20) (aged 91) |
| Nationality | Austrian[2] Pakistani[3] |
| Main interest(s) | Islamic studies,Islamic democracy,Muslim world,Quran |
| Notable idea(s) | Islamic state[5] Independent Reasoning[6] |
| Notable work(s) | |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna (dropped out in 1920) |
| Occupation | Linguist,[citation needed] Academic,Traveler,Political Theorist,Historian |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Muslim leader | |
Muhammad Asad[a] (bornLeopold Weiss; 2 July 1900 – 20 February 1992) was anAustro-Hungarian Muslim convert and polymath, born in modern dayUkraine. He worked as a journalist, traveler, writer,political theorist, and diplomat.[6]
Born to a Jewish family, Weiss had acquired a passing fluency inHebrew andAramaic by age 13, in addition to hisnative German andPolish languages.[17][18] By his mid-twenties, he could read and write in English, French,Persian andArabic.[19][20] InMandatory Palestine, Weiss engaged in arguments withZionist leaders likeChaim Weizmann, voicing his reservations about some aspects of theZionist Movement.[18] After traveling across theArab World as a journalist, he converted toSunni Islam in 1926 and adopted the name "Muhammad Asad"—Asad being the Arabic rendition of his root nameLeo (Lion).[21]
During his stay inSaudi Arabia, he spent time withBedouins and enjoyed the close company of the state's founder,Ibn Saud.[9][10] He also carried out a secret mission for Ibn Saud to trace the sources of funding for theIkhwan Revolt. Due to these activities, he was dubbed in aHaaretz article as "Leopold of Arabia"—hinting similarity of his activities to those ofLawrence of Arabia.[18] On his visit toIndia, Asad became friends with the Muslim poet-philosopherMuhammad Iqbal, who persuaded him to abandon his eastward travels and "help elucidate the intellectual premises of the futureIslamic state".[22][23] He also spent five years ininternment by theBritish government at the outbreak ofWorld War II.[3] On14 August 1947, Asad receivedPakistani citizenship and later served in severalbureaucratic and diplomatic positions including the Director of Department of Islamic Reconstruction, Deputy Secretary (Middle East Division) in theForeign Ministry of Pakistan, and Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations.[9][10][22]
In the West, Asad rose to prominence as a writer with his best-selling autobiography,The Road to Mecca.[23][24][25] Later, after seventeen years ofscholarly research, he published hismagnum opus:The Message of the Qur'an—anEnglish translation andcommentary of theQuran.[26] The book, along with thetranslations ofPickthall andYusuf Ali, is regarded as one of the most influential translations of themodern era.[6][27][26] An ardent proponent ofrationality in interpretingreligious texts, he dedicated his works "to People who Think".[26][28] Other notable of his works include: "Islam at Crossroads" (1934)[29] and "This law of Ours and other essays" (1987)[30].
In 2008, the entrance square to theUN Office in Vienna was namedMuhammad Asad Platz in commemoration of his work as a "religious bridge-builder".[31] Asad has been described by his biographers as "Europe's gift to Islam" and "aMediator between Islam and the West".[32][33]
_Muhammad_Asad.jpg)
Leopold Weiss was born on 2 July 1900 to a Jewish family in Lemberg,Galicia, then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire (which is currently the city ofLviv,Ukraine). Weiss was a descendant of a long line of Jewishrabbis; however, his father, Akiva Weiss, broke from tradition and became a lawyer. Leopold received a religious education and was proficient inHebrew from an early age, as well as familiar withAramaic. He studied the Jewish Bible orTanakh, the text and commentaries of theTalmud, theMishna andGemara, also delving into the intricacies of Biblicalexegesis and theTargum.
At the age of fourteen he escaped school and joined theAustrian army under a false name. After a week or so, his father traced him with the help of the police, and he was escorted back toVienna.[34]
After abandoning university in Vienna, Weiss drifted aimlessly around 1920s Germany, working briefly for the expressionist film directorFritz Lang (F. W. Murnau, according toThe Road to Mecca). By his own account, after selling a jointly written film script, he splurged the windfall on a wild party at an expensive Berlin restaurant, in the spirit of the times. While working as a telephone operator for an American news agency in Berlin, Weiss obtained a coveted interview with Russian authorMaxim Gorky's wife, his first published piece of journalism, after simply ringing up her hotel room.[3]
In 1922 Weiss moved to theBritish Mandate of Palestine, staying inJerusalem at the house of his maternal uncle Dorian Feigenbaum at his invitation. Feigenbaum was apsychoanalyst, a disciple ofFreud, and later founded thePsychoanalytic Quarterly.
