Raya Shokatfard
Interview with Dr. Murad Hofmann (Part 2)
In the previous part of this interview, Raya Shokatfard asked Dr. Hofmann about his first encounter with Islam and the factors that made him decide to become Muslim.
To read the first part, click here.
The following is a transcript of the rest of the conversation. There was so much more I would have liked to ask this distinguished gentleman, but the little time we had together gave me insight into one of Islam's great dignitaries.
Shokatfard: Were you a practicing Christian before you became a Muslim?
Hofmann: You won't believe my background and childhood. I was born in 1931 and was 8 years old when the World War II started. I lived in an industrial town which was regularly bombed. We had air alerts all the time. We simply slept in bomb shelters nearly all the time for more than a year. The town was destroyed. I experienced life and death till the age of 14.
At that time, Hitler had ordered training for the youth my age two times a week as a pre-military training. My last order was to put dead bodies on the truck. That was it. My parents simply told me that I could not do that. So that was my last order, and the first I refused.
At that time, without my parent's knowledge, I was a member of the Jesuit organization of a Christian youth movement. Only state-run youth organizations were allowed at the time. This was a secret group which communicated underground. Hitler's secret services had some clue something was going on, but they never caught us. Had they found out, all of us, including my parents would have ended up in the concentration camp.
Shokatfard: How was your life after the war?
Hofmann: After finishing high school, I studied law in Munich, Germany. After finishing, I studied law again in Harvard University in the U.S.
Shokatfard: How would being a lawyer entitle you to become an ambassador?
Hofmann: Well, I had not served in the military. In fact all those who lived in the time of war, were exempt from military service and the war generations were never drafted. They called those years the "White Years".
At that time, Germany was very much down in terms of international relations. It had to make effort to be re-accepted to the international community. So, I said to myself, you are a lawyer. Which client is worthy to represent? So, I decided to be an advocate for my own country.
Therefore, I went back to Germany and attended a diplomatic school, which among other subjects, taught international law.
I took on various diplomatic jobs and worked my way up to being an ambassador.
At the time, there was a special need for NATO defense project. So, I worked with the NATO delegation in Paris. Then, French President, De Gaulle, kicked out NATO and withdrew from integrated military, but would still participate in maneuvers and NATO command.
I was later stationed in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria as first, second and third secretary. There, I was promoted to junior and later, to senior counselor.
Germans wrote 10,000 letters to the German government, complaining that it is impossible to have a Muslim Ambassador for a Christian nation.
I later went to Vienna for the Warsaw Pact for the purpose of troop reduction in Europe.
Shokatfard: Why was there the need for troops to begin with?
Hofmann: There was a great conflict between the East and West Germany. There were 22 Soviet stations in East Germany and were nuclear ready.
Had a war broken out, it would have destroyed Europe. Europe was preparing itself for a nuclear war and at the same time was deterring threats from the Soviets, even though it had second strike ability. This military capability made Germany stable.
At the same time, even though East Germany had some military might, it lost out in ideology. People in East Germany would watch TV and see what was going on in West Germany and how life was drastically different. Communism lost out through its ideology.
Shokatfard: What happened next?
Hofmann: In 1994, I wrote my second book, Islam, the Alternative. All hell broke loose. Germans wrote 10,000 letters to the German government, complaining that it is impossible to have a Muslim ambassador for a Christian nation.
One of the bad papers wrote three lies about me. The first one was that I beat my wife. The second was that all my secretaries had to wear head scarves, and the third was that I had driven someone to commit suicide.
All this was a reaction to a mere announcement that I was a Muslim. The book was not even published yet.
The Foreign office asked me for the material and stationed three people to divide the book into three parts and each was to read one part, all night. They found absolutely nothing wrong that would threaten the society. This news was published on page four of the paper instead of front page as it was the first time.
When I went to the government office, I saw a large table full of files containing letters to protest against me.
Shokatfard: What happened after that?
Hofmann: After that, the attack against me stopped, but the damage could not be undone. Normally the government should have sued the newspaper, but it did not do that. This was close to my retirement and I retired in 1996. Ever since then, I have been on the road.
The Foreign Minister laughed and said, "One does not send a Muslim to Islamic Vatican."
Shokatfard: How do you feel about life in general now?
Hofmann: I feel extremely lucky.
Shokatfard: Why?
Hofmann: First of all, I became Muslim and was able to lead an interesting and adventurous life
Also, God saved me from death three times.
The first one was when our home was being bombed. Many shells hit our garden, only a few feet from where we were hiding. Then, I had a terrible car accident, involving a drunk driver on the wrong side of the street. All in his car were dead, but my driver and I survived. We had a 1941 Chevrolet and very sturdy, and they had a newer one. I lost 19 teeth, but fortunately had no brain concussion. Another good factor was that I was very tall. Had I been one centimeter shorter, I would have lost my eyes.
The third situation was when I made a suggestion to the personnel to start moving staff out of Vienna as part of troop reduction before they became fed up and tried to post themselves elsewhere. This could pose a danger and might create a vacuum. So spacing them out would work best. I then managed to be the first to volunteer to be stationed elsewhere and suggested Riyadh. The Foreign Minister laughed and said, "One does not send a Muslim to Islamic Vatican." So, they decided to send me to Algeria instead. At this time I was an ambassador.
However, before leaving, I had to have a quick physical. A short physical lasted three weeks, at the end of which, I was notified that I had a cancer tumor on one of my kidneys which had to be removed. Had this mission not been activated and the physical checkup not performed, the cancer would have spread all over my body and would have taken my life.
Shokatfard: Did you end up going to Algeria?
Hofmann: No. With the cancer, I could not go to tropical countries. So I was stationed in Yugoslavia. After that, I returned to Bonn which was the capital at the time and that is where the Foreign Ministry was. Later, I was in charge of NATO and Defense. I attended 49 ministerial meetings all over the world.
From Bonn I went to Brussels and became NATO information director 1983-87. From 1987-90 I was the ambassador to Algeria and from 1990-96 I was the ambassador to Morocco. I retired at the age of 65, and became very active in touring the world and giving lectures about Islam and writing many books and nearly 50 book reviews.
Shokatfard: What are your further plans?
Hofmann: I will continue writing book reviews. I may travel also, but not long flights any more. I like to stay close to home. I have been on the road eight years in a row.
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Raya Shokatfard is the Editor in Chief of Reading Islam website. She has been an activist in promoting a better understanding of Islam and Muslims in the US for more than 20 years, and in Egypt for several years.
She holds an M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication as well as an M.A.D . in TV Journalism from the American University in Cairo. She can be reached at: mothers4peace@yahoo.com.
source: reading islam
