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The Road to Mecca

Muhammad Asad

4.46 · Rating details · 4,547 ratings · 599 reviews

In this extraordinary and beautifully-written autobiography, Asad tells of his initial rejection of all institutional religions, his entree into Taoism, his fascinating travels as a diplomat, and finally his embrace of Islam.

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Paperback, 375 pages

Published January 1st 2000 by Fons Vitae (first published 1954)

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Aug 12, 2011 Alp Eren Topal rated it it was amazing

There are enough reviews by other people, which does the justice to the book. Yet I just want to add that Leopold Weis/Muhammad Asad's life is the testimony to one thing:

Can a modern/secular mind find it way into Islam and appreciate its truth? And if so how is this possible?

As I was born in and raised into a Muslim society, I took it for granted that Islam was the true calling of God. Yet after I have started studyin social sciences and Western society, the question above has become increasingl ...more

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Oct 09, 2013 Tim rated it it was amazing

Shelves: islam, islam-autobio

The more I try to make sense of my path so far as a Muslim, the more the experiences seem to expand themselves in front of me and escape words. I cannot pin down what I'm living, seeing, realizing into language. I can only approximate, and at times try to make sense of it through the writings of others.

The idea of Islam being a consummation of all primordial divine truth, (and therefore not a "late" religion, but ONE religion) is the concept that has spoken to me most as of late. In this light, The more I try to make sense of my path so far as a Muslim, the more the experiences seem to expand themselves in front of me and escape words. I cannot pin down what I'm living, seeing, realizing into language. I can only approximate, and at times try to make sense of it through the writings of others.

The idea of Islam being a consummation of all primordial divine truth, (and therefore not a "late" religion, but ONE religion) is the concept that has spoken to me most as of late. In this light, the particular message of this book is one of return through "new" beginnings. Or as we in Islam describe our conversion process, it is a RE-version to the primordial Religion - through submission (Islam) to the ultimate.

Muhammad Asad narrates his story through a method of weaving in and out of past and present events related to his journey to the Arab and Persian worlds. Immersed in this back and forth narrative is his spiritual progression and viewpoints on Islam derived from his esoteric experience of the divine as related to his outer experience of "brotherhood". In this way, Asad's style is a beautiful metaphor for Islam as a faith, and for the way that The Qur'an itself is written. What we know as existence or creation intersects at all points of the physical, spiritual and mental, and with this life-altering paradigm of unity in all areas, we can see where the many strains of reality constantly cross one another, and in Islam, are inseparable parts of a totality.

Asad describes a restlessness in this book that I've felt since my teens, and that compelled him as a European to travel to the Arab world and ultimately embrace Islam. It was a cultural shift, an acceptance of a new way of life that was exemplified through physical emigration. This resonated profoundly when I first looked at this book. Asad's conception of this restlessness is not a need for adventure per se, but more of a desire to get to the root of things, and therefore the need to experience. It's also not a sensual addiction, it's just a drive to get to the authentic. I'm there, and looking back, I've always been there. Islam to me offers an opportunity of full immersion into not only a faith (and "faith" has meant "dualism" in my past), but a complete life. Tawhid. Unity. Sociological and cultural acceptance. Discovering through a journey - physical, mental and spiritual. Asad describes it best on p. 374: "Longing need no longer remain small and hidden; it has found its awakening, a blinding sunrise of fulfillment." ...more

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May 05, 2007 harun rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: those seeking religion

When I first read this book it instilled in me a wonderous vision. When I read it again it filled me with a critical history. When I picked it up a few years later, I read it as a man searching. In this, it's great.

This book changed the direction of my life. It was not because I was lost, for I still am lost today, but it showed me that people do change the worlds in changing themselves.

The book is an autobiographical account of an Austrian Jew named Leopold Weiss who through time and experience ...more

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Aug 04, 2013 Murtaza rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) was an Austrian convert from Judaism to Islam in the early 20th century. His life took him across the Muslim world and into the orbit of some of its most important contemporary historical figures. This book is part travelogue, part biography, and part exploration of his journey towards Islam.

Asad was a personal adviser to King Abdulaziz bin Saud during the period in which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed, and his reflections and observations of Arabia before t Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) was an Austrian convert from Judaism to Islam in the early 20th century. His life took him across the Muslim world and into the orbit of some of its most important contemporary historical figures. This book is part travelogue, part biography, and part exploration of his journey towards Islam.

