Religious and Cultural Diversity of Eastern and Western Civilizafions: an insight

into the cultural reorientation in the light of "The Road to Mecca" by an

influential Convert Muhammad Asad.
Introduction

Born to a rabbi family in Habsburg Austria-Hungary, Muhammad Asad (1900-92) has emerged as
one of the towering personalities among the Muslim intellectuals of the twentieth century. His
personality and thoughts are increasingly being subjected to detailed studies in the East and the
West alike. Europeans call him 'The most influential European Muslim of 2011 century'. Muslims
in the East look upto him to see how a man of his status, who though hailed from the West
embraced Islam, lived in the Muslims countries, learned Muslim languages and turned out to be
in the vanguard of change in the condition of Muslim societies in accordance with the
imperative of their faith. The man lived both in the West and in the East and has left a rich
legacy of his intellectual contributions and cultural reorientation in his works specially, in his
spirtual autobiography "The Road to Mecca".

The Road to Mecca, published in 1954, is the extraordinary journey of a jew, Leopold Weiss, to
the middel east where desert fascinated him, and Islam became his new spiritual home. He left
his Jewish roots behind, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Asad. The
Road to Mecca" presents a comparative study of Islamic-East and Christian-West Civilizations in
order to highlight the cultural and religious differences between the two to reject the
supermacy of one over other with discovering a new direction for looking at different culture--
Cultural Reorientation. The reviewer of the Christian Science Monitor wrote: "A very rare and
powerful book, raised completely above the ordinary by its condor and intelligence... And what
we gain in a cultural reorientation which should permanently affect our view of the world" , said
the New York Post.

Thesis statement

"The Road to Mecca" is the spiritual and intellectual autobiography of one of the most
important scholars of 20th cetury who had an equitable exposure and knowledge of both the
Eastern and Western parts of the world. His exposition may be analyzed for a comparative study
of the two civilizations that have essentially maintained their own values abd have offered their
relative contribution to human development. Such a study would help in developing a deeper
understanding of the cultural nuances of the Islamic East and Christian West.

Statement of the problem

As people's cultural and religious identities are the primary source of conflict between
civilizations, the divergence in the cultural and religious identities not only separated Eastern
and Western parts of the world but also sew dark seeds of hatred and resentment for the
opponent.

Research Questions

1. How does Asad view and portray the Eastern and Western Civilization?
2. What is the significance of the comparative study of the two civilizations in Asad's work,
the one he left behing and the other that undergoes withing this biographical narrative?
3. What is the central point of Asad's thought pertaining to his lived experience of Eastern
and more particularly Arab Islamic Culture?
4. What are the major factors which made Asad's transference possible from one cultural
environment to entirely different one?
5. Does Asad's biography suggest any possibility for the homogeniztion of culture and
religion?

Research Methodology

The research is qualitative and explorative and for this purpose the researcher has undertaken a
close-reading of the text while taking notes wherever there is a cultural or civilizational debate
within the text of this biographical narrative. For the comparison of both civilizations Biruni's
Comparative method will be used. Conclusions have been drawn from the comparative views of
Muhammad Asad's own words under the heading "Asad's deliberations regarding the Western
and Eastern Islamic Civilizations".

Purpose of the study

 The study intends to highlight the major cultural and religious disparities of Eastern and
Western Civilization as reflected in the biography.
 To present an eloquent account of the multi-cultural experiences of Muhammad Asad .
 To explore the reasons behind the journey of Muhammad Asad from Western part of the
world to bltantly different Arab Islamic world.

Theoratical Framework

Anthropology is the scientific study of humans and human behavior and societies in the past
and present. Cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values.
Anthropology of Religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the
comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. The current study is a cross-
cultural study of comparative cultural and religious perspectives and practices using
Anthropology of Culture and Religion as a framework to find out the desired research
objectives.

Significance of the study

For more than 1,400 years, since the advent of Islam in Arabia and the incorporation into the
Islamic empire and civilization of the formerly Christian eastern and southern shores of the
Mediterranean, Islam and Christendom have lived side by side—always as neighbors, often as
rivals, sometimes as enemies. It sems that there is an inevitable civilizational conflict between
the two, representing two different worldviews, having different cultural and religious
perspectives, dividing the world into two parts-- East and West. This study would hopefully
develop a deeper understanding of the root causes such as some stereotypical cliches, distorted
notions, narrowed idiosyncracies, and lack of equanimity, for this civilizational conflict. The
study would show new directions to look at "Other" civilizations positively despite of having
multitude of differences because it is an important feature of human civilozations.

Bowie, Fiona (1999). The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.

Eller, J. D. (2007). Introducing Anthropology of Religion. New York: Routledge.
Geertz, Clifford (1966). "Religion as a Cultural System". In Banton, Michael (ed.).