The Unpublished Letters of Muhammad Asad
Book Launch
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https://irfront.org/post/book-launch-of-the-unpublished-l
etters-of-muhammad-asad-14575 |
It has been more than ten years since I wrote about Muhammad Asad (nee Leopold Weiss), the highly respected Islamic thinker who had carved his name deeply into the history of countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. He is credited with the English translation of the Quran and penned many critical thoughts on the day-to-day practice of Islam. Sadly, his twilight years, which he wanted to spend in Morocco and later Spain, were not ceremonious, as people were unhappy with his stance of questioning the status quo.
My dear friend of 50 years, FM, announced in a common WhatsApp group that he would be launching a book on the unpublished letters of Muhammad Asad and the official launch was to be done by none other than Malaysia's famous centenarian whose as astute mind belies his age by half a century, Tun Dr Mahathir, the two-time and longest serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, and extended the invitation to me. I accepted.
Now, some would be asking, "What a good Hindu boy by birth will do in a place where the discussion would be everything Islam?" Precisely, the answer is in the question.
Imagine us as an army of ants perched on a dry leaf which had dropped onto a fast-moving drain, straddling from side to side, oblivious to what lies ahead. The smartest ants amongst the army would try to take heed of the situation and, with their nimble neural tissues, mastermind something to save their comrades. We, humans, are in the same predicament. Left on Earth with no instructions and no GPS to follow, we are all on our own to make sense of things around us.
If it is the all-encompassing, universal divine consciousness that binds us all, and we are all struggling to understand, more heads are better than one. Any knowledge is good to know.
The session started with the moderators welcoming the special guests, Tun Dr Mahathir, Dr Farouk Musa (FM) and Dr Azhar Ibrahim. Datuk Seri Meer Habib played host to the event in his premises, Harta, specifically curated to promote local art and intellectual discourses.
Asad was a man of letters. He did a lot of thinking, and his letters have found their way to many national archives. Through the initiative of the Islamic Renaissance Front, many of these private correspondences were sourced and published. Asad's line of thinking is made aware to everyone.
Sitting through the discussion and Q&A sessions, as an outsider, I learnt a few things. DA, who accompanied me, coming from the heart of the Hindi belt of India, had his own understanding of Muslims revised.
FM, in confession mode, gave an overview of the difference between an Islamist and a rationalist. Islamism came about as the Ottoman Empire was losing its influence and territory, becoming the sick man of Europe. The nostalgia to recreate the glory of the good old days prompted them to build Islamist movements with unbridled teachings of the Quran as their guide. The rationalists, however, are cognisant that things found in the Quran and hadith need to be thought out rationally to keep with the demands of the present era. Asad was a proponent of this. The religion is more than just following instructions and joining in the rituals. We see this in present-day Malaysia, where less emphasis is placed on personal development.
An interesting question by a listener was the issue of sustenance of life as a religious thinker. He later confessed that, as a teenager, he had told his father that he wanted to be a thinker. Without batting an eyelid, his father gave him a smack across his face and told him, "Don't think, just study your sciences and go to university!" That was the end of the discussion. The panel suggests that Azad probably lived on small royalties from book sales, his stint with the Saudi royalty and other honorariums.
The guest of honour took centre stage when he answered a question on riba (exploitative gains from trades). Tun reiterated that rather than worrying about the nitty-gritty details of conforming to religious practices, one should look at the elephant in the room. Amazingly, this 100-year-old man can string his thoughts so succinctly and enunciate them in crystal clear language, commanding the listening ear of every attendee.
Unlike converts who have the luxury of getting proper training in Islam, Tun Mahathir complained that Malays do not get the appropriate guidance on the religion. Hence, during his tenure as Prime Minister, when the pressure to Islamise mounted upon him, he decided to go back to the Holy Book to understand the stance on many issues. Since he was not well versed in Arabic, he read its English translation. What he found shocked him. He realised that Muslims did not even do the basic things taught in the Quran, like killing a fellow human being.
He chided the act of killing fellow Muslims. It is illogical that some Muslims coerce or get manipulated into attacking their fellow Muslim brothers. The basic teaching of Islam is to acquire knowledge. This, they had failed miserably, and had allowed themselves to be dominated by their enemies. The technologies that they had acquired and improved have been learnt by others and have been further improved upon, while the Muslims stay dependent on the rest of the world. This reminded me of India's case. Many of ancient India's early discoveries and scientific knowledge had been forgotten, only to be found and researched by the colonisers. The colonisers, in turn, used the same expertise to subdue the Indians.
The audience was also informed that Asad did indeed spend a short sojourn, maybe about a month, here in Malaysia, doing his research. In one of his letters, he mentioned that Malaysia was one of the countries where he felt most welcome.
It was an evening well spent.
