Muslims in New York:
March 2000
New Delhi- "Islam might become the leading ideology in the 21st century," said Dr. Murad Wilfried Hofmann. He was addressing a lecture on "Islam and the Future of the World" organized by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in the Capital of India.
To make his point home Dr. Hofmann dwelt in detail upon the various problems the human society has been facing for centuries together. He said nationalism, socialism, communism, and fascism hae tried but failed miserably. None of them was able to answer the basic questions - where man has come from, where he has to go and to whom belons the future. Nothing but chemical/nuclear warfares, massacres and ethnic cleansing, to name only a few, is the outcome of these man-made isms.
Earlier, while addressing presspersons at the Capital's Gandhi Memorial Hall, Dr. Hofmann said, "Islam is the universal religion. But it has never been universal until now."
Elaborating his point, he maintained, "I cannot point even a single country that is Islamic in practice."
When asked to comment on "Islamic terrorism", he said "it's part of Christian conspiracy (against Islam)." To make his point home, he referred to the first Latin translation of the Qur'an published in 1143. "Though the translation is good, it says, "there is no god but Muhammad," he revealed and added that it is "purposefully."
On the position of Muslim in Europe he said inter alia, "The Musilms are the only one in Germany and even in England to protest when Jesus is insulted."
Dr. Hofmann, 69, was on his first tour to India. He participated in teh South Kerala conference of Students Islamic Organization of India (SIO) in Kochi. While inaugurating the conference of February 12 he spoke on "Why this Islamaphobia?" He also dwelt in detail upon "Islamic Dawah: Predicament and Promise" in another session of the conference.
On February 15, two separate receptions were arranged in his honour at Jamia Hamdard New Delhi and at the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. At the Jamaat headquarters he spoke on "My Journey to Islam."