rmal BEGA
Dr. Murad Hofmann and his life as a German-European Muslim
~ Cultural Chronicle ~
On September 10, 2011, at 6:00 PM, the Albanian Center for Oriental Studies (ACFOS) organized a seminar entitled: "Dr. Murad Hofmann and his life as a German-European Muslim", held at the main hall of the Albanian National Historical Museum in Tirana. Part of this seminar was also the presentation of two books written by Dr. Hofmann: "Islam" and "The Quran".
A great number of religious, cultural, scientific, academic, diplomatic, and community representatives attended this event.
At the beginning of the event, Mr. Ermir Hoxha, journalist and presenter of the seminar, read out loud the special greeting sent by Dr. Hofmann to the seminar attendees, where, among others, he says:
"I am considered as a German-European Muslim. However, if I was to be precise, such a person does not exist. That is because all Muslims, wherever they are, and whatever language they speak, belong to the Muslim Ummah, one and only. All Muslims, in all over the world, are united in the one and only God, Allah, believe in the same prophet, Muhammad, and follow the same book, the Quran."
The presenters in this seminar were:
1. Dr. Jashar Demiri, professor of psychology at Albanian University in Tirana-Albania, who spoke in general about the works of doctor Murad Hofmann in Albanian and their impact on the Albanian society. He also commented on the value of these books, where he especially congratulated the last two books.
2. Besnik Mustafaj (former minister of foreign affairs of Albania), president of the Albanian Forum for the Alliance of Civilization (AFALC), who talked about the life of Dr. Murad Hofmann and about his visions and ideas expressed in his books that have been translated into Albanian and for a more active cooperation between the different religious and cultural communities that live in Europe, where he gave Albania a special role. The interpretation of Dr. Murad Hoffman's viewpoints by Mr. Mustafaj was very much liked and applauded by the attendees.
3. Ermal Bega, Executive Director of ACFOS-Albania, who, as the translator of Dr. Hofmann's books from English to Albanian, gave a summary of the content of the latest two books and their effect on the multi-faith, multi-cultural societies of Europe, where Albania is also part. Mr. Bega also mentioned his experiences thru direct contact with Dr. Murad Hofmann and revealed that he would soon take a quick trip to Germany to personally meet Dr. Hofmann and conduct an interview with him.*
Later on, the attendees expressed gratitude for the organization of this seminar and discussed the two new books and their contents. Among the guests who spoke a few words of salutation, was also Mr. Kreshnik Osmani.
A special thank you note went to two of our compatriots who live in Italy, Mr. Eris Pirra and Mrs. Anita Braka, who contributed towards the publishing of these two books.
At the conclusion of the event, a cocktail was held at the reception area of the National Historical Museum, where the guests further discussed the content of this historical event.
We must add that the cultural scientific magazine for oriental studies "URA", published by ACFOS-Albania, has undertaken to publish an article by Dr. Murad Hofmann in each of its issues.
Murad Hofman, who is 80 years old this year, is the example of a man who doesn’t carry his belief as a family heritage and neither as a result of tough existential circumstances. At a certain point in his life, he has chosen with his totally free will to be a Muslim. Better said, he has felt a Muslim in spirit. In this sense, his personal spiritual journey is an experience whose value surpasses Hofman as a person.
Fortunately for those who want to study Islam, be they Muslim or not, Murad Hofman is a gentleman who has studied at Harvard University and the Munich School of Law. He has then worked for half a century as a diplomat, until during the last decade of his career he was appointed as a high representative to NATO and as the German Ambassador to Algeria and Morocco.
His extremely wide erudition, his rare life experience in Europe, America, and Africa, his equally rare experience as a diplomat, and his rich experience in the two large monotheistic world religions, Christianity at first, then Islam, allow his writings on Islam to be honest, rich in content, and with a clear and understandable style for all the free citizens of this world, be it for those who read him to better understand the Prophet’s teachings so as to feel happier in their faith, or for those who read him simply for cultural and intellectual reasons. With his writings, Murad Hofman does a great service to both his faith and the global initiative for the dialog between civilizations.
