''Arafat: A Monthly Critique of Muslim Thought'' was a monthly periodical founded by Muhammad Asad in

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

in 1946. It was named after the plain of Arafat, the level area before the gates of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

where pilgrims spend the ninth day of

Dhu al-Hijjah Dhu al-Hijja ( ar, ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة, translit=Ḏū al-Ḥijja, ), also spelled Zu al-Hijja, is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. It is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, one in which the ''Hajj, Ḥajj'' (P ...

in huge camps as part of

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

. Asad was the editor, publisher and the sole contributor of the periodical. In the words of Asad: "''Arafat'' was a kind of 'journalistic

monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...

' meant to clarify - as much as might be possible for a single man - the great confusion prevailing in the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

community as to the scope and the practical implications of Islamic Law." ''Arafat'' was primarily a vehicle for Asad’s ideas and a clarion-call at the critical time of Pakistan Movement, aiming at a fundamental reconstruction of an ordinary Pakistani

's approach to the problem of

Shariah Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

. Three months before the

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

, he wrote an article under the title “What do we mean by Pakistan?” in which he emphasized the real purpose underlying the future establishment of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. In another issue, published less than a month before the

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

, he penned an essay titled “Towards an Islamic Constitution” which was the first attempt ever made to outline the principles which must be incorporated in the constitution of any state that claims to be ‘

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

’.

Essays that appeared in Arafat

"This Law of Ours" is a section of the book This Law of Ours and Other Essays which contains Asad's thesis on Islamic Law. The thesis is based on the following essays published in Arafat between September 1946 and February 1947. * A Time of Change * Talking of Muslim Revival * Whose is The Fault? * A New Approach * The Basis of our Civilization * Islamic Civilization and Islamic Law * Discussing a Proposition * The Companions and the Law * A New Development * Imitation of Thought * Creative Acceptance "What do we mean by Pakistan", another section of the book '' This Law of Ours and Other Essays'', is an essay that first appeared in Arafat in May 1947 (three months before the creation of

Other Essays

* The Outline of a Problem (September 1946) * Why Arafat (September 1946) * Bragging About Our Past (September 1946) * Is Religion a Thing of the Past? (October 1946) * Notes and Comments (May 1947) * Towards an Islamic Constitution (July 1947) * Arafat—Quarterly Journal of Islamic Reconstruction (March 1948)

References

External links

Asad's original Arafat article re-published by Islamic Studies

Criterion Quarterly

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714014846/http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/aproct09/9.htm , date=2020-07-14 Defunct magazines published in Pakistan Islamic magazines Magazines established in 1946 Magazines disestablished in 1947 Muhammad Asad Magazines published in Pakistan Monthly magazines published in Pakistan

Essays that appeared in Arafat

Other Essays

See also

References

External links