Asad was a personal adviser to King Abdulaziz bin Saud during the period in which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed, and his reflections and observations of Arabia before this period are quite remarkable. As he himself states at the book's outset he is describing a world which no longer exists (and this book is decades old already); so this book has an incredible time-capsule like feel.

He travels through Iran, Iraq, Palestine and North Africa as well and provides his insights into what life was like there before the tumult of modernity fully engulfed these places years later. Throughout his travels he provides broader reflections on his view of Islam as a Westerner, and explains in sequential detail his decision to ultimately adopt the faith and a completely new identity as a Muslim.

Asad had an utterly incredible life (I won't recap it all here), starting as a young aspiring journalist in Vienna and ending up as Pakistan's first ambassador to the UN upon the creation of that state. The writing is riveting, and his ruminations on spirituality and culture are a moving accompaniment to a story which would have been enthralling for its content alone.

Especially interesting to me were his observations of Islam, but particularly of Muslims 'fitra'(the Islamic concept of human nature) and the synthesis of spirituality and action in their lives. The honesty and clarity of his writing about the religion was moving and brilliant. He covers ostensibly heavy topics in a manner which makes them flow effortlessly.

This book has a really timeless quality, and as I mentioned it is a wonderful time-capsule of these countries and of a world which exists only in fragments today. On top of all this the book is a page-turner, fantastically written and exciting. Unreservedly recommended to anyone. ...more

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Mar 27, 2017 Quo rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Anyone interested in learning more about Islam or the search for identity

Shelves: religious-quest, personal-identity, reviewed

The Road to Mecca represents a most interesting & exceedingly interior pilgrimage tale of Leopold Weiss, born in 1900 in what is today Lvov, Ukraine (previously Lemberg in Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), descendent of a long line of rabbis. The book is in fact the autobiography of Muhammad Asad and the story of this most radical transformation is quite stunning, a conversion of faith enmeshed in a long pattern of travel & work as a journalist by the erstwhile Weiss, whose rat ...more

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Feb 21, 2015 Charles Haywood rated it it was amazing

This is a fascinating book—half travelogue and half conversion memoir. Muhammad Asad was born a Jew, Leopold Weiss, in the Austro-Hungarian empire (in what is now Ukraine, the city of Lvov). He was prominent both in interactions with the West in the 20th Century, for example as Pakistani ambassador to the UN, and in theological work, including translation and exegesis of the Q’uran. Asad is regarded, and should be even more regarded in these days of Al Qaeda and ISIS, as a voice for a revitaliz This is a fascinating book—half travelogue and half conversion memoir. Muhammad Asad was born a Jew, Leopold Weiss, in the Austro-Hungarian empire (in what is now Ukraine, the city of Lvov). He was prominent both in interactions with the West in the 20th Century, for example as Pakistani ambassador to the UN, and in theological work, including translation and exegesis of the Q’uran. Asad is regarded, and should be even more regarded in these days of Al Qaeda and ISIS, as a voice for a revitalized, mainstream (he would accurately reject the term “moderate”) Islam. But long before that, he was just a Westerner adrift and looking for spiritual answers.

Asad found those answers in Arabia. In many ways, The Road To Mecca is of the same genre as other travel books of Western men fascinated by Arabia in the first third of the 20th Century, such as Lawrence of Arabia, or lesser known figures such as Wilfred Thesiger (Arabian Sands). A certain type of Western man (a woman could not have had the opportunity) fell in love with the people and landscape of pre-petroleum Arabia, believing that the people had unique virtues (though they admitted the people were not composed only of virtues) and the land brought out the best in men. Some of this smacks of naïve love of the idealized noble savage, of course, and you see the same thing more commonly with Westerners and East Asian cultures like Tibet (hello, Richard Gere!). Conversion to Islam was not the norm, though, for Westerners entranced by Arabia and the Arabs. But Asad was simultaneously on a spiritual quest, and, like others before and since, after rejecting much else found what he was looking for in Islam.

