ASAD Muhammad Lot n° 43

Al tariq ila Mecca / The Road to Mecca, first edition in Arabic, translated from English by Afif Al Baabaki, preface by Abdel Wahab Azzam, Dar Al ilm al-malayin, Beirut, February 1956 Paperback, 404 pages, dedicated to King Saud and in memory of the relationship between his father King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud and the author. Edition in Arabic, after the 1st ed. in English (The road to Mecca, 1954), a worldwide success, it was published in several languages. Autobiography of Leopold Weiss, who became Muhammad Asad after his conversion, a Jewish convert to Islam, and account of his pilgrimages to Mecca. This extraordinary destiny took him from Europe to Palestine, where he embraced the Muslim faith, and to Saudi Arabia (1927), where he became a close and respected advisor to King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud. His recollections end in 1932, the period during which he made the pilgrimage to Mecca five times (between 1927 and 1932), and the year in which he left Arabia. His description of his five pilgrimages to Mecca and his sincere conversion bring to the story a spirituality and mysticism that will ensure him an influential aura and authority in the Muslim world in the 20th century. Asad Muhammad (1900-1992) was an Austrian journalist from a family of rabbis. He discovered the Orient on a trip to Palestine in 1922, and decided to convert to Islam, settling in the Hijaz, close to the heart of Islam. There, he led an important political life, settling in Pakistan, where he was one of the founding fathers and ambassador to the UN. Autobiography of Leopold Weiss, who became Muhammad Asad after his conversion to Islam, and account of his pilgrimages to Mecca. This extraordinary destiny took him from Europe to Palestine, where he embraced the Muslim religion, and to Saudi Arabia (1927), where he became a close and respected adviser to King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud. His memories end in 1932, the period during which he made the pilgrimage to Mecca five times (between 1927 and 1932) and the year in which he left Arabia.