Obituary: Muhammad Asad
az...@vax.oxford.ac.uk
MUHAMMAD ASAD
Buried in the small Muslim cemetery in Granada in Spain is one Muhammad Asad,
one of the most prominent Muslim thinkers of the twentieth century. His life was
one of great adventure, whether as a teenage soldier in the Austrian army in
1918 or as a young journalist in the Berlin of the Twenties. His travels in the
Middle East far surpassed the ventures of Burton and Doughty in their range and
in their close involvement with the peoples and cultures of the region.
Asad was Pakistan's ambassador at the United Nations in the early Fifties,
and the confidant of many major Muslim figures including King Abdul Aziz Ibn
Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, and his son King Faisal; Omar Mukhtar, the
Libyan mujahid who rebelled against the Italian occupation; and Mohammad
Iqbal, the great Pakistani poet and philosopher. Yet Asad died in near ob-
scurity in Mijas on the Costa del Sol last month. News of his death filtered out
only weeks later, but it has left a profound sense of loss among his many
admirers.
He was born Leopold Weiss in Lwow, Galicia - now in Poland but then part of
the Austrian Empire - in 1900, the son of a Jewish barrister and grandson of
an Orthodox rabbi. His almost insatiable "urge to wander" and "inner
restlessness" were evident from his teens. At 14 he joined the Austrian army,
by Lying about his age and name, only to be traced by his father. Four years
Later he was drafted but within a few weeks revolution broke out, the Austrian
Empire collapsed, and the war was over.
He studied history of art and philosophy at Vienna University then went to
Prague and later Berlin, where he was involved with the intellectual circle
centred on the old Cafe des Westens. His break in journalism came in 1921 when
he charmed Madame Gorky (then on a secret visit to Berlin) into giving him a
scoop about the Russian famine for which he won promotion at the United
Telegraph news agency.
Invited to Jerusalem by his uncle, Dorian Weiss, a prominent psychiatrist
and early pupil of Freud, he left the news agency that year for a journey to the
Middle East which was to change his life. In Jerusalem he encountered the
Zionist Committee of Action but from the outset conceived a strong objection to
Zionism - an objection which he personally conveyed to Dr Chaim Weizmann, the
leader of the Zionist movement. At the same time he became a special
correspondent for Frankfurter Zeitung, making a name for himself with his dis-
patches; from Palestine which were later published in a book entitled
Unromantisches Morgenland (1924).
He travelled extensively in the Mashreq and Maghreb, and Transjordan, where
he befriended the Emir. He briefly returned to Europe where he worked under
Heinrich Simon, editor of the Frankfurter Zeitung, who sent him on his second
journey to the Middle East, in 1924, after he had seen his parents, in Vienna,
for the last time. In Cairo he met a prominent Islamist thinker, Mustafa Al-
Maraghi, a pupil of the great Egyptian reformer Mohammed Abduh, and attended
Arabic classes at Al Azhar University. The turning point came in 1926 when he
converted to Islam, together with his first wife, Elsa, a friend from Berlin
days. He lived in Arabia for nearly six years and, after Elsa's death, married a
local Arab woman who bore him his only child - a son. It was only in the late
1930s that he discovered that his parents had died in a Nazi concentration camp.
Asad enjoyed a close friendship with King Ibn Saud. His love affair with
Arabia was more intense than those of his European predecessors: "In all my
years in Arabia, Ibn Saud's friendship has lain like a warm shimmer over my
life. He calls me his friend, although he is a king and I a mere journalist. I
call him my friend because on occasion he opens his innermost thoughts to me
as he opens his purse to so many others."
After more travelling, Asad went to British India and befriended Iqbal, the
spiritual father of the idea of a separate Pakistan, whom he admired greatly.
Iqbal persuaded Asad to abandon plans to travel to eastern Turkestan, China and
Indonesia and "to help elucidate the intellectual premises of the future Islamic
state". After partition and independence in 1947 Asad was appointed Head of the
Middle East Division at the Foreign Ministry. He firmly believed that the
creation of Pakistan was an historical necessity; "otherwise Muslims would
have been submerged in the much more developed and intellectually and
economically stronger Hindu society."
After an absence of 25 years from the West, Asad came to Paris and then to New
York in early 1952, serving as Pakistan's Minister Plenipotentiary to the United
Nations. He encountered much curiosity from his European and American friends
and colleagues, and here met his third wife, Pola Hamida; a Bostonian, whom
he married in 1952.
