Murad Wilfried Hofmann (1931 – 13 January 2020) was a German diplomat and author. He wrote several books on Islam, including ''Journey to Makkah'' () and ''Islam: The Alternative'' (). Many of his books and essays focused on Islam's place in the West and, after

11 September Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...

, in particular, in the United States. He was one of the signatories of

A Common Word Between Us and You "A Common Word between Us and You" is an open letter, from October 13, 2007, from Muslim to Christian leaders. It calls for peace between Muslims and Christians and tries to work for common ground and understanding between both religions, in li ...

, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

Biography

Hofmann was born in

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

to an intellectual family related to

Hugo Ball Hugo Ball (; 22 February 1886 – 14 September 1927) was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry. ...

, a co-founder of

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

. Although raised a Catholic, he

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to Islam in 1980. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. His conversion was met with some controversy due to his high profile in the German government.A brief biography at IslamOnline.net
He converted to Islam as a result of what he witnessed in the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

, his fondness for

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide r ...

, and what he saw as contradictions in

Paulist Paulists, or Paulines, is the name used for Roman Catholic orders and congregations under the patronage of Paul of Thebes the First Hermit. From the time that the abode and virtues of Paul of Thebes were revealed to Antony the Abbot, various commu ...

Christian doctrine. Hofmann served in the German Foreign Service from 1961 to 1994. He first served in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

as a specialist on issues concerning

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...

defence. He went on to serve as Director of Information for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 1983 to 1987, Ambassador to

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

from 1987 to 1990, and Ambassador to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

from 1990 to 1994. Hofmann was an honorary member and advisor to the

Central Council of Muslims in Germany The Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD; german: Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland) is an Islamic organization in Germany. With 15,000 to 20,000 members, mainly German, German Arab, and German Turkish Muslims, it has less than half ...

Commendations

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

, Germany. * Commander of the Order of Merit, Italy. *Order of Merit in the Arts and Sciences, 1st Class, Egypt. *Grand Cordon

Publications

*1973 ''Of Beauty and the Dance: Towards an

Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of ...

of Ballet'', in: Three Essays in Dance Aesthetic, Dance Perspectives No. 55, New York *1981 ''Wie MBFR begann'', in: Im Dienste Deutschland und des Rechtes, Festschrift für Wilhelm G. Grewe, Nomos, Baden-Baden *1984 ''Is NATO's Defence Policy facing a Crisis?'', in: Non-Nuclear War in Europe, Groningen University Press, Groningen *1981 ''Ein philosophischer Weg zum Islam'' *1984 ''Zur Rolle der islamischen Philosophie'' *1985 ''Tagebuch eines deutschen Muslims'' *1992 ''Der Islam als Alternative'', Diederichs, *1996 ''Reise nach Mekka'', Diederichs, *1998 Überarbeitung der

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sin ...

übersetzung von

Max Henning Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

, Istanbul und München *2000 ''Der Islam im 3. Jahrtausend'', Diederichs-Hugendubel, *2008 – 'Mustaqbal al-Islam fī al-Gharb wa-al-Sharq'

he Future of Islam in the West and the East He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

co-authored with ^cAbd al-Majid al-Sharafī, published by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus, 2008A book review was placed in Al-Hayah, 3 May 2008 and reviewed by Arab-West Report
2008, week 18, art. 27

References

External links

* , an essay by Hofmann
islamicity.com – Los Angeles Times: U.S. Freedoms Give American Muslims Influence Beyond Their Numbers
quotes Hofmann. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Murad Wilfried People from Aschaffenburg 1931 births 2020 deaths German Sunni Muslims German former Christians Ambassadors of Germany to Algeria Ambassadors of Germany to Morocco Converts to Islam from Roman Catholicism Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Harvard University alumni German male writers Date of birth missing

Biography

Commendations

Publications

See also

References

External links