He picked up work as astringer for the German newspaperFrankfurter Zeitung, one of the most prestigious newspapers of Germany and Europe,[citation needed] selling articles on a freelance basis. His pieces were noteworthy for their understanding of Arab fears and grievances against the Zionist project.[citation needed] He published a small book on the subject in 1924, and this so inspired the confidence of theFrankfurter Zeitung that it commissioned him to travel more widely still, to collect information for a full-scale book. Weiss made the trip, which lasted two years.
To gain closer assignments in the Arab world, Weiss developed an ever-deepening engagement with Islam. This led to his religious conversion in 1926 in Berlin and adopting an Arabic name, Muhammad Asad.
Asad spoke of Islam:
"Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its parts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other; nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking; and the result is a structure of absolute balance and solid composure."[3]
A 2002Saudi Aramco World magazine essay described his journey to conversion in these words: "Two roads diverged in Berlin in the 1920s: a well-worn one to the West, the other, rarely traveled, to the East. Leopold Weiss, a gifted young writer, traveler and linguist with a thorough knowledge of the Bible and theTalmud and with deep roots in European culture, took the road eastward toMakkah."[3]
After his conversion to Islam, Asad moved toSaudi Arabia making a journey by camel across theArabian Desert, fromTayma toMecca.[35] He stayed there for nearly six years during which he made fivepilgrimages.[36] Alongside, he started writing essays for the Swiss newspaperNeue Zürcher Zeitung, and continued to do so till 1934.[37]
After the sudden death of his wifeElsa, Asad stayed on in Mecca where, in a chance encounter in theGrand Mosque's library, he metPrince Faysal. On Faysal's invitation, Asad metKing Abdulaziz (founder of modernSaudi Arabia); the meeting led to almost daily audiences with the King, who quickly came to appreciate Asad's knowledge, keen mind and spiritual depth.[3] Ibn Saud allowed Asad to visit theNajd region (in the King's company), which was forbidden to foreigners at that time.[2]
In late 1928, anIraqi namedAbdallah Damluji, who had been an adviser to Ibn Saud, submitted a report to the British on "Bolshevik and Soviet penetration" of theHijaz. In this report, after highlighting Asad's activities in Arabia, Damluji alleged that Asad had connections withBolsheviks: "What is the real mission which makes him endure the greatest discomforts and the worst conditions of life? On what basis rests the close intimacy between him and Shaykh Yusuf Yasin (secretary to theKing and editor of the official newspaperUmm al-Qura)? Is there some connection between von Weiss and the Bolshevik consulate inJidda?"[10]
According to Asad, he did finally become a secret agent of sorts.Ibn Saud sent him on a secret mission to Kuwait in 1929, to trace the sources of financial and military assistance being provided toFaysal al-Dawish – anIkhwan leader-turned-rebel against Ibn Saud's rule.[10] Asad, after traveling day and night through the desert without lighting fire, reachedKuwait to collect first-hand evidence. He concluded that the British were providing arms and money to al-Dawish to weaken Ibn Saud for the purpose of securing a 'land route to India' – a railway fromHaifa toBasra ultimately connecting theMediterranean Sea with theIndian subcontinent.[38][39]
Asad left Arabia and came toBritish India in 1932 where he met South Asia's premier Muslim poet, philosopher and thinkerMuhammad Iqbal.[22] Iqbal had proposed the idea of an independent Muslim state in India, which later becamePakistan. Iqbal persuaded Asad to stay on in British India and help the Muslims of India establish their separate Muslim state. Iqbal introduced Asad toChaudhry Niaz Ali Khan, a philanthropist and agriculturalist, who, on the advice of Muhammad Iqbal, established the Dar-ul-Islam Trust Institutes inPathankot, India andJauharabad, Pakistan. Asad stayed on in British India and worked with both Muhammad Iqbal and Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan.[40]Allama Iqbal encouraged Asad to translate Sahih Al-Bukhari in English for the first time in history. Asad responded positively and started making the arrangements for his translation. In order to find a place serene enough to stimulate his intellectual and spiritual cerebration, he arrived in Kashmir during the summer of 1934. There, he metMirwaiz Muhammad Yusuf who became his close friend. While working enthusiastically on his translation, he also set up his own printing press in Srinagar. The first two chapters of his translation were printed in Srinagar. Asad mentions in his bookHome-coming of the Heart that he had a special relationship with Kashmir and that he felt very sad when he left it.[41][42]