Asad’s memoir is told in the form of flashbacks during a desert trip in 1927 with a traveling companion, ultimately to Mecca (not for his first time)—at the time he lived in Medina, so he had made the hajj pilgrimage several times already. In his book, he alternates descriptions of Arabian geography (as well as Syria, Iraq and Iran, and a little of the Maghreb), with descriptions of key Arabs and their personal and political doings (he knew Ibn Saud well, along with a host of lesser players, although not, apparently, the Hashemite kings of the Hejaz, deposed by Ibn Saud but later kings of Jordan to this day, and, briefly, Iraq). And all along in his book Asad is narrating his own life, and his own religious development, with apparently great honesty and clarity.

Asad rejected Judaism and became agnostic early, although he came from a rabbinical family. His main objection to Judaism is that he could not believe in a God that was focused nearly to exclusion on one people—he repeatedly and accurately contrasts Islam’s ability to embrace all kinds of people and form a new community from them with the exclusive aspects of Judaism. But Asad does not fall into the kind of crude anti-Judaic attitudes so common among modern Muslims, even though such an attitude is well supported in the Q’uran and the Sunnah, and is the historical norm in Islam. (Q’uranic verses such as 2:62, frequently quoted to make Islam seem universalist, “Surely those who believe, those of Jewry, the Christians and the Sabaeans . . . . whoever has faith in Allah and the Last Day, and works righteousness, their wage awaits them with their Lord, and no fear shall be upon them, and neither shall they sorrow” are not to the contrary—their exclusive interpretation in Islam has always been that those verses only apply to Jews before Jesus, and then to Christians before Muhammad, and have zero application today, after Muhammad. See The Reliance of the Traveler, the main Shafi’i “catechism,” at w4.4) He was, however, very opposed to Zionism and the founding of Israel, and friendly with Jews such as Jacob de Haan, a Dutch Jew assassinate by the Haganah in 1924 for favoring negotiations with Arab leaders.

Asad also seems to have considered Christianity, or so he asserts. If I had an objection to this book (although to object to someone else’s reasons for his personal conversion is obviously pretty silly), it is that he does not seem to understand Christianity at all, in that he ascribes to Christianity critical doctrines not actually found there, and ascribes his rejection of Christianity to his aversion to those (bogus) doctrines. The core “doctrine,” to which he returns repeatedly, is that Christianity (supposedly) believes matter and the body evil, and the spirit good. He contrasts this to Islam’s holistic approach, in which nothing Allah has made can be bad, and each human’s physical body and spirit are both key concerns of Islam.

But of course this is a false view of Christianity. More precisely, it is a heretical view. It is the view of the early Gnostics, the Manichees, and the Albigensians, all rejected by mainstream Christianity. They posited dualism—that, as Asad says, the body is bad and the spirit good. But mainstream Christianity holds the opposite—like Islam, it holds that all what God has created is good, though of course Islam and Christianity both hold it can be mis-used. Asad appears to have missed the key doctrine of Christianity of the resurrection of the body, found in both the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. There is a difference between Christianity and Islam, in that Islam does not recognize original sin and Christianity does have non-heretical strains that emphasize spiritual precedence, such as the eremitic monks, but it is just not correct to posit the dualism that Asad appears to be believe to be central to Christianity.

Asad also falls into silly historical errors, such as supposing Islam’s view of the West is dictated by the Crusades, and that the Crusades were the formative moment of Western civilization, whereas in reality the Crusades were forgotten by Muslims (who won, after all) until their memory was resurrected for political purposes in the 19th Century, and were and are of minor importance in the West as well, except as a modern day tool for ignorant Americans to traduce Christianity and the West. He (in passing) also follows the common Muslim habit of erroneously ascribing important scientific inventions to Muslims, from algebra and trigonometry to “Arabic numerals” and the compass, in the usual effort to compensate for Muslim lack of scientific contributions in modern times (or, really, since the 11th Century, and even then mostly by non-Muslims under Muslim domination, and nearly all second-order scientific contributions). But these flaws are understandable and not at all germane to Asad’s basic narrative.

He also points out what are today interesting historical nuggets, such as that until the 19th Century Wahhabi “revival,” the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula were seen as the laxest Muslims at all, and are now the most religious (not always to everyone’s benefit, then or now—Asad, while recognizing certain virtues, notes that it made them “proud, haughty men who regard themselves as the only true representatives of Islam and all other Muslim peoples as heretics”). Finally, he inadvertently confirms a variety of Western views of Islamic cultures as retrograde in certain areas as entirely correct, as when he notes how a family desperately tried and succeeded in hoodwinking him into marrying an 11-year old virgin. (He divorced her when he discovered her age on their wedding night, and did not consummate the marriage.) “[Her mother] was stupefied [by his demand to immediately divorce the girl]. She had never heard of a man who refused so choice a morsel—an eleven-year-old virgin—and must have thought that there was something radically wrong with me.”

