Tags: Converts to Islam, Muslim Scholars, Recommended Books

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A personal review on The Road to Mecca.

Where can I start explaining and detailing this magnificent book and this great man – Leopold Weiss (alias Muhammad Asad) – this great scholar and this noble writer? However I describe it I have not done justice to the beauty of his words, to the delicacy and emotions that is expressed in the book The Road To Mecca. Muhammad Asad explains an array of geographical, historical, cultural and sensitive religious issues according to his endeavours and adventures around Europe, Africa, and Asia; specifically in the Middle East.

There are writers, and there are writers. There are books written by individuals who are able to get their idea across, to describe an event or an concept accurately. But then there are those few writers who paint entire landscapes of multiple subjects, events and places in your mind; whose words memorize you, whose characters and emotions make you reflect and consider yourself from a completely different view-point.

Muhammad Asad belongs to the second group.

He was proficient in more than eight languages from Hebrew, Polish, German, French, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashto to English. It is quite astonishing how he wrote a book of this beauty considering that English did not belong to his first 4 or 5 languages after his Polish and Hebrew mother tongue.

Let me be more specific, The Road to Mecca is not a fictional book. This man, then known as Leopold Weiss, was a descendent of a long line of Jewish rabbis, born in 1900 in what was then known as Lwow in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and today recognized as Lviv in Ukraine. He was proficient in Hebrew from the young age and was also familiar with Aramaic. He studied the Old Testament, as well as the text and commentaries of the Talmud, the Mishna, and Gemara. Moreover, he explored into the intricacies of Biblical exegesis and Targum. Although he was a Jew by birth he was also quite familiar with the New Testament as well. Weiss lived until the age of 92 years (1992).

This book is only part of the fascinating life of Leopold Weiss who later “reverted” to Islam. Sitting in your room reading this book, you will forget everything around you and feel as if you are in the desserts of Arabia, the book will take you to the days of sovereign  Palestine, beautiful cities Lebanon, neighbourhood and villages of Syria and Jordan. This book will take you to the delightful life Cairo and the energy and vibe of the Egyptian streets. You will see people of Iraq, the long bazaars of Iran, the roads and houses of Afghanistan. But then it will bring you back to street cars and subways of Germany, Austria, Poland, France and the technological advancement of Europe. You will sail on ships right through the Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and the Red Sea and before you know it you are lying down in the quietness and calm of the desert looking at the starts of an Arabian night and contemplating about life, wonders of the world, the essence of creation and the convincing powerful touch of God.

In Asad’s book you will meet many political and religious figures such as King Ibn Saud (The first Saudi King), Chaim Weizmann (The first president and undisputed contributor to the Zionist Movement), Reza Shah of Iran (The first king of the Pahlavi dynasty), King Abdullah of Jordan, King Amanullah of Afghanistan, The Grand Sanoussi Umar Al-Mukhtar, Madam Gorky of Russia, Fritz Lang (famous German film director) and many more.

After reading this magnificent book one cannot help but to be puzzled as to how such a remarkable personality as Mohammad Asad still remains obscure to both the Western world, and most importantly, the Muslim world. A person who has seen and experienced all of the main events of the 20th century at first hand and has lived to describe it coherently; a scholar who truly deserves to be on the map of personalities of the last century.

Asad walked through many terrains at a time when there were no cars and later flew in the era of most advanced aeroplanes. As a journalist he saw the fall of the Ottoman Empire, WWI, WWII, death of his family at Nazi concentration camps, establishment of the state of Israel, the cold war, rise and fall of the Berlin wall, the first gulf war and more.

His contributions to 20th century societies of the Middle-East is immense. He was a first class traveler, a journalist, a writer, a philosopher, an adventurer, a statesman, a diplomat, a scholar, and most of all a believer in the faith of Islam through experience. Recognized by many as “The Muslim personality of the 20the century”, he should at least be considered on par with Lawrence of Arabia, if not above, for the sole reason that he was involved in the shaping of more than one country.

This is an amazing early autobiography of one man’s experiences and thoughts and without a doubt his road to Mecca. Muhammad Asad brings his life into yours. This is an all around engaging book, which will capture you in its adventures.

One of the many impressed commentators at amazon.com writes this about The Road to Mecca:

“This book is actually four journeys fitted into one. It is a geographical, historical, linguistic, and spiritual journey.

Geographical: for it a first class travelogue of the Middle-East region during the 20th, before the current borders ever existed or were drawn. He provides a very graphic description of places, lands, moods, cities, and people that he has come across, that virtually transports you to those times. He is not the romantic orientalist, nor is he the undermining military observer, but somehow a mixture of both with flair of adventure. He traveled during a period of time when it was still possible to join caravans, hire horses and guides, and buy camels when embarking on a journey, which makes it all the more exciting to read. In short, even if you are not interested in the main story of the book (his finding of the faith of Islam), to read the actual adventures he experienced, for the armchair traveler, this book is a must!

Historical: for he has witnessed all the events that have shaped the Middle-East of today. The fall of the Ottoman Empire, World War I, World War II, the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zionism and the creation of the Israel, the ascending to the throne of the Shah of Iran, the creation of Pakistan, Colonialism and the different resistances against it. He had been directly involved with events of early Saudi Arabia, and was one of the people who elucidated the idea of creating a Muslim nation in the Indian sub-continent with the man responsible for the idea, the poet Muhammad Iqbal. The personalities he has come face to face with testify to his involvement in those events of the first half of the 20th century. Listing them chronologically, Madame. Maksim Gorky, Chaim Weizmann, King Ibn Saud, Prince Faisal (later King), The Shah of Iran, King Amanullah of Afghanistan, The Grand Sanoussi, Umar Al-Mukhtar, Muhammad Iqbal, to name some of them. He describes historical events that give important insight into the history of the region. For instance, the Bedouin revolt of 1929 against King Ibn Saud, the events that led to the ascension to the throne by the Shah of Iran, the Sanoussi resistance against Italian colonialism in Libya, etc. His accounts helped explain several aspects of the Middle East history that I believe a lot of people from my generation (late twenties) are plainly not aware of.

Linguistic: for his English prose is remarkably lucid. It is amazing that he can write such beautiful English, considering that it is not his mother tongue, nor it is his second language, but something like his fourth or fifth, after Hebrew, Polish, German and French. His description of moods, feelings, physical aspects of a place, times of day, spiritual feelings are so vivid that you actually feel them, not just imagine them. His book is truly to learn from, the vocabulary, the prose, the lucidity, all witness to a great work of literature.

Spiritual: Well, I leave this up to you. But in short, this journey is the main raison d’etre of this book. He describes his search for a spiritual ideology that would fill the vacancy left by the downfall of all spiritual engagements in Europe at that time. He describes the whole process gradually and in a very rational manner, but at the same time in doing so, he shows-maybe indirectly- his scholastic abilities in reasoning and his rational thinking on why he was convinced with Islam.

In the main, this book has virtually changed my outlook on a lot of issue and has opened a whole new world for me. Read itand I hope you would go through the same experience.

For other scholars and  books that are written about Islam please click here.

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