The Road to Mecca

A truly amazing and accomplished life lived. One of the most influential books I've read in my life and gave me a more enlightened perspective on my own faith. Muhammad Asad's writing and eloquence are unmatched and it comes across in what is essentially an autobiography. I keep going back every few years to read it because it really just is that good!

Excellent

Muhammed Assad was a gifted journalist. This gift makes the reading of his Near East adventures a highly entertaining experience. The son of wealthy Jewish parents, he came to Palestine in the early 1920's, became an Anti-Zionist and fell in love with the Arab world. He returned to Europe after many adventurous journeys, married a woman 14 years older then he was, became a Muslim, and went back East. The story is told through the memories entertained during a camel ride to Mecca in the early 1930's (although written about 20 years later).Asad was a fearless man (he once walked from Haifa to Damscus without a passport, and later dodged bullets while trying to advise the Sanusi rebels in Libya against fascist Italy). He had an enormous talent for languages - he could speak fluent Arabic and Persian, in addition to the European languages and Hebrew.He was immediately attracted to Islam. Even before becoming a Muslim he had nothing but praise for it. According to him, Islam is completely class -less, accommodating spiritual and physical needs perfectly.Asad's criticism of the Western value system seems relevant today at least as it was then. We might not share his conclusion and choose Islam, but we cant deny that there is something wrong in the Western way of life.The book DOES NOT include Asad's Indian and Pakistanian years. I do not know what book this information is from, and I would really want to get it, as I heard Asad WAS one of the people behind the estblishment of Pakistan.I recommand this truly extraordinary and enlightening book to everyone interested in what is really going on in the world.

Muhammad Asad's book is indeed a minor classic within its field. Written by a European intellectual who embraced Islam as a young man, this book can help us to achieve a better understanding of a religion and a religious-cultural complex that has, to such a great extent, become a matter of controversy in our present time. Along with Nasr's more recent "Islam in the Modern World" it is a "must" to anyone who wishes to deepen his knowlede on the subject. I read the book already when I was very young, in a translation into my native Swedish, and I was happy to rediscover it in its original English now, some 50 years later.

A nice overview of the authors experiences in Arabia and how he viewed Arabs without any biases. Recommend reading for all intersex to know how Bedouin life morphed into the present Saudi Arabia.

An excellent book for any individual searching for the purpose of life and inner peace. The book is an English language master class. The words spark such vivid imagery. You feel as if you are walking side-by-side with the author. I just could not put this book down. Plan to re-read it soon.

Interesting story how I was introduced to this unusual book: our leader of “Islam 101” group in local mosque Pakistani by nationality mentioned Muhammad Asad name once. I found his biography in Wikipedia. I finished his book in three evenings, it was more interesting to me than Three Musketeers that I read in my childhood. His story is so unbelievable... He was born as Jew in Lvov, worked in Germany and finally became Muslim. "Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its parts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other; nothing is superfluous and nothing lacking; and the result is a structure of absolute balance and solid composure.” I am not Muslim, but have Muslim’s friends and read whole Quran twice; I’m Christian and like to have conversations with Muslims. It still amazed me how Jew converted to Islam became one of the founders of Pakistan. This book is great reading, full of adventures, stories about Arabs. Just enjoy reading. His another work is "The Message of the Qur'an", a translation and commentary of the sacred book of Islam, the Qur'an. I read it partially, somehow in my group his translation was not recommended for study.

Very interesting and instructive book.