Asad's sojourn in the Muslim world was, as he put it, not a "mere outward
accommodation of a European to a Muslim community in which he happened to live".
His spiritual autobiography, The Road to Mecca (1954), which the Times Literary
Supplement called "a narrative of great power and beauty", covered the first
half of his life, including a journey in the summer of 1932 into the Empty
Quarter of the Arabian Desert, which confirmed his conversion to his new
belief, and "a conscious, whole-hearted transference of allegiance from one
cultural environment to another."
After two years in New York, the Asads travelled extensively before
returning to Pakistan in 1955, where Ayub Khan, then Commander-in-Chief of the
Army was keen for him to settle. (Years later President Zia ul-Haq made a simi-
lar request but Zia was killed before Asad could decide.) However, Asad's
chief ambition was to translate the Koran into English. First Switzerland and
then Morocco provided the setting for the preparation of his magnum opus The
Message of the Quran (1980) dedicated to "people who think". In its
intellectual engagement with the text and in the intimate, subtle and profound
understanding of the pure classical Arabic of the Koran, Asad's interpretation
is of a power and intelligence without rival in English. However, its dis-
tribution has been limited because of controversy among a minority of Muslim
extremists who dispute Asad's interpretation of one or two verses.
Much of the translation work and writing was done at the Villa Assadiya, near
Tangiers, where the Asads lived for 19 happy years. Asad's other works included
The Principles of State and Government in Islam (1978), Sahih Al-Bukhari: early
days of Islam (1978) and This Law of Ours and other Essays (1987). But,
disillusioned with the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the war between Iran
and Iraq and the "fundamentalist" chaos in the Muslim world in general, the
Asads moved to Lisbon.
Asad was saddened by the intellectual insularity of the Muslim world, the
intolerance of the extremists, and was a powerful advocate of the rights of
Muslim women. It was Asad's insistence that the constitution of Pakistan allow
for the election of a woman leader that opened the way for Benazir Bhutto. "The
great mistake [of the Fundamentalists]," he once explained, "is that most of
these leaders start with the hudud, criminal punishment. This is the end result
of the sharia [Islamic law], not the beginning. The beginning is the rights of
people. There is no punishment in Islam which has no corresponding right." He
called for he codification of the sharia, suggesting a methodology in The
Principles of State and Government in Islam.
To Asad, the only real Islamic society existed during the time of the Prophet
Muhammad. The sharia, "as it is conceived today together with fiqh
[jurisprudence]", he argued, cannot be imple- mented because "it is too huge a
structure. But ... codified and reduced to its proper scope [it] can be
implemented." This view, together with his attack on the Islamic revolution
in Iran (he refused to acknowledge Khomeini as "The Imam"), which he consid-
ered a disaster for the Muslim world, made him a few powerful enemies.
His self-imposed "exile" from the Muslim world (echoing the frustrations in
his first book, Islam at the Crossroads, 1952) was, in retrospect, a mistake
and the Asads' move to Mijas was really to be nearer their Arab friends who vis-
ited Marbella regularly. The former Saudi Oil Minister Sheikh Yamani was a
patron of Asad for many years and the Emir Salman, Governor of Riyadh and
brother of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, invited the Asads to live in Saudi
Arabia - the "Homecoming of the Heart" for which Asad had been longing for many
years and which would have been the title of the second half of his autobiog-
raphy on which he was working till his death.
Mushtaq Parker
Leopold Weis (Muhammad Asad) journalist, writer, translator, diplomat and
traveller, born Lwow Galicia 2 July 1900, died Mijas Spain 20 February 1992.
[Source: The Independent. Monday 23 March 1992]
Jawahar Tembulkar
> MUHAMMAD ASAD
>
> Asad was Pakistan's ambassador at the United Nations in the early Fifties,
>and the confidant of many major Muslim figures including King Abdul Aziz Ibn
>Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, and his son King Faisal; Omar Mukhtar, the
>Libyan mujahid who rebelled against the Italian occupation; and Mohammad
>Iqbal, the great Pakistani poet and philosopher. Yet Asad died in near ob-
>scurity in Mijas on the Costa del Sol last month. News of his death filtered out
>only weeks later, but it has left a profound sense of loss among his many
>admirers.