From the speech of Mr. Besnik Mustafaj in this seminar
Translated from Albanian:
Armir TARAJ
Taken from “URA” magazine, Issue #7, Fall-Winter 2011, Tirana-Albania.
* This trip to Germany was undertaken two weeks later.
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Ermal BEGA
A JORNEY TO THE LAND OF THE ANCESTORS*
(Special Report)
He has grown up in an Arab environment, surrounded by Arab traditions. He knew about his Albanian background because his name indicated it and he had heard this from his parents, but he had never thought that he would one day step on the land of his ancestors. He hadn’t been able to learn from his parents or relatives about the exact place of his origin, but this didn’t stop him from wanting to travel to any Albanian land that he could. These were the words of Amer Arnaout, an Albanian from Lebanon, who has been living in Germany together with his family for 10 years.
This very special family of Albanians visited Albania between the dates of 12 and 15 July, 2010. Amer, together with his wife, Nadja Arnaout, and their three children, Muhammad, Yusuf, and Sara, landed for the first time in Albania.
After receiving the Arnaout family in Shkodra, where they came by car from Germany, we accompanied them to Tirana, and on the way we would describe for them the places we’d see so they could have a general idea about the areas they were seeing. When we arrived in Tirana, we let them settle down at a hotel, and that evening we all went out for dinner and coffee.
The following day, we went to get them at the hotel early in the morning. We had planned that during the first day of their three-day stay, we would visit the old city of Kruja, where we visited the old Bazaar and Mosque at the center of the city (the bazaar, mosque, and aqueduct where all built during the Islamic civilization erected during the Ottoman Empire which has left many traces in Kruja and other Albanian cities). Then we traveled to Durres where we had lunch and coffee by the seaside. There we saw the big mosque of Durrës at the center of the city, on top of a small hill. It is interesting to note that during the Ottoman Empire, and during the entire Islamic Civilization in general, every city had a large mosque and a bazaar at the center of the city, alongside the other governmental institutions located there, and the same thing occurred in Albania as well.
After our long stay by the beach of Durrës spent in interesting conversations, we left for Tirana before Maghrib time. We went to the center mosque of Et’hem Bey, where we prayed Maghrib. We then accompanied our guests to their hotel so they could rest, and we met again for dinner. After dinner we went for a coffee at one of the nice Cafes on the Dajti mountain, so our guests could enjoy the quiet and pictorial nature of Tirana in the evening. Late in the evening we returned home to rest, so we could meet the following day in the morning.
We met at around 8 am in the morning and decided to go get breakfast at a fast-food place owned by a Syrian friend, where we enjoyed the famous Syrian shawarma. While having breakfast we discussed the idea of going to visit Kosova, but we felt that we would get delayed and tired from the journey, and considering the short period of their trip, we decided not to go, and so we spent the day touring Tirana instead, and seeing things up close. During our conversations we discussed the origin of the Arnaout in the Orient, and their lives there and in Albania.
The following day in the morning the Arnaout family had to get ready to leave Tirana and Albania and travel a long way to Beirut, Lebanon, where their relatives were expecting them. They now had something to tell their relatives about Albania and the Albanians, because they had now “touched” them by hand. They expressed the fact that visiting Albania had been their most happy moment during their very long trip.
At the moment of departure, they expressed their desire that during the summer vacations of the following year, they would like to visit Albania again for a longer period, so we could all go and visit the Albanian lands in Kosova and Macedonia.
Their first visit to Albania was a great and important step so that in the future many more Arnaouts (Albanians) who live in the Orient can come and visit us.
Translated from Albanian:
Armir TARAJ
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Ermal BEGA
ISLAMIC IDENTITY OF ALBANIANS - MYTH OR REALITY?!
Islamic identity and/or European identity of Albanians, has recently become a pretty big problem among the prominent personalities, academics and researchers of various Albanian territories.
