Islam at the Crossroads

First published in 1934, this book "Islam at the Crossroads" was written as plea to the Muslims of that generation to avaoid a blind imitation of Western scoail forms and values, and to try to preserve instead their Islamic heritage which once upon a time had been responsible for the glorious many-sided historical phenomenon comprised in the "Muslim Civilization". But, as it happened, much of what the author had aimed at was subsequently misunderstood by the readers and leaders who failed to grasp the full implications of his call to cultural creativeness and to return to the true ideology of the Qur'an and Sunnah. <P>This revised edition, it is hoped, would clarify something of the tragic confusion nowadys prevailing in the Muslim world. Thsi is dedicated to the Muslim youth of today, just as the original 1934 edition was dedicated to the Muslim youth of those days.

Muhammad Asad, born Leopard Weiss in the Polish city of Lvov in 1900, was the grandson of an orthodox Rabbi. By this early twenties he could write and read German, Franch and Polish languages. He took to journalism and travelled Middle East as the correspondent of 'Franfurter Zeitung' of Germany. <P>After his conversion to Islam, he again travelled and worked throughout the Muslim world, including Arabia, Iran, Jordan, North Africa and Pakistan, In 1953 he was appointed as Pakistan's plenipotentiary to the United Nations. He moved to Morocco where he completed his magnum opus, the 'Message of the Qur'an.' He later settled in Lisbon where he died on 20th February 1992. <P>Asad's other works include 'Road to Mecca,' Principles of State and Government in Islam', and 'Sahih Bukhari: Early Years of Islam.'