>
>spiritual father of the idea of a separate Pakistan, whom he admired greatly.
>Iqbal persuaded Asad to abandon plans to travel to eastern Turkestan, China and
>Indonesia and "to help elucidate the intellectual premises of the future Islamic
>state". After partition and independence in 1947 Asad was appointed Head of the
>Middle East Division at the Foreign Ministry. He firmly believed that the
>creation of Pakistan was an historical necessity; "otherwise Muslims would
>have been submerged in the much more developed and intellectually and
>economically stronger Hindu society."
This remark is very interesting. Are knowledgeable netters aware
of why Asad considered the "Hindu society" as being "much more
developed and intellectually stronger" ? Firstly, a monolithic
"Hindu society" is a myth. Hindus from different parts of British
India were hide bound to tradition to different degrees. Were
they more receptive to "change" as embodied by the new educational,
administrative, and judicial systems put in place by the British ?
Some statistics would be useful in analysing this. However, from
my reading, it would appear that Hindus and Muslims adapted to
the reality of British India to different extents, in different
parts of India.
Hindu society being "economically stronger" also smacks of the
stereotype of Hindus being equated with "Banias" by a section of
the muslim population of British India, and subsequently in
independent Pakistan.
Fear of being marginalised on the political scene was I thought
the main reason for the muslim elites to espouse the cause of
Pakistan. This was disseminated to the muslim masses as being
reason enough for a sovereign state for the muslims of British
India.
Would some kind soul post excerpts from Asad's writings in this
matter ? How about Iqbal's views, and when Iqbal began to give
up on united India, and began to espouse the cause of Pakistan ?
> Asad was saddened by the intellectual insularity of the Muslim
>world, the intolerance of the extremists, and was a powerful
>advocate of the rights of Muslim women. It was Asad's insistence
>that the constitution of Pakistan allow for the election of a woman
>leader that opened the way for Benazir Bhutto.
Which constitution is he refering to ?
>Mushtaq Parker
>
>Leopold Weis (Muhammad Asad) journalist, writer, translator, diplomat and
>traveller, born Lwow Galicia 2 July 1900, died Mijas Spain 20 February 1992.
>
>[Source: The Independent. Monday 23 March 1992]
Amazing personality. A true citizen of the world ?
Jawa
--
* Statutory Disclaimer : These are merely my views. *
* Jawahar M. Tembulkar, Computervision, R & D, *
* 9805 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA, 92121, USA. *
* UUCP : uunet!calmasd!jxt voice : (619) 587-3078 *
Syed Irfan Hyder
>traveller, born Lwow Galicia 2 July 1900, died Mijas Spain 20 February 1992.
>His spiritual autobiography, The Road to Mecca (1954), which the
>Times Literary
>Supplement called "a narrative of great power and beauty", covered
>the first half of his life, including a journey in the summer of 1932
>into the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert, which confirmed his
>conversion to his new belief, and "a conscious, whole-hearted
>transference of allegiance from one cultural environment to another."
>
I still remember reading this book. What a great source of power
and excitement it was! It is one of the most
powerful narratives that I have ever read. The force and emotion
coupled with the intensity that are evident are comparable to
"Roots" by Alex Haley (ah! another great man gone!) and
"Wuthering Hights". I still remember being immersed in the
book for months later after reading it. I read it 11 years ago, I
can still visuliaze that "journey" of his towards Mecca,
which he is recounting as he is narrating "his spiritual journey"
towards "Islam". Ah! how spell bound I was! when, his camel was
lost in the midst of a storm. There, in the limitlessness of the
Arabian desert, separated from his guide, he knew he was as
good as dead; with no water, shelter, and guide. It was as if
he was lost in the vast aimlessness of this world, without
any sense as to the helter and skelter for more and more, driving
the Western civilization mad.
Finally, as if a miracle happens, he joins his guide and finds
the camel __ an experience which was the sign he was looking for....
(the book has been translated in Urdu by Abul Hasan Ali Nadavi
with title "toofanoan sey sahil tuk" (from storms to safety),
an excellent translation __ translation of the spirit not the
words of the book __ one of the few translations of an English
book that I have ever found to be good!)