Presumably this doesn’t really matter for Asad’s personal conversion. He was attracted to the community of believers in Islam; the fact that Islam provides answers to nearly every question in life, particularly those not directly related to spiritual matters, but to all matters of life (in this Islam is not dissimilar to such Christian groups as Opus Dei or Third Order Franciscans, though the comparison probably shouldn’t be stretched); the harmony of Muslim belief; and the peace Islam brought to the people he knew. He says himself that what he had was “a longing to find my own restful place in the world,” and he found it in Islam. One thing to keep in mind, of course, was that the 1920s were a time when many in the West, after the First World War, despaired of any future for the west. As Asad says: “A world in upheaval and convulsion: that was our Western world.” Islam offered a world united in itself, without any upheaval and convulsion, if properly ordered according to its own principles.

Asad is broad-minded, tolerant, and fascinating. Those are not characteristics in good odor among many strains of modern Islam, which tends in many cases to be anything but modern. His translation/exegesis of the Q’uran, The Message of the Koran, is banned in Saudi Arabia for supposed Mu’tazili tendencies (perceived as undermining the alleged divine nature of the Q’uran) and a willingness to strongly endorse ijtihad, or continued analysis and reasoning, in exegesis of the Q’uran. But whatever your theological predilection, these characteristics are what make Asad’s memoir very much worth reading.
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May 20, 2018 Zaki rated it it was amazing

Shelves: personal-collection, 2k18-reads, favourite, religion

One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. It's one of those books which you don't read but actually live.

Asad wrote this book to tell his journey of transmutation from Leopold(his old name, representing his Jewish life) to Asad(his new name, showing his Muslim life) . This journey includes his adventures in the Middle East, his understanding of local cultures and most importantly, the religion transcending personal territories and becoming a part of cultural, social, political and spiritu ...more

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Aug 29, 2014 Nick rated it really liked it

By turns achingly beautiful, exasperating, illogical, and penetrating, The Road to Mecca is one extraordinary man's transformation from disaffected European to devout Muslim. Along the way, this journalist became friends with the King of Saudi Arabia, got to know the Shah of Iran, and met just about every player in the Middle East in the first part of the 20th Century. His perspective is skewed, flawed, and deeply insightful. It's a huge corrective to the Western media's simplistic and idiotical ...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Matthew Moes rated it it was amazing

Shelves: philosophy-religion-spirituality, biography-memoir

Anything but a straightforward autobiography, this is a beautifully written memoir by a rare individual that transports the reader to a completely different time and place; and yet the observations and assessments of everything from the religious to the political are still relevant now and a great stimulus for discussion.

I especially enjoyed Ch X entitled, "Dajjal", as it contains his "conversion" story, which as in many cases is more of a self-discovery amidst a scathing critique of the contra ...more

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Aug 13, 2008 Hafsa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literature, islam

I was supposed to read this book five years ago...in an Islamic Religious Thought and Practice class. For whatever reason, I couldn't get into it--at all--which is crazy considering I couldn't put it down this time around.

This book is brilliant because you can read it on so many levels- first, as a man's personal journey into faith (which includes some pretty harsh critiques of the system in which he was raised). Second, as a detailed history of a very critical period of recent Muslim history. I ...more

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Oct 30, 2007 Nojood Alsudairi rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: All good readers

Shelves: fiction, non-fiction

Just read it even if you do not care to know about Islam. A great traveller's story. ...more

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Jan 08, 2021 bookdotworm rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended

4.5!!! i’ve always found reverts to be so mashaa Allah & i'm always curious about how Islam is perceived through their eyes. so that’s the main reason why i picked this up. this was written by a revert & someone that was brought us an orthodox jew. the book mainly describes the author’s journey as a famous journalist who wrote about the middle east, but as he travels, he soon discovers Islam. the way he wrote about his experiences & his love for the religion was extremely poetic & stunning. i al ...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Miroku Nemeth rated it it was amazing

