HIS life reads like a strange tale full of surprises. Born Leopold Weiss to Jewish parents on July 2, 1900, in what is Ukraine today, he became a Muslim scholar and the first Pakistani citizen. He knew Hebrew, Aramaic, German and Polish in his teen years and, later in life, was able to write in English, French, Persian and Arabic as well.
As a Jew, he had his reservations about Zionism and felt more sympathies towards Arabs while he travelled widely in the Middle East as a journalist during 1920s. Leopold Weiss embraced Islam in 1926 and adopted a Muslim name: Muhammad Asad.
Recognised as a polymath, Islamic scholar and political thinker, Allama Muhammad Asad translated Quran and Sahih Al-Bukhari into English and pennedseveral works on Islam. His autobiography, The Road to Makkah (1954), became much popular. Allama Muhammad Asad was not only influenced by Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the poet-philosopher, but also inspired many, including Maryam Jameela (formerly Margret Marcus) and Murad Wilfried Hoffmann.
Asad also had given guidance for formulating Pakistan’s first constitution.
Earlier, during his visit to the subcontinent, Asad had met Allama Iqbal in 1934. As mentioned by Muhammad Ikram Chughtai in his article ‘Muhammad Asad: The First Citizen of Pakistan’ (Iqbal Studies, vol 50, Iqbal Academy, Lahore), Iqbal advised him to work for the creation of a state for Muslims based on Islamic ideology. Iqbal also asked him to translate Sahih Al-Bukhari.
Asad agreed and wrote several articles on the proposed Islamic state: Pakistan. Asad also started work onSahih Al-Bukhari’s translation and began releasing parts in 1935 from Srinagar, Kashmir. The bound volume appeared in 1938. He kept on working on the other parts, but was imprisoned by the British India government during the Second World War for about six years. After the creation of Pakistan, Asad had to migrate to Pakistan but the manuscripts of the remaining parts of Sahih Al-Bukhari’s translation, which he had to leave behind, were destroyed by the rioters who attacked and looted his house (Muhammad Asad: Banda-i-Sehraai, page 108).
The recently published book Makaateeb-i-Allama Muhammad Asad includes Asad’s letters that reveal some little-known but important aspects of Asad’s life. The book has, for instance, two letters addressed to Allama Iqbal, written in July 1934. In these letters Asad expresses his willingness to joinLahore’s Islamia College, as offered by Iqbal, and attaches some conditions, though he could not join the college for certain reasons.
Compiled, translated and annotated by Dr Khalid Nadeem, the book has been published by Lahore’s World View Publishers.
In his intro, Khalid Nadeem has mentioned some important events of Asad’s life. He says in October 1947, Punjab’s chief minister Iftikhar Husain Mamdot established the Department of Islamic Reconstruction with Asad as its director. But in January 1948, prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan asked Asad to join the ministry of foreign affairs and visit Arab countries to establish strong ties with them, especially Saudi Arabia. In 1951, Asad was sent to the UN as Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires.
The book produces Urdu translation of 151 letters by Asad, in chronological order, written between 1934and 1986. Khalid Nadeem has not only translated Asad’s letters published earlier by Dr Muhammad Arshad in some issues of the journal Islamic Sciences, but has also included some more letters he found in some other sources, as he has mentioned in his preface to the book.
Asad, in a letter written in 1986 and addressed to Abdul Qaadir Najafi, says that though he had benefitted from Dr Abdul Ghani’s wisdom and knowledge, he did not owe his knowledge of Islam to him. Asad says he had earned his Islamic teachings during his long stay at Madinah and owed his command over Arabic to his close ties with Royal Saudi family and Bedouins who, says Asad, spoke the best Arabic. But readers’ discretion is advised as some Ulema had reservations about Asad’s translation of Quran. Also, as some letters addressed to Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan show, Asad preferred to livein secluded places as he was afraid that common Muslims might object to some of his interests and beliefs, such as listening to music or mixed gatherings(page 42-43).
Asad died in 1992 and Homecoming of the Heart, the sequel to his autobiography, co-authored by his wife Pola Hameeda Asad, appeared in 2012. But the Urdu version, translated into Urdu by Muhammad Ikraam Chughtai, had appeared earlier under the title Muhammad Asad: Banda-i-Sehraai. It has some vital historical facts too, such as the events during Pakistan Movement, the war in Kashmir in 1948, Asad’s going to Kashmir front and how the attack on Indian forces was stopped though taking over Srinagar seemed quite likely (page 120).
One feels that the sequel to Asad’s biography has not been fully studiedbytheexpertsandthisbookalso serves as a reminder.