The other book which was not mentioned in that obituary, was
"Islam at the Cross Roads". In my opinion, this was the book
which has the most impact on the Muslim mind of the last
50 years
than whatever he had to say later on. It is a wonderful
exposition that actually launched me into H. A. R. Gibbs,
Philip K. Hiti. During the last few years into Esposito,
Mortimer, Ruthven and a new breed of Western scholorship
surpassing in all respects the "cleverly planted, biased
personal opinions outside the bounds of the objectivity,
that are found so frequently in Islamic scholorship before
the 60's in the west!!!!! and so commonly in the media
today as the following excrept from this obituary shows:
>Asad's interpretation
>is of a power and intelligence without rival in English. However, its dis-
>tribution has been limited because of controversy among a minority of Muslim
>extremists who dispute Asad's interpretation of one or two verses.
>[Source: The Independent. Monday 23 March 1992]
Although, it is so unfortunate, and probably not the right time
to say, but in no way trying to demean his contribution to Islam from
the above two book, I am sorry to say that the above piece is
precisely the aspect I was mentioning above: "cleverly planted, biased
personal opinions". The word "extremist" above i.e. the classic
example of how Western Scholorship implants a biased view which
is beyond objectivity. See how cleverly:
1: first the "power and
intelligence without rival in English" implants in the mind of
the reader that Asad was the only person using "intelligence"
among the two parties.
2: Secondly, by using the "stereotypical"
and highly offensive term "extremist", the reasoning of the
whole argument against Asad's position is summararily rejected
and dismissed as "unintellectual", and some how devoid of any
"logic" and "reasoning"!!!
This is the precise way in which Western biased media often
implants in the unsuspecting minds the stereotypical images.
These images and stereotypes are then often used for furthering
of their global interests. For example, in
television coverage, the moment they will show a terrorist
attact they will replace the scene with "veiled and bearded"
people as if all "veiled and bearded" are terrorist!
>To Asad, the only real Islamic society existed during the time of the Prophet
>Muhammad. The sharia, "as it is conceived today together with fiqh
>[jurisprudence]", he argued, cannot be imple- mented because "it is too huge a
>structure. But ... codified and reduced to its proper scope [it] can be
>implemented."
>[Source: The Independent. Monday 23 March 1992]
Although I had not read the above Asad's work directly, but was last
month going through a PhD dessertation published as a book
that contrasted different views of "Islamic State in Pakistan"
from different perspectives: one was that of the
traditional Ulema, second of Maudoodi, third was of S. M. Zafar
(I am at a loss as to how he was considered a scholor on Islam),
and fourth was that of Mohammad Asad.
Looking from the above quotes and with the above outline of
his thought I would simply say that to reject Asad's view
if it is, solely, based on the argument that:
"The sharia, "as it is conceived today together with fiqh
[jurisprudence]", he argued, cannot be imple- mented
because "it is too huge a structure.
could be done on purely basic understanding of the scientific
research __ as my Professor Dr. J. C. Browne (CS dept) says
time and again that:
"Just because the problem is hard is no cause of
despair, but in fact, it is all the more reason
to have a go at it!!!!!!!!!!!!"
To gain an insight in this point of view, look at all the
greatest strides in sciences. The biggest leaps and bounds have
been made only when a "seemingly insurmountable" problem
is encountered! (Need I remind the readers about the
Einstien's and other breakthroughs in physics? Remember,
my Professor is basically a Phd in Physics).
Arindam Ghosh
>>economically stronger Hindu society."
>
>This remark is very interesting. Are knowledgeable netters aware
>of why Asad considered the "Hindu society" as being "much more
>developed and intellectually stronger" ? Firstly, a monolithic
>"Hindu society" is a myth. Hindus from different parts of British
>India were hide bound to tradition to different degrees. Were
>they more receptive to "change" as embodied by the new educational,
>
>matter ? How about Iqbal's views, and when Iqbal began to give
>* Statutory Disclaimer : These are merely my views. *
>* Jawahar M. Tembulkar, Computervision, R & D, *
>* 9805 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA, 92121, USA. *
>* UUCP : uunet!calmasd!jxt voice : (619) 587-3078 *
Just look back on SCP and you will find my post on Iqbal's letter to Jinnah
where he says that toimprove economically Muslims need a separate state and
deplores the condition of the Hindu society.
Arindam
Arun K. Gupta
In response to Jawahar Tembulkar: the following might be
of interest.