An amazing narrative from a rare seeker with the sensibilities and powers of observation of a poet and the convictions of a convert warrior who had deeply internalized a vision of Islam. Imam Zaid Shakir recommended that I should read the book some six months ago when I saw him in February at the Grand Mawlid in Santa Clara. I had informed him of my study of Orientalism and post-colonialism and my thesis "The Orientalist and the Dervish: Representations of Al-Tasawwuf in the Writings of Captain ...more

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Feb 24, 2020 Hossain rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ibooks

This book is based on an autobiography of the writer Muhammad Asad. Though this book is the personal expedition of the writer to explorer Islam and the Islamic world where the original picture of Islam made him revert to Islam but how wonderfully he portrays the political scenario of the westerners trying to divide Islamic countries since the beginning of this century, how as a journalist the writer attempted to reach to the European to send them the core message of what Islam and Muslims are, h ...more

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May 16, 2014 Mai rated it really liked it

It is hard to categorize this book as it is a mixture of history, travel, religion and spiritual. It gives a lot of information about the history of Arab countries and Iran. It also gives great details about life in these countries and specially Bedouin life in Saudi deserts. His insights about Islam and Arab are very inspiring.

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Mar 27, 2008 Chris rated it it was amazing

Mashallah an excellent book, topic, and author. Muhammad Asad is an incredible writer with an incredible story to tell. This book has really influenced me and encouraged me to do something with my life. I highly recommend it.

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Apr 22, 2013 Humza rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-recs-general

Definitely one of, if not the best, books I've ever read. The interweaving of the authors personal spiritual journey with his actual adventures make for an extremely entertaining and insightful read. "Lord of the Rings" meets "The Alchemist" ...more

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Jan 07, 2017 Lew Watts rated it it was amazing

An extraordinary and beautiful account of the search for the human soul that is universal in its messages across all religions, and even beyond religion.

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Mar 13, 2017 Sarah Siddiqui rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoir

Wow where do I begin,

I ventured into reading this thinking it'll be a sensational, jaw dropping, soul-rending, emotionally appealing, revert story. It's not. It reads more like a historical account of the Arab world and the impact it made on someone who visits it as a foreigner only to identify himself as one of them. Muhammad Asad is very poetic at certain places especially when describing the scenery or backdrop to give a vivid mental picture of what his surroundings must be like. Similarly he ...more

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Mar 27, 2014 Ronald Ward rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

It is difficult to write a review of this book. I think I have read it ten times sometimes starting again as soon as i finish. I found it that enjoyable.

I could tell you that I felt my life experience had been enriched after each read, when normally, people have to live to acquire a life experience.

At times this book transported me to the vast openness of the desert and I could feel, hear and taste that life. I could feel the cool sand against the back of my head as I lay looking up at the black ...more

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Jul 26, 2017 Anam Zahra rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, islam, autobiography-biography

And some books left you speechless with deep thoughts in your mind. For a really long time you actually flow with words. You stay disconnected from worldly glitters but feel connected with peace and wisdom!
I now feel different about many things as my lenses are more bright to enjoy gratitude.
If you really want to learn and appreciate the importance of a firm faith, peace and light, then do read this book once.
"Labbaik Allah humma labbaik" لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ، is the desirable destinat ...more

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Oct 07, 2020 Mohammed Javed rated it it was amazing

A fascinating book that inspires and motivates. Though I have read the book in early ninetees and couple of times later, I can't forget his description when he was travelling on a subway train in Europe in early 20th century - he observed faces and he could clearly see that they were not happy! He didn't know why? He reached home, he saw an open page from the holy Qur'an that said, "The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things), until ...more

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Jun 17, 2019 Rida Rizvi rated it it was amazing

It took a while to complete this book. Primarily because I didn't want to haste and grasp the author's journey and struggles towards faith and understanding fate. Maybe because that's what I wanted to reinforce within me. This book gave a different sort of optimism and most importantly it highlights the right kind of attitude in way of struggle especially towards faith. Emphasizes of Muhammad Assad and epitome of his whole journey has been gathering knowledge from wherever he could and that is m ...more

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Jul 07, 2013 Nazima Nasrullah rated it it was amazing

The road to mecca is a fascinating book, beautifully written and truly inspirational.
This book describes Mohd. Asads journey of embracing Islam.
This book completly indulged me , hve never read a book wishing it shld never end.
One not only reads the story of M.Asad but travells wd him
I recommend one should read this book atleast once, believe me you wont be disappointed.