Discussions on this issue are not new to us Albanians who have suffered throughout history, but have come to the surface more often in later times, when for a long time various newspapers, print and broadcast media in Albania and Kosova have opened the debate about whether the Albanians have a Muslim identity (belonging to Islam) or have a European identity (which means you need to be Christian-Catholic-Latin or Greek-Slavic-Orthodox)?
I don’t understand, first of all, why we need to do this kind of debate in vain, considering that Europe and the world at large know very well and very clearly that the majority of the Albanian people are of the Islamic religion, with actions or without them (practicing or not), knowingly or through ignorance (as most of the people who have Albanian Muslim names, but do not have any knowledge about their religion).
Secondly, I fail to understand why this dirty politics is becoming so sneakily anti-Islamic in Albania. Islam is a faith which has never created problems to those who practice it, and nobody has seen anything bad from this faith and from its believers.
If denying the Islamic identity of the Albanians, and the fear that as Muslims we can not enter in Europe is the only reason these personalities present, we respond that "fear is a permanent companion of injustice" (W. Shakespeare) , and "courage without reason is just one of the types of fear" (Seneca).
But to return back to the topic we are talking about, I would like to quote here a question-statement the great Imam, patriot, teacher, former adviser to the Ministry of Education and the largest Albanian politician Hafiz Ali Korça made in 1944, when the second edition of his book "Seven Dreams of Albania" (the book which was reprinted in 2006, in Tirana), was published: "When Europe decided to create this piece of Albania, it put us the requirement that in case we would leave the Islamic religion they would build this piece of Albania, or else they would totally divide up the lands. But this is not right, because we know very well that if it was not for the majority of the Muslim population, this piece would also have been divided."
In connection with numerous talks and debates that have arisen in the media and the propaganda that allegedly Albanians are secular and have a secular state (it certainly was made to eliminate the Albanian Muslim majority), I wanted to add a saying of Napoleon Bonaparte, when he saw that boundless liberalism had gone to excess and religion was being trampled upon, he said: "Faith (belief) should exist, because even if there would be no religion (faith), we would need to create one, because only religion can provide the morale and discipline of a nation”, and having said this he made a provision to create a well-equipped clergy.
Germans say: "A professor however learned he is, if he is non-religious (secular) should not even enter in elementary schools let alone in universities."
The last term is appropriate for those who seek to throw all Albanians in the Christian religion, who until yesterday were attacking Islam and Albanian Muslims in secret, and now we face them as brave hearts through electronic media and who keep asserting again with a tenacity like that of a hog, that Albanians do not belong to an Oriental Muslim identity, but belong to that of European Christians.
The worst is that these personalities, by name, belong to the Islamic faith themselves, even though out of their Jahiliya (ignorance) they confuse the terms such as Islam with Muslimanism, and Muslims with Mohammedans, etc.. Islam did not take the name of the prophet who has come down to proclaim this faith and way of life, as Christianity was derived from Christ (Jesus according to Islam), Buddhism from Buddha, etc..
But if these figures are not willing to declare their Islam, they have the right to accept another faith (even though according to the Islamic constitution, if a Muslim changes his faith, he is considered a renegade), and in this case may change their names, such as from Hayrullah (which means "mercy of God") to Thanas or Vangjel, from Abdullah to Pal or Gjon, from Ismail (name of a Blessed Prophet - Ishmail for Christians) to John, from Fahri (which means "cheerer ") to Francis etc., but have no right to interfere in the personal affairs of other individuals or of a majority of a certain faith, because in this way automatically they create rifts between communities and the responsibility rests with them for any later situation that may arise, as the rift that happened between the Muslim-majority community and the Catholics in Shkodra on the issue of placing the cross on a hill, in a village where most residents of the area belonged to the Islamic faith).
It is true that now the Albanians are living in freedom and democracy, but freedom and democracy have a slogan, which reads: "Freedom and democracy will mean that you are free to do and say everything you want, except to do harm to yourself and others."
In this context, here comes the idea that anyone is free to choose what he wants, but can not and has no right to impose his views on others.