The following are taken from:
(i) Language, Religion and Politics in North India
by Paul R Brass
(ii) The Emergence of Indian Nationalism
by Anil Seal
For more complete data, please refer to these books.
****
Muslim economic and educational status varied widely across
British India.
****
(a)Percentage of Muslims in total population and in the population
at school in the major provinces of British India, 1871-72
population School
Madras 6.0% 4.4%
Bombay 15.4 8.2
Bengal & Assam 32.3 14.4
N.W. Provinces 13.5 17.8
Oudh 9.9 25.3
Punjab 51.6 34.9
****
Oudh -- U.P. was where Muslims were a minority, was where, relatively
speaking they were best off. (East Bengal, where Hindus were the
minority was where Hindus were relatively best off !)
****
Following tables are for UP only.
****
(b) % of Muslims in male Literate populations of the United Provinces
% of Muslims % of Muslims
in literate in English literate
population pop.
1881 11.30 N.A.
1891 11.68 9.66
1901 12.73 14.74
1911 13.63 17.25
1921 14.23 17.45
1931 15.25 19.88
(the balance being made up by Hindus and Christians).
****
(c) Occupation by religion (for selected occupations) in the United
Provinces, 1921
(parts of the table are being presented)
Total Population: 46,510,668
Hindu: 39,292,926 (84.48%)
Muslim: 6,724,967 (14.28%)
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
(a) Ordinary Cultivators:
Number of people deriving their livelihood :29.85 million,
Hindu: 96.18%
Muslim: 3.35%
(b) Income from rent of land
0.82 million
Hindu: 69.61%
Muslim:27.58%
(c) Agents, Managers of landed estates, clerks,rent collectors etc.
0.14 million
Hindu: 82.02%
Muslim:15.54%
(d) Other
4.91 million
Hindu: 81.04%
Muslim:18.30%
Exploitation of Minerals
8,208
Hindu: 51.54%
Muslim:44.13%
Industry
5.11 million
Hindu: 54.07%
Muslim:43.50%
Transport
0.40 million
Hindu: 51.42%
Muslim:46.60%
Trade
(a) Bank managers, money lenders, exchange and insurance agents,
money changers and brokers and their employees
0.11 million
H: 43.73%
M: 45.36%
(b) Brokers, commission agents, commercial travellers, warehouse
owners and employees
31,454
H: 44.63%
M: 49.42%
(c) Trade in piece goods
0.145 million
H: 45.28%
M: 47.82%
(d) Grain and pulse dealers
0.55 million
H: 58.07%
M: 35.45%
Public Force
(a) Army
78,821
H: 52.51%
M: 38.36%
(b) Police
85,706
H: 48.98%
M: 49.79%
(c) Village Watchmen
88,493
H: 50.08%
M: 49.04%
Public Administration
(a) Service of the State
0.121 million
H: 47.37%
M: 47.67%
(b) Municipal and other local (not village) service
20,252
H: 52.12%
M: 43.22%
Professions and Liberal Arts
(a) Lawyers
15,948
H: 63.49%
M: 28.07%
(b) Medical Practitioners
33,087
H: 51.17%
M: 39.83%
(c) Instruction
74,608
H: 67.64%
M: 22.47%
(d) Letters and arts and sciences
61,293
H: 48.46%
M: 49.23%
****
% of govt. positions held by Muslims in U.P.
1882: 34.78%
1911: 41.94%
1921: 47.67%
****
Urban population in U.P.
(% of population living in towns)
% of total pop. % of Hindus % of Muslims
1911 10.2 7.2 26.9
1921 10.6 7.4 27.4
1931 11.2 7.7 29.0
1941 12.4 9.0 30.6
****
arun gupta
ag...@andrew.cmu.edu
az...@vax.oxford.ac.uk
>
> [text deleted]
In this particular case it should be noted that the obituary was written by
a Mr. Mushtaq Parker. While it may very well be true that the author has
failed to present the arguments against Asad's interpretation and has been
rather dismissive of those who contested Asad, can this bias be attributed to
the western media? I very much doubt that he is an employee of The Independent
(in fact I have no idea who he is; anyone better informed?) and until such an
association is verified/negated it should be treated as a personal opinion only.
Does anyone know which "one or two verses" are referred to in the obituary,
what was Asad's interpretation of these verses, who the said "extremists" were
and how their reading differed with that of Asad's? How important an issue
was it?
Rizwan Azeem