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Jan 26, 2015 Mohammed Mirza rated it really liked it

An amazing first half, more than a road - an adventure. A glimpse into early 20th century Arabia.

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Nov 22, 2015 Ahmed Diab rated it really liked it

Asad's autobiography offers a unique glimpse into the history of the Middle East in the 20s-30s period as he befriended monarchs and leaders across the region. His personal story is a thrill! ...more

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Nov 22, 2008 Monir Ludin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of the best books I've ever read! ...more

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Mar 28, 2017 Siddiq Husainy rated it it was amazing

[ Some takeaways from Road To Mecca ]

The book talks about the journey of an Austrian who's a Jew to Islam.

The bulk of the book is during the period between 1900-1932 and he talked about various incidents, ideas, thoughts and events; ranging from philosophy of religions, the loss of the soul among Europeans due to materialistic inclination, Wahabbi, Shia, Islam itself, Grand Sanusi Order, to politics and social issues.

Some of the things he touched:-

I) That Islam does not separate the body and th ...more

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Feb 18, 2017 Sumaya rated it it was amazing

This book reads like a Hollywood script ! I'm really surprised there hasn't been a movie based on this yet, his storytelling is captivating and deeply reflective, highly recommend! ...more

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Feb 14, 2019 Aisha Yaseen rated it really liked it

Hard to believe this is non-fiction given how romantically it's been written. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. ...more

