Conversations with History - Talal Asad

[MrGiddeonn]

One might say that this is the Jewish contribution to improve the Arab race....... Good Jesus !!!!!!!!

[alfsalaam]

interviewer*

[alhilalclub1001]

Talal Asad Who is .. Talal

Saudi American or AMerican

[MatrixOfDynamism]

did he say he gave up his faith?

[Goldpferd]

@MatrixOfDynamism

No, he actually said that he was a firm believer and resisted his surroundings

[MatrixOfDynamism]

@Goldpferd I almost forgot, he must be a grandfather by now right? what about his children?

[steve19683]

23 minutes and NOTHING has been said, except a bit about Asad's own background, rather than, for instance, what special insights he has to tell people about humanity. Maybe the interview picks up later. Not waiting around to find out. I loathe the modern urge to speed through everything, but this is ridiculously slow.

[elazar79]

The heir of Great Muslim Scholar

[TuberHyper]

Oh my GOD!! at last we have found Asad's son, always wondered where he is since i read the father's book.

[IbnDarwish]

Mohammad Asad (Leopold Weiss) was a great writer and an enlightened thinker. In his translation of “The Message of The Qur’an” - which is a translation for the thoughtful, who is willing to take a refreshing look - Mohammad Asad gives an interestingly rationalized translation and commentary. He has also written “Islam at the Cross Roads," the whole of which I have read and enjoyed reading; and, I wish every Muslim read it, especially the youth.

[samcocksworth]

Thank you, this program is very useful for getting a real insight into the thought mechanisms behind the concepts of these intellectuals.

[ok748]

great. he is son of a great muslim.

[1888junkteam]

excellent work!

[shallbeagain]

I'd imagine it would be difficult to be an anthropologist and a believing Muslim at the same time, in an intelectual sense anyway.

[qahtani]

Why? Anthropology is studying other cultures with objectivity. What does one's spiritual belief have to do with that? Can you imply your spirituality on your profession -- yes. If you bother listening to him though he says that everyone is subject to this to some extent, but the idea is to maintain a sensible awareness and balance of it.

[shallbeagain]

I didn't mean it in that sense, the study of Anthropology can be done in many different ways:

1.What defines Homo sapiens?

2.Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?

3.Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?

4.How has the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens influenced its social organization and culture?

Certain interpretations of Islam don't even believe questions 2 & 4 above are valid questions.

[qahtani]

Not all Muslims believe evolution is wholly invalid. There's plenty of Christian and Jewish anthropologists and rarely does anyone say, "It must be difficult for them to be a Jew." The person looks at the facts in front of him/her objectively and does his research; anything short of that is a failure no matter who is involved.

[shallbeagain]

"Not all Muslims believe evolution is wholly invalid"

Glad to hear that. But I think its a little different where Christianity and western Jews are concerned, these religions have been domesticated in the west due to the scientific revolution.

[traductoritaliano]

The Road to Mecca is a beautiful account of Muhammad Asad's conversion to Islam. You can see where the Talal got his inner beauty.

[samerk321]

is talal asad muslim or secular?

[simulachra]

secular.

[traductoritaliano]

Secular is really such a terrible thing to say. The man is talking about different approaches to religion. He can be a Muslim and separate his beliefs from the public dimension of his life.

[simulachra]

He uses "secular" to describe himself.

[traductoritaliano]

Do mind telling me where he says he is presently secular? I only heard the clip completely once. I could be mistaken but I understood his secular phase when he was in his late teens.

[simulachra]

@traductoritaliano At about 8:20 he says he had already lost his faith at age 14. I don't take Asad to believe in anything supernatural.

[traductoritaliano]

I lost faith at 14 also. Now I am 43 and I have it. I don't believe he gives any indication that he is presently a secular. But these are all interpretations. Thankyou anyway for taking time to answer me.

[qahtani]

Why can't he be both?

[gabolitos1]

....

[sam7748]

I am surprised that Mr. Kreilser apparently has not idea of Prof. Asad's father, the famous Muhammad Asad. Very sad.

[qahtani]

He may know of Muhammad Asad, though I imagine his son wants to be known for his own work, not piggyback off of his father. The interview is about the book, not his dad.

[shallbeagain]

Depending on your own beliefs, I'd be interested to know if you think questions 2 & 4 are valid questions!

[sam7748]

While the analogy might be exaggerated, I suppose you'd justifying someone interviewing the son of Einstein and never bringing up the name of Einstein--that was the point I was trying to make. It's not a question of piggybacking or living under the shadow of a father.....caio!

[alfsalaam]

@sam7748 interviewees usually shape their conversations for their audience's benefit rather than their own.

[amouria]

How to express my gratitude to this program? I am so thrilled by Talal Asad's views and insights! Thank you very much!

[Wahabare]

What a great personality. His analysis of Western secularism is briliant.

[bigtavm]

Brilliant and enlightening ^_^

Asad has gained a great understanding of people and history. We should all work hard to gain understanding of each other and this is time best spent gaining as much knowledge as possible. That said, we still need to be fully aware of the -possibility- that some knowledge is, even "unconsciously", loaded. Knowing that we can see how the world and the people living in it have been, are and will continue to be shaped by truth and lies, structure and spontaneity.

[ferdowsi88]

Tala Asad you really are a wonderful person and i really appreciate your work to the humanity. We humans neglect a lot of aspects that define our attitudes, moral belief and values, but tend to bite on other parties with out a thorough examination. You have emphasized on couple of crucial points that is worth re-examining ourselves with logical approach in order to come with conclusions then conclude, yet still ambiguous in some respect.

God bless you. Peace.

[Utka9]

Un excellent interview! J'ai lu quelques uns de ses livres. Dans l'un de ses discours, ce qui m'a bcq interesse, c'etait l'approche du colonialisme britannique. Talal Asad a meme ete mentionne a la Sorbonne.