From: hyder@cs.utexas.edu (Syed Irfan Hyder)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.pakistan
Subject: Mohammad Asad
Date: 17 Aug 1992 12:02:30 -0500
Organization: U Texas Dept of Computer Sciences, Austin TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: pageboy.cs.utexas.edu

Here is my reply to the obituary posted some time ago on the net
and again this time in response to some one's query.



Subject: Obituary:Muhammad Asad: Road To Mecca & Western Media Bias

In article <1992Mar24.232315.5062@vax.oxford.ac.uk> 
azeem@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>
>                            MUHAMMAD ASAD
>
>>Leopold Weis (Muhammad Asad) journalist, writer, 
  translator, diplomat and
>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).