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About Muhammad Asad

Muhammad Asad

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محمد أسد (ليوبولد فايس سابقاً) ولد في الإمبراطورية النمساوية الهنجارية عام 1900، وتوفي في إسبانيا عام 1992م. وهو كاتب وصحفي ومفكر ولغوي وناقد اجتماعي ومصلح ومترجم ودبلوماسي ورحالة مسلم (يهودي سابقاً) درس الفلسفة في جامعة فيينا؛ وقد عمل مراسلاً صحفياً وبعد منحه الجنسية الباكستانية تولى عدة مناصب منها منصب مبعوث باكستان إلى الأمم المتحدة في نيويورك. وطاف العالم، ثم استقر في إسبانيا وتوفي فيها ودفن ف محمد أسد (ليوبولد فايس سابقاً) ولد في الإمبراطورية النمساوية الهنجارية عام 1900، وتوفي في إسبانيا عام 1992م. وهو كاتب وصحفي ومفكر ولغوي وناقد اجتماعي ومصلح ومترجم ودبلوماسي ورحالة مسلم (يهودي سابقاً) درس الفلسفة في جامعة فيينا؛ وقد عمل مراسلاً صحفياً وبعد منحه الجنسية الباكستانية تولى عدة مناصب منها منصب مبعوث باكستان إلى الأمم المتحدة في نيويورك. وطاف العالم، ثم استقر في إسبانيا وتوفي فيها ودفن في غرناطة. ويعتبر محمد أسد أحد أكثر مسلمي أوروبا في القرن العشرين تأثيراً.
لقب العائلة "فايس" اسم يعني باللغة الألمانية اللون الأبيض، وهذه إشارة واضحة للأصول الألمانية للعائلة، وكتابة „WEISS“ بتكرار حرف “ S „ في نهاية الاسم بدلا من „WEIß“ دليل واضح على الأصول اليهودية للعائلة. واسم والده "كيفا" وكان محامياً، وجده لأبيه كان حاخاماً، فهو الحاخام الأورثوذوكسي "بنيامين أرجيا فايس". وقد تولّى جده الحاخامية في "تشارنوفيتش" في منطقة بوكوفينا. درس الفلسفة والفن في جامعة فيينا ثم اتجه للصحافة فبرع فيها، وغدا مراسلاً صحفياً في الشرق العربي والإسلامي ثم زار القاهرة فالتقى بالإمام مصطفى المراغي، فحاوره حول الأديان، فانتهى إلى الاعتقاد بأن "الروح والجسد في الإسلام هما بمنزلة وجهين توأمين للحياة الإنسانية التي أبدعها الله" ثم بدأ بتعلم اللغة العربية في أروقة الأزهر، وهو لم يزل بعدُ يهودياً.
انتقل للعيش في القدس بعد تلقيه دعوة من أحد أقاربه اليهود للإقامه معه في القدس في الوقت الذي كانت فيه فلسطين تحت الانتداب البريطاني، وكتب هناك عدة مقالات مهمة أبرزت قلق العرب من. المشروع الصهيوني. ثم انخرط في دراسة متعمقة للإسلام، حتى قرر التحول من اليهودية إلى الإسلام في 1926 وهو في برلين وبعد عدة أسابيع من ذلك اعلنت زوجته إسلامها.
قام بالترحال إلى العديد من البلدان، إذ زار مصر والسعودية وإيران وأفغانستان وجمهوريات السوفييت الجنوبية. وزار عمر المختار ليبحث معه إيجاد طرق لتمويل المقاومة ضد الإيطاليين كما انتقل إلى شبه القارة الهندية التي كانت تحت الاحتلال الإنجليزي، وهناك التقى بالشاعر الكبير والمفكر محمد إقبال عام 1932 والذي اقترح فكرة تأسيس دولة إسلامية مستقلة في الهند (والتي أصبحت لاحقاً باكستان)، وقد أقنعه محمد إقبال بالبقاء والعمل على مساعدة المسلمين لتأسيس تلك الدولة.
ومع اندلاع الحرب العالمية الثانية عام 1939 اعتقل والدا محمد أسد، وقتلا في وقت لاحق في الهولوكوست على يد النازيين. كما أن محمد أسد نفسه اعتقل على يد الإنجليز وسجن ثلاث سنوات باعتباره عدواً.
فور استقلال باكستان عام 1947 وتقديراً لجهوده وتأييده لإقامة دولة إسلامية منفصلة في شبه القارة الهندية، فقد تم منح محمد أسد الجنسية الباكستانية وتم تعيينه مديراً لدائرة إعادة الإعمار الإسلامي. وفي وقت لاحق التحق بوزارة الشؤون الخارجية رئيساً لوحدة شؤون الشرق الأوسط عام 1949، ثم تقرر تعيينه بمنصب مبعوث باكستان إلى الأمم المتحدة في نيويورك عام 1952. إلا ّ أنه سرعان ما تخلى عن هذا المنصب ليتفرغ لكتابة سيرته الذاتية (حتى سن 32) الطريق إلى مكة الذي ترجم للعربية باسم (الطريق إلى الإسلام).
كان ليوبولد فايس رجل التساؤل والبحث عن الحقيقة، وكان يشعر بالأسى والدهشة لظاهرة الفجوة الكبيرة بين واقع المسلمين المتخلف وبين حقائق دينهم المشعّة، وفي يوم راح يحاور بعض المسلمين منافحاً عن الإسلام، ومحمّلاً المسلمين تبعة تخلفهم عن الشهود الحضاري، لأنهم تخلّفوا عن الإسلام ففاجأه أحد المسلمين الطيبين بهذا التعليق: "فأنت مسلم، ولكنك لا تدري !". فضحك فايس قائلاً : "لست مسلماً، ولكنني شاهدت في الإسلام من الجمال ما يجعلني أغضب عندما أرى أتباعه يضيّعونه"!!. ولكن هذه الكلمة هزّت أعماقه، ووضعته أمام نفسه التي يهرب منها، وظلت تلاحقه من بعد حتى أثبت القدر صدق قائلها الطيب، حين نطق (محمد أسد) بالشهادتين.
قام محمد أسد بعد إسلامه بأداء فريضة الحج، كما شارك في الجهاد مع عمر المختار، ثم سافر إلى باكستان فالتقى شاعر الإسلام محمد إقبال، ثم عمل رئيساً لمعهد الدراسات الإسلامية في لاهور حيث قام بتأليف الكتب التي رفعته إلى مصاف ألمع المفكرين الإسلاميين في العصر الحديث. ...more

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Quotes from The Road to Mecca

“فجأة طفا صوت من أعماق ذاكرتي، صوت رجل عجوز من قبائل الأكراد بشمال إيران، قال لي ذات يوم: المياه الراكدة في بركة تتعطن وتتشبع بالطين والعكر، أما المياه المتحركة المتدفقة، فإنها تظل نقية.. هكذا الإنسان في سكونه أو تجواله” — 30 likes

“We allow ourselves to be blown by the winds because we do know what we want: our hearts know it, even if our thoughts are sometimes slow to follow- but in the end they do catch up with our hearts and then we think we have made a decision” — 22 likes

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