When theSecond World War broke out in 1939, Asad's parents were arrested and, subsequently, murdered by theNazis. Asad himself was arrested inLahore in 1939, a day after the war broke out, by the British as an enemy alien. This was despite the fact that Asad had refused German nationality after the annexation of Austria in 1938 and had insisted on retaining his Austrian citizenship. Asad spent three years in prison, while his family consisting of his wife, Munira, and son, Talal, after being released from detention earlier, lived under the protection of Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan at the latter's vast 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) estate in Jamalpur, 5 km west ofPathankot. Asad was finally released and reunited with his family in Jamalpur when the Second World War ended in 1945.[40]
Asad supported the idea of a separate Muslim state in India. After the independence of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, in recognition for his support for Pakistan, Asad was conferred first full citizenship by Pakistan and appointed the Director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction by the Government of Pakistan,[43] where he made recommendations on the drafting of Pakistan's first Constitution.[3] In 1949, Asad joined Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as head of the Middle East Division and made efforts to strengthen Pakistan's ties with the Muslim states of the Middle East. In 1952, Asad was appointed as Pakistan's Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Nations in New York – a position that he relinquished that same year in order to write his autobiography (up to the age of 32),The Road to Mecca.[3][6]
Asad contributed much to Pakistan's early political and cultural life but was shunned from the corridors of power. He served this country as the head of the Directorate of Islamic Reconstruction, Joint Secretary of the Middle East Division inForeign Office,Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Nations and organizer of the International Islamic Colloquium. If one delves into the archival material of these government departments, the role played by Asad for his belovedPakistan can be dealt with in detail.
By chance, at a reception Asad met Pola, anAmerican of Polish origin who was destined to become his third wife (d. 2007). She was young, beautiful and intelligent. He fell in love with her and when he learned that she had already embraced Islam he decided to marry her, despite the difference of age and temperament. However, under the rules of the Foreign Office, he was bound to get prior permission to marry a non-Pakistani national.[3] He applied through the proper channels but theGovernor-General rejected his application. So, he submitted his resignation from the Foreign Service, divorced his Arabian wife (Munira, d. 1978), and devoted himself to writing his autobiographical travel logThe Road to Mecca.
During his stay inSwitzerland, Asad received a letter from thePresident of Pakistan,General Ayub Khan, who was a great admirer of his book namedThe Principles of State and Government in Islam (1961). In a subsequent exchange of letters, he proposed to Asad to come to Pakistan and have the membership of a seven-man group of Muslim scholars – who both supposedly knew the world and were experts on Islam – to advise him with regard to everyday matters as well as the drawing up of a new Islamic constitution for the country.[22] At that time, Asad was immersed in his cherished work on theQur'an, and so he regretfully declined.
After many years, Asad was again invited by another President of Pakistan,General Zia ul-Haq, in 1983 and that was his last visit to this country. When he arrived atIslamabad, which he had not yet seen, he was received at the plane with great honour and escorted to thePresidency. During his sojourn in Islamabad, there was a series of meetings with members of the Ansari Commission in order to prepare a kind of programme for the President for the future. Asad agreed with some, and as usual disagreed with others, which he found retrograde.[3] On one point he was firm and insistent that Muslim women should have exactly the same rights in the political sphere as had men, to the extent of becoming prime minister. Asad also spared some time to meet with his surviving friends inLahore and Islamabad and at the request of the President made several radio and television appearances, as always spontaneous. On his return, he was besieged by letters from literally hundreds of admirers in Pakistan, some even offering him land or a house but he refused politely, considering his concept of Pakistan to be beyond all these worldly trivialities.
