The Muslim Institute 10th Ibn Rushd lecture. Wednesday 30th July, Artworkers Guild, Bloomsbury, central London.
“Why is it that, even after finding my place among the people who believe in the things that I myself have come to believe, I have struck no root?” Muhammad Asad, The Road to Mecca.
The Austro-Hungarian Jewish convert to Islam, Muhammad Asad (1900-92), was one of the most remarkable Muslim thinkers of the last century. Best known for his iconic autobiography, The Road to Mecca, Asad’s long career stretched almost the entire twentieth century and offers a window into many social, political and intellectual trends of modern Islam. Asad wrote widely in many genres of Islamic thought, from Qur’an translation to hadith commentary, political theory to Islamic law, and made notable contributions to each.
Yet, Asad remains a marginal figure whose ideas have not received the interest and attention they deserve. Many of his works remain little-known today and some of his most important contributions—on anti-Zionism, or Islamic legal reform—have been entirely overlooked. His magnum opus, The Message of the Qur’an, reveals a mastery of the Islamic intellectual tradition that has yet to be recognized or examined. Over three decades since his death in 1992, we still await a comprehensive biography of Asad in English.
All these issues, and more, are addressed in this 2025 Muslim Institute Ibn Rushd Annual lecture. Dr Josef Linnhoff combines a biographical sketch of Asad with a close look at some of his most important works. Linnhoff sheds light on overlooked aspects of Asad’s thought, challenge some misconceptions around Asad, and explore his complex relationship with the Muslim community of his day, asking why Asad found himself “on the margins,” in his own time and in the years since. The result is a deeper understanding and appreciation of the life and legacy of one of the most important, if neglected, Muslim thinkers of recent times.
Josef Linnhoff holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh (2020). He is Editor-in-Chief and Research Fellow at The Institute for Advanced Usuli Studies (“The Usuli Institute”) in Columbus, Ohio. He has published on various aspects of the life and thought of Muhammad Asad and is Editor of the forthcoming volume – The Life, Thought and Legacy of Muhammad Asad: Essays on Modern Muslim Reform – which will be published by Edinburgh University.
