Journey to Islam - Diary of a German Diplomat 1951 - 2000,
Paperback - 256 pages,
by Murad Wilfried Hofmann.
Description :
A lengthy process, rich in remarkable and thought-provoking events, including compelling encounters with Islamic philosophy, led the author to embrace Islam. His experiences since that time - such as his pilgrimages to Makkah - further deepened his understanding of, and identification with, this "fastest growing religion in Europe.
This "Diary" is, however, much more than a recorded soliloquy. It is a lively introduction to Islam as such - developed in the spiritual confrontation of a Muslim intellectual of European background with the ideology and value system of post-industrial western society.
Dr. Murad Wilfried Hofmann, who accepted Islam in 1980, was born as a Catholic in Germany in 1931. He graduated from Union College in New York and completed his legal studies at Munich University where he received a doctorate in jurisprudence in 1957. He became a research assistant for the reform of federal civil procedure, and in 1960 received an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School. He was Director of Information for NATO in Brussels from 1983 to 1987. He was posted as German ambassador to Algeria in 1987 and then to Morocco in 1990 where he served for four years. He performed umrah (Lesser Pilgrimage) in 1982 and Hajj (Pilgrimage) in 1992.