Towards the end of his life, Asad moved to Spain and lived there with his third wife, Pola Hamida Asad, an American national of Polish Catholic descent who had also converted to Islam, until his death on 20 February 1992 at the age of 91.[44][45][46] He was buried in the Muslim cemetery ofGranada in the formerMoorish province ofAndalusia, Spain.[46]
Asad had a son,Talal Asad, from his second Saudi Arabian wife, Munira. Talal Asad is now an anthropologist specialising inreligious studies andpost-colonialism. Asad also had a step-son named Heinrich (converted name Ahmad) with his first wife Else (converted name Aziza).[47]
ALviv Islamic Cultural Center named after Muhammad Asad was officially opened in 2015.[48]
In April 2008, a space in front of theUNO City in the 22ndDistrict of Vienna was namedMuhammad-Asad-Platz in honour of Muhammad Asad.[49] The step was taken as part of a two-day program on theEuropean Year of Intercultural Dialogue focusing on Islam and its relationship with Europe.[50] The program commemorated the life and work of Asad, described as a great Austrian visionary, who earned international recognition by building bridges between religions.[51] The honoree's sonTalal Asad, the President of the Islamic Community of Austria Anas Schakfeh and Vienna's cultural adviser Andreas Mailath-Pokorny were present at the unveiling of the square. Mailath-Pokorny, while talking to the media said:
"There is probably no more appropriate place to honour Muhammad Asad than that in front of the UN-City. Muhammad Asad was a citizen of the world, who was at home, and left his mark, everywhere in the world, especially in theOrient."[31]
On 23 March 2013,Pakistan Post issued astamp with denomination ofRs. 15 under the "Men of Letters" Series in honour ofAllamah Muhammad Asad.[52]
| Title | Original publication date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem in 1923: The Impressions of a Young European | 1923 | Later published inIslamic Studies,Islamabad in 2001. Translated by Elma Ruth Harder.[56][57] |
| The Concept of Religion in the West and in Islam | 1934 | Later published inThe Islamic Literature,Lahore in 1967.[58] |
| The Spirit of the West | 1934 | Later published inThe Islamic Literature,Lahore in 1956. |
| Towards a Resurrection of Thought | 1937 | Published inIslamic Culture,Hyderabad,Deccan.[59] |
| Aims and Objectives of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction | 1947 | Published his thoughts as the Director of theDepartment of Islamic Reconstruction.[60] |
| Calling All Muslims | 1947 | A collection of sevenRadio Broadcasts delivered at the request ofGovernment of Pakistan. |
| Islamic Constitution Making | 1948 | Essay published under the auspices of the Government ofPunjab in March 1948. It was later expanded to the bookThe Principles of State and Government in Islam.[23] |
| The Encounter of Islam and The West | 1959 | Talk delivered onRadio Beromunster inSwitzerland. |
| Islam and the Spirit of Our Times | 1960 | Talk delivered onRadio Beromunster inSwitzerland. |
| Answers of Islam | 1960s | Answers to questionnaire posed by German publisher Gerhard Szczesny in the 1960s. |
| Islam and Politics | 1963 | Pamphlet series byIslamic Centre.[3] |
| Can the Qur'an be Translated? | 1964 | Islamic Centre.[3] |
| Jerusalem: The Open City | 1970s | Talk sent for delivery at a conference ofMuslim Students Association, United States in the late 1970s. |
| My Pilgrimage to Islam | 1974 | Published inMajalla al-Azhar.[3] |
| The Meaning and Significance of the Hijrah | 1979 | Published in London in November 1979. |
| The Message of the Qur'an | 1980 | Address delivered at aConference of the Islamic Council in London. |
| A Vision to Jerusalem | 1982 | Published inAhlan Wasahlan,Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. |
| Jerusalem: A City for all People | 1982 | Later published inArabia: The Islamic World Review in 1985. |
| A Tribe That Kept Its Name | 1985 | Published inArabia magazine.[59] |
| The City of the Prophet | 1991 | Published inMuslim Africa. |
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