We (I mean the pseudo-Muslim Albanians) can not become "more Catholic than the Pope."
Then why continue to debate in vain an issue that has been resolved by the Albanians themselves through their acceptance of Islam before 600 or some years (before the advent of the Turks), and is well known that the Albanian people have accepted Islam knowingly and willingly, for objective and subjective reasons which are unknown, and never with violence, and for those periods during which there was "violence", it has never been to accept Islam by violence, but for political and personal reasons.
This shows very clearly that the Albanians have never fought among themselves for religious matters, but only for personal and tribal issues.
Meanwhile, in present times Albania, it is very well known that people who manage most of politics, art, culture, business, cinema, media, publication of books etc. are people of Christian faith (Catholic and Orthodox in particular, where most of them are of non-Albanian origin, but have settled sometime ago in Albania), and Muslims never said anything against them.
One day, I heard from a friend that deputy publicist Nikoll Lesi, in the newspaper that he leads, some time ago (it's this year) had published an article in which he showed the origin of some of the politicians of a party, where most of them were of the Orthodox faith but were not of Albanian origin, and we have not heard any problems or statements by the Albanian Muslims about this though they were Christians, because Islam accepts the rule of non-Muslims in the state when you can not find a suitable person to rule or when a Muslim country is invaded, but only when they are right and govern with justice.
Unfortunately, other faiths do not have this same tolerance, but they require that people necessarily turn to the religion of those who rule.
Christian Europe does not see Islam only as a wall or as a blockade against their wishes or their claims, but they (the West) believe and are convinced that Islam is the only threat against them and their countries.
European Christian orientalist Gardner says: "It is the secret strength of Islam that scares Europe."
Christian-European identity of Albanians is a slogan that was declared in the beginning of the twentieth century (this corresponds to the saying that we mentioned above, told by Hafiz Ali Korca), but which has reached its largest proportions after the 1990’s.
Albania‘s presence in the Islamic Conference based in Saudi Arabia and where Albania has its representative office, is frequently being attacked. About Albania’s membership in that organization was spoken much in the debate which was held few days ago in Tirana, on the question of European identity of Albanians, which was attended by some of the personalities who support the Christian European identity of Albanians. Unfortunately, however, they had not invited any Muslim personality (apparently with a specific purpose) and no representative of the Albanian Muslim Community was invited to attend by the media but there were invited only personalities of Christian communities, Catholic and Orthodox (and priests of these religions), different scholars who support the Christian European identity of Albanians, the director of the national library, a Vlach who is Orthodox and other Christian personalities or pseudo-Christians.
If we debate why Albania, with a rate of 80% of the Muslim religion, is a member of the Islamic Conference, then what to say about Russia and Thailand as countries observing the conference, where the percentage of Muslims there is very low compared to the number of the population.
As for the “incomplete” identity of the Albanians, whether they should belong to the Orient or Europe, it is a delicate matter which can not be explained only with a writing or just with a speech. Islam at the time after the atheistic-Communist system in Albania is shown as it is in fact, i.e. an Islam which has always existed, and this corresponds to the saying of Orientalist Gardner that we mentioned above, what threatens Europe is the hidden strength of Islam. Precisely, even those persons who seek necessarily to identify with European Christian identity are the product of that system.
It is not true that Albanian Muslims do not want Europe, because, intentionally or unintentionally, God has placed us in this part of the world, and we are much more connected to Europe than to the Orient, but the problem is that, again turning to the words of Gardner mentioned above, Europe should not fear Islam among the Albanians, but must accept us as we are, and let her not drag her feet on us just as Turkey is being dragged for years.
Islamic religious identity of most Albanians as members of the old continent will exist until Europe will try to bring back us strongly to Christianity by missionaries and delegates, internal and external, as it seems to have done with some of the known personalities (with payments or any positions), or divide us and wait until we ourselves accept the conditions it requires of our people in Albania.
Translated from Albanian:
Armir TARAJ
