Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in , and at the age of 22 made his visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurtur Zeitung, and after his conversion to Islam travelled and worked throughout the Muslim world, from North Africa to as far East as Afghanistan.
After years of devoted study he became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. After the establishment of Pakistan, he was appointed the Director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction, West Punjab and later on became Pakistan's Alternate Representative at the United Nations. Muhammad Asad's two important books are: Islam at the Crossroads and Road to Mecca. He also produced a monthly journal Arafat. At present he is working upon an English translation of the Holy Qur'an. [Asad completed his translation and has passed away. -MSA-USC]
In I left my native country, Austria, to travel through Africa and Asia as a Special Correspondent to some of the leading Continental newspapers, and spent from that year onward nearly the whole of my time in the Islamic East. My interest in the nations with which I came into contact was in the
Muhammad Asad born Leopold Weiss; 12 July - 20 February was a Jewish-born Austro-Hungarian journalist, traveler, writer, linguist, thinker, political theorist, diplomat and Islamic scholar. Asad was one of the most influential European Muslims of the 20th century.
By the age of thirteen, young Weiss had acquired a passing fluency in Hebrew and Aramaic, other than his native languages German and Polish. By his mid-twenties, he could read and write in English, French, Persian and Arabic. In Mandatory Palestine, Weiss engaged in arguments with Zionist leaders like Chaim Weizmann, voicing his reservations about some aspects of the Zionist Movement. After travelling across the Arab World as a journalist, he converted to Islam in and chose for himself the Muslim name “Muhammad Asad”—Asad being the Arabic rendition of his root name Leo (Lion).
During his stay in Saudi Arabia, he spent time with Bedouins and enjoyed close company of Ibn Saud—the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.
On his visit to India, Asad became friends with Muslim poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, who persuaded him to abandon his eastward travels and “help elucidate the intellectual premises of the future Islamic stat
Asad, The Neglected Thinker
Born to Jewish parents in in the Austria-Hungarian Empire, Leopold Weiss converted to Islam in , changed his name to ‘Muhammad Asad’, and became a famous Muslim of the twentieth century. Asad is best known for his iconic autobiography, The Road to Mecca, which tells the remarkable story of how a young Jew from central Europe left the religion of his birth for Islam before proceeding to live for several years in the deserts of central Arabia. In later years Asad moved to British India, witnessed first-hand the creation of Pakistan, and represented the country at the inaugural United Nations Assembly. By the time of his death in southern Spain in , Asad had lived in almost a dozen countries, East and West. But Asad was no mere wanderer or convert; he was first and foremost an intellectual. His long career stretches almost the entire twentieth century and offers a window into the many social, political and intellectual currents of modern Islam. Asad’s writings traverse many fields of the modern Islamic tradition, including Qur’an and hadith sciences, political theory, and Islamic legal theory. A small but significant trend of Western
Asad Muhammad
| Journalist, Islamic writer, diplomat, Pakistani representative to the UN Date of Birth: Country: Dive |
Content:
- Birth and Early Life
- Journalism Career in Europe
- Pivot to Islamic World
- Correspondence and Conversions
- Embrace of Islam and Pakistani Independence
- Imprisonment and Diplomatic Service
- Later Life and Legacy
Birth and Early Life
Leopold Weiss was born in in Lviv, Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to a prominent Jewish attorney, Karl Weiss. His grandfather was a rabbi in Czernowitz. By the age of 13, Leopold had a deep understanding of the Tanakh and studied the Talmud and Mishnah. His family frequently traveled to Vienna and Berlin, exposing him to diverse cultures.
Journalism Career in Europe
After World War I, the Weiss family relocated to Vienna, where Leopold enrolled in the University of Vienna to study art history. However, he soon left home to pursue journalism in Berlin. He initially worked as an assistant to filmmaker F.W. Murnau before transitioning to news agencies.
Pivot to Islamic World
A pivotal moment in Weiss' life came when he met Ekaterina Peshkova, the wife of Maxim Gorky. Peshkova shared
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