A Brief and Memorable Dialogue with Murad Hoffman
By Dr Basheer Ahmed Khan
Garden Grove, CA
Murad Hoffman is a distinguished German career diplomat who is well known amongst the Muslim religious circle because of his participation in Islamic conferences. I had seen him in ISNA conferences and also on some TV programs. He did not get the recognition and popularity which some others people who converted to Islam - like Leopold Weiss (Muhammad Asad), Mermeduke Pickethall, or Yusuf Estes - got even though he is an author of several books and an activist. This might be because he is a diplomat who is inclined to work quietly in a purposeful way.
Murad Hoffman was born in 1931 and joined the German Foreign Service in 1961 as an Attaché to German Embassy in Algiers where atrocities during the war of Independence stirred his Christian conscience. This plus his experience of the Muslim society, art and architecture in Morocco, Turkey etc. aroused his spiritual consciousness as he attended to his diplomatic responsibilities. When he showed a manuscript summing up his reflections and thoughts to an Egyptian friend he said: If this is your conviction then you are a Muslim. They performed Hajj together and Hoffman subsequently wrote his book “Pilgrimage to Mecca.” His book “Diary of a German Muslim Diplomat” was prescribed for German Embassy Officials proceeding on diplomatic assignments to Muslim countries. He voluntarily resigned from Foreign Service in 1995.
It was about fifteen years ago that I had the good fortune of meeting this great man face-to-face. One evening I was coming out after my Maghrib prayer from the newly constructed ISOC Mosque when I found a tall handsome European gentleman leaning against the pole in front of Dr Muzammil Siddiqi’s office, holding his arms up above the head and clasping the pole against which he was leaning. His posture was indicative of a man who had spent a long day and needed some rest. I was surprised when I recognized him as Murad Hoffman. I introduced myself to him. He told me that he came to see Dr Siddiqi. I told him that Dr. Siddiqi normally does not come for Maghrib prayer as he lives some distance from the Society but if had an appointment with him he would surely come. I then had a memorable conversation with him.
The following first two verses of a popular song aptly describe this conversation:
Aadmi Jo Kehta Hai Aadmi Jo Sunta Hai
Zindagi Bhar Woh Sadaen Goonja Karthi Hain.
Meaning, the echo of the words which a person utters or hears reverberates in ones consciousness for long. But they come to surface when some extraneous thought scratches ones memory.
When I read the article about the rivalry between Erdogan and Gulen by Ben-Meir in the Dec 7 issue of Pakistan Link, memories of my conversation with Ambassador Hoffman surfaced in my memory.
As he was the most qualified person to answer this question, I sought his response to the popular belief amongst Muslims that the West was arm-twisting the Muslim leaders to take their subjects on a liberal path and abandon the Islamic values. I asked him if it was not counterproductive to our national interest. I referred the crackdown on Hijab in Turkey to emphasize the point. He replied that liberalism had its own dynamics and its own appeal. Many people in the West are also against it. Those who are enamored by liberal values in the Muslim countries give this excuse of arm-twisting by the West to promote them in their countries much the same way as those who are for liberal values in the West and project Islam and Muslims as a threat to it to safeguard the supremacy of these values in their own countries. He further said that many a Turkish Army officer whom he had met during his stint with NATO consumed more alcohol than any European and it was a problem for the West and the West did not promote it. I could feel the force of reality in his argument.
When I asked him about the reason why he converted to Islam he said: Islam emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility even in collective life and he quoted the verse: Wala Taziroo Wazirathaun Wizra Uqra. No one will lift the burden of others mistake. I did not fathom the importance of this statement then as it appeared to me that his conversion to Islam was the protest of a pragmatic Bavarian against the Pauline doctrine of crucifixion of Christ for the sin of all men. I could not talk more about it because Dr Siddiqi had arrived and I had to part company.
Religion and spirituality serve man where intellect and resources fail to lead him. Now I can see why this verse - No one bears the burden of others - which is in the context of the life of hereafter - appealed to Murad Hoffman so much.
Murad Hoffman grew up in Germany and as a young lad experienced a tough time in a fascist setup involved in a war that had confronted a proud people with a shameful defeat and uncertain future. When he joined the Foreign Service and saw the Algerian War of Independence this young diplomat must have been appalled. He must have thought that France is committing the same mistake in Algiers with Muslims which Germany did with Jews. It is easier for politicians to justify their actions and blame others for their own shortcomings and get away with their misdoings. But for a diplomat to face the consequences of it on a foreign soil is most challenging. He must have foreseen the problems of the world abounding with what was happening in the Muslim world. He must have felt that the only way to avoid what he was envisioning for both the Western world and the Muslim world was a sense of responsibility for their own deeds instead of finding a scapegoat in the other. And the verse from the Qur’an helped him not only in seeking a practical remedy for things that were taking shape but also in bringing him closer to Islam and Muslims.
It is easier for the Muslim world to blame the West and vice versa, but to understand and accept our own weaknesses in what visits us as a consequence of it requires unbiased intellect, a sound vision, and phenomenal courage. Those who succumb to their own weaknesses don’t require an enemy to destroy them, they only need an alibi.
The modern-day sophists may spin the situation to excuse those who swallow elephants and blame others who swallow a gnat for a miserable situation which their society faces. They may justify entire populations of their enemies as legitimate targets of revenge without solving any problem. They may justify all lies under the pretext that by telling the truth against the powerful you will open the door of lies against you and make you suffer for it. This might be a ground reality, but there is a reality beyond what is the ground reality before the One Who is allowing this drama to happen and before Him no one can ascribe the consequence of his wrong deeds on others. If one ignores this, he is only kicking the can down the road for him or his progeny to see the consequences of it sooner or later. God has given us intellect to understand this mechanism which He has placed to administer His world and Mr Hoffman had enough of it to understand it and many things more. May God bestow this quality to our rulers today.
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