Jun 2008 - OPEC

Arts & Life
OPEC bulletin 6/08
44
L–r: Dr Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Vienna’s Executive City Councillor for Cultural Affairs; Prince
Mohsin Ali Khan (of Hyderabad); Dr Fahad Samari, Representative of Prince Salman from Saudi
Arabia; Omar Al-Rawi, Member of the Vienna Parliament and Vienna City Council; Talal Asad,
the son of Muhammad Asad; and Norbert Scheed, Chairman of Vienna’s 22 nd district.
The man behind the idea of Muhammad Asad Platz
Omar Al-Rawi, a Member of the Vienna
Parliament and Vienna City Council, was the
initiator of the idea to name a street or square
after Muhammad Asad.
He obtained the approval of the City Council
for the innovative initiative and coordinated
the entire project — including searching for the
most appropriate location in the capital that did
not already possess a name.
Al-Rawi also planned the ceremonies,
which encompassed the inauguration, and was
responsible for inviting VIPs that flew to Vienna
from all parts of the world to participate in the
different events that took place.
Among his responsibilities with the
Viennese authorities, Al-Rawi covers urban
planning, European affairs and the integration
of Moslems in Austria.
Votava/PID
www.omaralrawi.net
reviewer in The New York Times, said: “Not since Freya
Stark has anyone written so happily about Arabia as the
Galician now known as Muhammad Asad.”
Later in life, after retiring in Spain, Asad spent 17
years working on an English translation of the Qur’an.
Many consider this work, first published in 1980, to be
one of the finest English translations of the sacred book
ever accomplished.
Most recently, Austrian authorities decided to recognize
his extensive work by setting aside two days —
April 13–14 — to commemorate his life. On the occasion
of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the City
of Vienna named a square — ‘Muhammad Asad Platz’
— after the great intellectual. Fittingly situated just outside
the main entrance of the United Nations headquarters
in the capital, the square was officially inaugurated
by Vienna’s Executive City Councillor for Cultural Affairs,
Andreas Mailath-Pokorny. He was accompanied at the ceremony
by District Chairman, Norbert Scheed, Pakistan’s
Ambassador to Austria, Shahbaz, and Asad’s son, Prof
Talal Asad.
Muhammad Asad Platz is actually the first stretch
of tarmacadam to be named after a Muslim, not only in
Austria, but in all of Western Europe.
In his inauguration speech, Mailath-Pokorny underlined
that there could hardly be a more appropriate location
for honouring Asad than the square in front of the
Vienna International Centre.
“Muhammad Asad was a citizen of the world, who
was at home everywhere on the globe, but especially in
the Orient, and left his mark there. Naming this square
after him is a symbol of the peaceful coexistence of
people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds
in our city.”
Scheed told the assembled guests that he was
pleased that a place had been found in his district to
commemorate Asad. “It is an important message that we
send by honouring this religious mediator who always
spoke in favour of religion on the basis of democratic
values and uniting elements.”
Asad’s son, Prof Asad, said he was moved to see the
life and work of his father honoured in such a way. “Vienna
has a unique way of welcoming people who come to this
city, and the way different religions are treated here is an
example for all of Europe. I can think of no better city to
honour my father’s work than Vienna.”
After the inauguration, the guests joined the Mayor
of Vienna, Dr Michael Häupl, at a reception in the Senate
Chamber of Vienna City Hall.